UMGEBUNGSENTDECKER
TRAVEL IMPRESSIONS OF AN ART AND HISTORY LOVER
and my experiences as a teacher in China
Lueneburg Heath
Salzhandel, Celle und die Welfen
CONTENTS
- Undeloh - in the middle of the heather
- Wilsede and the heather in autumn
- Lüneburg, the beautiful brick city
- Turnstones and rope stones, special features of the brick Gothic
- The Lüneburg town hall, one of the most impressive town halls in Germany
- Lüneburg's largest salt storage facility
- The oldest canal in Europe, built in 1398 to transport salt
- Lauenburg, southernmost city Schleswig-Holstein
- Heath cloisters, outposts on the Slavic border
undeloh
This time it took us to the Lüneburg Heath. The accommodation was in the small town of Undeloh, which was not bad for us, because from there you reach the end of the paved road after a few meters and have to change to a bike, horse-drawn carriage or hiking boots. We felt a bit like the end of the world, but that's exactly what we wanted.
Undeloh is more than quiet in October. The small shop, which still sells bread rolls in the morning, will stop selling bread rolls at the end of October until next year. There, in addition to various things for breakfast and some other simple foods, you can get souvenirs made from processed Heidschnucken wool in any form: Warming slippers, skins, shepherd's vests, heather liqueur, heather honey, corn, etc.
All is well with the world in the small shop because the owner doesn't even have to lock it when she disappears for a moment.
Wilsede and the heath in autumn
From the end of the paved road it goes to Wilsede, a town with 40 inhabitants. The place consists of a collection of typical Heath farmhouses that look exactly as you would imagine: thatched, low hipped roofs, in each house a large gate in the middle of the half-timbered facade. The plots of land are fenced in with boulder walls with all kinds of moss and grass growing in the gaps - photo opportunities wherever you look.
Vom Ende der asphaltierten Straße in Undeloh geht es direkt in die Heide. Unser Ziel am nächsten Tag war Wilsede, ein winziger Ort mit 40 Einwohnern. Den Weg dorthin kann man mit dem Rad, auf einer Kutsche oder zu Fuß zurücklegen. Wilsede besteht aus einer Ansammlung typischer Heide-Bauernhäuser, die genau so aussehen, wie man es sich vorstellt: reetgedeckte, tief heruntergezogene Walmdächer, ein großes Tor mittig in der Fachwerkfassade, Mauern aus Findlingen, die die Grundstücke einfrieden - Fotomotive, wohin man schaut.
This time it took us to the Lüneburg Heath. The accommodation was in the small town of Undeloh, which was not a bad thing, because after a few meters you get to the end of the paved road and have to change to a bike, a carriage or hiking boots. We felt a bit like we were at the end of the world, but that's exactly what we wanted.
Undeloh is more than calm in October. The small shop that still sells bread rolls will stop selling bread rolls at the end of October until next year. In addition to various things for breakfast and some other simple foods, you can get souvenirs made from processed Heidschnucken wool in any form: from old-fashioned, but very warming "slippers" to skins to shepherds' vests. There are also heather liqueur, heather honey and grain, as well as small heather sheep stuffed animals, placemats with heather motifs, etc.
However, anyone who thinks they can still get cucumbers or tomatoes for breakfast at the end of October, like a young woman before me who then asked desperately what she should have breakfast now, is lost. There is the simple life here. In the past, vacationers were happy that things could be so straightforward and simple. Today, the young, educated person needs vegan, gluten- and lactose-free food, fresh sprouts and chia seeds. But it doesn't exist. Perhaps the area should introduce health food stores if it wants to stay current as a tourist region. It's not that far-fetched - the search for the simple life has made the Lüneburg Heath endure through the ages. Criticism of civilization expresses itself differently today, but in essence it is still comparable to the beginnings over a hundred years ago, only that today the organic products sometimes have to be transported from South America at great expense and are more an expression of education and good income than of real ecological awareness.
