The Charming City of Lüneburg

 

David likes to describe Lüneburg as one roller coaster rideaway from Busch Gardens. He kind of has a point. No matter where you look, there is an old building that will take your breath away. Being over 1000 years old, based on the first entry of Lüneburg in the records, Lüneburg has lost its castle originally built on a smallish kind of hill (the only one os its kind, as the whole region is pretty flat) and attached abbey or cloister. Apparently, the citizens of Lüneburg got upset at the aristocrat living in the castle and tore it down. Why I don't know, since at the point when the tour guide was giving that explanation, I was fleeing from a fellow tour participant whose cigarette fumes were tickling my still recovering sinuses and lungs, and the guide's words got lost in my futile flight, since another tour participant, in whose direction I was fleeing, just lit up one of those pesky little cigs himself.

To get back to my original point about Lüneburg, it is very pretty and very old and fantastic if, like me, you like to be able to walk and bycicle everywhere. The ability to walk everywhere came in very hand as David and I were trying to get re-connected to the world via internet and phone, but that is a story for another time.

Let me take to a typical stroll through Lüneburg with some of its most striking corners. I know I will be adding more detail to these in the months and years to come. Also, David and I did not accomplish to view all these things in a day, not even in two. Despite Lüneburg being a rather smallish town, its old town (almost all of which is a pedestrian zone) is pretty large and surprisngly well-preserved.

 

 



 

Pic. 1: My mom (right) and I (left, with the orange handbag, Go O's!) strolling down Grapengießerstraße. When I go to the city, I almost always take this road. The pedestrian zone begins here. Byciclists are only allowed to ride their bikes between 6 PM and 10 AM.

 

 

Pic. 2: A typical facade of old Lüneburg

 

 

 

 

Pic. 3: The Grapengießerstraße ends in the plaza-like street called Am Sande (translated loosely as "At the sand"), known for its beautiful gables on each house that are so typical for cities in the North of Germany, especially cities that, like Lüneburg, belonged to the old trade organization called "Hanse" (the Hanseatic League). In the background looms the tower of St. Johannis or St. John's church, built in the 14th century, the oldest protestant church in Lüneburg. It is one of the most well-known churches built in the northgerman brick gothic style (norddeutsche Backsteingothik).

 

 

 

Pic. 4: A gorgeous shot of St. John's church tower

 

 

 

Pic.5: Brodstraße leading to the town hall and its big square.