Car Hire Lübeck - Mini guide to Lübeck

With an old town dedicated as a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1987, Lübeck was one of the great mercantile cities in the Middle Ages. Nowadays it is a small but interesting town with plenty of history and a lazy seaside.

More 13th to 15th century buildings have survived in Lübeck than in all other large northern German cities combined. Five major churches with a total of seven tall spires grace the city’s skyline. The old town has more than 1,300 buildings—ranging from Romanesque to modern styles—that have been designated as protected historic monuments.

Lübeck’s oldest building, the Dom (Cathedral), dates from 1173. The nave is in Romanesque style, while the aisles and choir are Gothic. Other churches worth seeing include: the Ägidienkirche (14th century); Jakobikirche (13th century) in famous North German brick Gothic; and St Peter’s (13th century). St Mary’s Church, the third-largest church building in Germany, served as the model for countless Gothic style brick churches in the entire Baltic region.

With the exception of the Rathaus (Town Hall), built over a period of some 300 years from the 13th century, most of the secular buildings date from the Renaissance and the early Baroque. Particularly noteworthy are the Füchtingshof and Glandorps-Gang and Glandorps-Hof, housing for widows of mariners and merchants.

The Zeughaus (armoury) and St Anne's Convent are today used as Museums of Ethnology and Municipal Art and Cultural History. Lübeck’s best-known landmark is the Holstentor Gate, built from 1464 to 1478 to protect the harbour. The structure today houses the Museum of Municipal History.

Travemünde is a part of the city located a short distance away on the Baltic coast. In this federally certified spa resort, you can enjoy sailing, tennis, golf, hiking and much more. The Baltic Bike Path takes you along the Baltic Sea nearly 300 miles from Travemünde west to the Danish border.

By car, access to Lübeck is via the A1 autobahn north and south. From Hamburg, 40 trains arrive daily, taking 40 minutes; there are seven trains a day from Berlin, taking 4 hours, 40 minutes. A long-distance bus service from such cities as Berlin, Kiel, and Flensburg is provided by Autokraft GmbH. A ferryboat service from Denmark to Lübeck is offered by ScandLines; the journey takes 1 hour, 15 minutes. TT Saga Line operates between the German port of Travemünde and the Swedish port of Trelleborg.