The world is still all right in the little shop because the owner doesn't even have to lock it when she disappears for a moment.
The door to the holiday home was also unlocked when we arrived, eggs and potatoes can be bought at a stall without a seller and put the money in a box, etc. It's reassuring that there is still such a thing.
From the end of the paved road it goes to Wilsede, a place with 40 inhabitants. Maybe it is good to hike there in October, because this destination is sure to attract a lot of tourists in summer. The place consists of a collection of typical heather farmhouses that look exactly as one imagines: thatched, deep hipped roofs, in each house a large gate in the middle of the half-timbered facade. The properties are fenced in with walls made of boulders, in the gaps of which all kinds of moss and grass grow - photo opportunities wherever you look. Since the courtyards appear to be interspersed in the pine forest and only through their accumulation give rise to the idea of a village at all, there is no town center. The museum , which is surrounded by several inns, forms a kind of center.
From Wilsede you can continue to the so-called Totengrund, one of the most mystical places on the Lüneburg Heath. Pastor Wilhelm Bode once saved this area from development in 1906 by buying up the site, creating the first nature reserve in Germany. The Totengrund is a kind of valley basin into which you can look down from a hill. The juniper bushes are strangely isolated on the heather. In the morning fog, with snow or during the heather bloom, this sight can certainly trigger meditative or spiritual feelings in one or the other. For indigenous peoples, this might be a sacred place.
During our walks and bike rides through the heather, unbelievable colors emerged: One had the feeling that the land was bathed in an earthy color spectrum: the peat, the dried up grass, the yellow and orange of the autumn leaves, the red of the bricks, the black and white the Heidschnucken, now and then a piece of blue sky, shining, pale yellow birch trees in the light of the low sun, old, large oaks under which you can walk over crunching acorns, juniper bushes that often protrude individually from the flat, barren land in the sky again and again migratory birds that make their way south in a wedge formation.
In the evening the fire crackles in the restaurant, while it gets dark early outside and on the way home you only meet a cat running across the street.
From Wilsede you can continue to the so-called Totengrund, one of the most mystical places on the Lüneburg Heath. Pastor Wilhelm Bode once saved this area from development in 1906 by buying up the land, creating Germany's first nature reserve. The Totengrund is a kind of valley that you can look down into from a hill. The juniper bushes are oddly isolated on the heathland. In the morning fog, in snow or during the heather blossom, this sight can trigger meditative or spiritual feelings. For primitive peoples this would perhaps be a sacred place.
During our walks and bike rides through the heath, incredible colors appeared: you had the feeling that the land was immersed in an earthy spectrum of colors: the peat, the dried grass, the yellow and orange of the autumn leaves, the red of the bricks, the black and white the Heidschnucken, now and then a piece of blue sky, bright, light yellow birches in the light of the low sun, old, large oaks, under which one walks over crunching acorns, juniper bushes, which often individually protrude from the flat, barren land, in the sky again and again migratory birds, which make their way south in wedge formation.
In the evenings the fire crackles in the restaurant while it is getting dark early outside and on the way home all you see is a cat running across the street.
Luneburg
Lüneburg is a pretty lively city. There are many shops for Lüneburgers or people from the surrounding area, but there are also a number of beautiful gastronomic offers in traditional-looking inns, where you have the feeling that tourism is the cause of the diverse offer. The city is far from being a museum like Rothenburg, for example, although it partially has the potential to do so. At first one is surprised by the many old buildings. Lüneburg has an almost completely preserved cityscape of half-timbered and brick buildings.
Turnstones and rope stones
The brick houses in the rich cities of the north often have decorations, for example on the entrance portals, where the stones deviate from the usual rectangular shape. Turned bricks are particularly common in Lüneburg, with a ridge spiraling upwards over several stacked bricks. So-called rope stones, where the bricks look like rope twisted from several strands, are also popular. The shiny blue and black surface of some bricks, which you can see in the photo below, was created by salt glaze that was added during the bricks' firing process. During this process, sodium vapors are deposited on the bricks and combine with the quartz in the clay to form a silicate, the salt glaze.
Variants of North German brick design such as dew stones and salt glazes can be clearly seen here on a portal of the Lüneburg town hall
Beliebt sind auch sogenannte Tausteine, bei denen die Form der Ziegel einem Tau ähneln, das aus mehreren Strängen gedreht ist. Die blau und schwarz glänzende Oberfläche mancher Ziegel entstand durch Salzglasur, die während des Brennvorgangs dem Ofen hinzugefügt wurde. Natriumdämpfe legen sich bei diesem Vorgang auf die Ziegel und verbinden sich mit dem Quarz im Ton zu einem Silikat, der Salzglasur.
The town hall
One of the absolute highlights in the city is the town hall, of which no photo can be seen inside due to the ban on photos. The building was started in 1230 and has been added to over the centuries, with the old never being adapted to fashion or destroyed, so that the entire history can be viewed without gaps, especially since the town hall was never destroyed in wars. Particularly noteworthy are the court arbor, the prince's hall, the old archive, the chancellery and the large council chamber. It is certainly one of the most important town halls in northern Germany, if not all of Germany.
The salt - Lüneburg's wealth
Lüneburg was a rich city, which you can see from the fact that the city was built of stone. The wealth was based on salt, which was mined for a thousand years until 1980. Because of this secure and lucrative source of income, the Lüneburgers had no industry worth mentioning, which they spared in World War II.
1400 historical buildings have been preserved, so that the city today presents a fairly closed historical picture.
The Lüneburg salt was obtained by boiling. The very salty brine that was pumped out of the earth had to be boiled, for this you needed wood and since large beech and oak forests were in front of the city, they were cut down without further ado, from which today's Lüneburg Heath emerged.
In the German Salt Museum
Replica of boiling pans in the German Salt Museum
Model of the Lüneburg Saline in the German Salt Museum
Lüneburg's largest salt storage facility
The Viscule merchant family lived in the Wasserviertel since 1291. She traded in everything, but especially in salt, and built her building, the Handelshof, at the harbor. In 1485 the family went bankrupt. The building came into the possession of the city and was converted into Lüneburg's largest salt storage facility. Two fires in the 20th century hit the building, but a few years ago the Visculenhof was renovated again as part of a renovation project for the entire water district and today it looks like the pictures below.
The Wasserviertel is a beautiful part of Lüneburg, where the city with the old harbor district opens up towards the Ilmenau. At this point you can especially feel the historical trading character of the city. The old houses have been lovingly restored, at the harbor there are numerous restaurants with outdoor seating that are terraced along the water. The view goes from the Stintmarkt to the old crane at the cobblestone old fish market with weeping willows on the opposite side of the harbor, to the baroque facade of the old department store, the bridge over the Ilmenau with its flowered, wrought-iron railing . On the southern edge of the harbor basin, the two mills Lüner Mühle and Abtsmühle are opposite each other on the banks of the Ilmenau and are connected by a weir. In the Lüner mill, grain was ground for the Lüne monastery (more on the Heide monasteries later), the abbot's mill belonged to a council family. At the Abtsmühle there is a tower with the conspicuous name Abtswasserkunst, which ensured that water was directed into the city. Both mills date from the 16th century.
The water district should not be missed.
The water district
The Wasserviertel is a beautiful part of Lüneburg, where the city opens up to the Ilmenau at the old harbor. At this point you can especially feel the historical trading character of the city. The old houses have been lovingly restored, at the harbor there are numerous restaurants with outdoor seating that are terraced along the water. The view goes from the Stintmarkt to the old crane at the cobblestone old fish market with weeping willows on the opposite side of the harbor, to the baroque facade of the old department store and to the bridge over the Ilmenau with its flowered, wrought-iron railing. On the southern edge of the harbor basin, the Lüner Mühle and the Abtsmühle are opposite each other on the banks of the Ilmenau and are connected by a weir. In the Lüner mill, grain was ground for the Lüne monastery (more on the Heide monasteries later), the abbot's mill belonged to a council family. At the Abtsmühle there is a tower with the conspicuous name Abtswasserkunst, which ensured that water was channeled into the city. Both mills date from the 16th century.
The water district should not be missed.
The view goes from the Stintmarkt to the old crane at the cobbled Old Fish Market with weeping willows on the opposite side of the harbor, to the baroque facade of the Old Department Store and to the bridge over the Ilmenau with its flower-decorated, wrought-iron railing.
On the southern edge of the harbor basin, the Lüner Mühle and the Abtsmühle face each other on the banks of the Ilmenau and are connected by a weir. Grain used to be ground in the Lüner mill for the Lüne monastery (more on the Heide monasteries later), the Abtsmühle belonged to a council family. At the Abtsmühle there is a tower with the eye-catching name Abtswasserkunst, which ensured that water was fed into the city. Both mills date from the 16th century.
Don't miss the water district.
Transport routes for the salt
the Stecknitz Canal
In the Middle Ages, salt was exported from Lüneburg to the entire north and north-east of Europe, which was poor in salt. The trade there took place via Lübeck. In order for the salt to get from Lüneburg to Lübeck, it had to be brought there via the Alte Salzstrasse, one of the most important trade routes at the time, which led from Venice to Haithabu.
In 1398 the Lübeckers built the Stecknitz Canal, the oldest artificial waterway in Europe. It connects the Elbe near Lauenburg with Lübeck, where the salt storerooms, in which the Lüneburg salt was stored, still stand at the Holstentor. The way of the salt started from Lüneburg first over the river Ilmenau to the Elbe, then it went a bit up the Elbe to Lauenburg, where the canal connection to Lübeck began. After all, from Lauenburg the twelve-meter-long and 2.50-meter-wide ships were able to transport 7.5 tons of salt with a draft of only 30-40 centimeters. The trip on the canal took two to three weeks.
In Lübeck, the now renovated Stecknitzfahrer-Amtshaus is located in the Stecknitzfahrerviertel (the so-called Malerwinkel) on the Obertrave below the cathedral with the exact address Hartengrube 25.
If you want to know more about the Stecknitz drivers click here .
In the pictures above, the salt storage facility in Lüneburg can be seen on the left and the salt storage facility in Lübeck on the right, which is located on the Obertrave right next to the Holstentor. The map in the middle shows the former Stecknitz Canal between Lauenburg and Lübeck.
1398 wurde von den Lübeckern der Stecknitzkanal gebaut, die älteste künstliche Wasserstraße Europas. Er verbindet die Elbe bei Lauenburg mit Lübeck, wo heute noch am Holstentor die Salzspeicher stehen, in denen das Lüneburger Salz eingelagert wurde.
In Lübeck, the salt was finally stored in the salt storage facilities next to the Holstentor until it was transported to the whole of north-eastern Europe via Lübeck.
Auf dem Stecknitzkanal erfolgte der Transport des Salzes auf zwölf Meter langen und 2,50 Meter breiten Schiffen, die 7,5 Tonnen Salz mit einem Tiefgang von nur 30-40 Zentimetern transportieren konnten. Die Fahrt dauerte zwei bis drei Wochen.
In Lübeck befindet sich das mittlerweile renovierte Stecknitzfahrer-Amtshaus im Stecknitzfahrerviertel an der Obertrave unterhalb des Doms mit der Anschrift Hartengrube 25.
Wenn du mehr über die Stecknitzfahrer wissen möchte, klicke hier.
Lauenburg
It is the southernmost city of Schleswig-Holstein and it lies on the triangle of Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
The old town on the banks of the Elbe is pretty and well renovated. We were there in the fall and it was pretty deserted. Actually, that amazed us, because the small town has good potential to be a destination for Hamburgers, but Hamburg's city center is 50 kilometers away, maybe it's too far for an after-work beer. You can sit there in one of the restaurants with a view of the Elbe. Perhaps it was so empty because it was already off-season, there was an atmosphere as if the tables and chairs were being brought in in the next few days, with which the long imminent winter and the wait for the next spring would begin.
Heather monasteries
To the northeast, about 15 minutes' walk from the city center of Lüneburg, is the Lüne Monastery , a former Benedictine monastery that still houses an evangelical women's monastery today. The complex is built in brick Gothic, but has been expanded over the centuries and looks like a small village.
In the Lüneburg Heath there are a total of five monasteries, all of which arose during the eastern colonization in the 12th and 13th centuries and were lined up on the border of the Christianized world like pearls on a string that stretched from north to south in the east of the heather. There these desert monasteries were safe from all too frequent harassment in the Wendish border areas.
Today the monasteries are evangelical women's monasteries and carry on some ancient traditions. They consist of picturesque groupings of small half-timbered buildings, Gothic brick buildings, church rooms in Cistercian clarity with a roof turret and ogival cloisters around a quiet cloister courtyard. They are the monasteries of Walsrode , Ebstorf , Medingen , Lüne , Wienhausen . In Ebstorf you can see the largest map of the world from the Middle Ages, which was the largest mappa mundi with a diameter of 3.50 meters. However, today only a facsimile can be seen, because the original was burned during the Second World War in the archive in Hanover, where the card was taken.
The Medingen monastery has the Medingen manuscripts, a collection of fifty preserved, personally stamped prayer books that are unique in Europe and that were written and painted by Cistercian women.
In the Wienhausen Monastery there is a gothic women's choir painted with biblical motifs. The monastery is also known for its Gothic carpets from the 14th and 15th centuries.
A visit to the heather monasteries is highly recommended for an understanding of the cultural history of the Lüneburg Heath. When we were there in autumn, all monasteries had closed their doors until further notice due to the corona. But with one
the next visit is on this topic.
Celle
Celle has a picturesque old town, which consists of over 400 half-timbered houses. On the western edge of the old town is the Guelph Renaissance castle and behind it the castle garden.
The people of Celle are proud of their beautiful old town and I read that it is counted among the top 10 most picturesque cities in Germany. Reaching so high is daring, as there are many picturesque and well-preserved old towns in Germany. Nevertheless, Celle is well positioned and it doesn't really matter whether it is in the top 10 or not, you should definitely visit and enjoy it. It is really a beautiful city that is calm in itself, with a purely preserved cityscape. The houses consist of half-timbered houses with Lower Saxon ornaments, which means that everything looks very different from the stone-built Lüneburg.
Celle belonged to the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg, which arose after Otto the child, the grandson of Heinrich the Lion, bequeathed his territory to his two sons. This resulted in the duchies of Braunschweig and Braunschweig-Lüneburg. Lüneburg was the residential city of Braunschweig-Lüneburg and - as so often in German history - there were disputes between the bourgeoisie of the city and the aristocratic rulers. This ultimately led to the sovereign rulers, i.e. the Guelphs,
were looking for a more peaceful place of residence - namely Celle - this happened in 1433. The residence in Lüneburg on the Kalkberg was razed by the bourgeoisie and the Guelphs settled in Celle for a longer period of time. Life was leisurely there, there were no quarrels, but the citizens viewed the farm as an economic engine that bought their products and provided offices. The court had no excessive need for representation, so that the castle was renovated in the Renaissance style, but the subjects were spared an expensive, baroque new construction. There were no revolts by the citizens against the sovereigns.
The whole thing went on peacefully until 1705 when Celle lost its status as a residence to Hanover. How did that happen?
Once again there was an inheritance: We are in 1648, Braunschweig-Lüneburg was inherited, Celle went to Christian Ludwig, Hanover and Göttingen (the so-called Calenberg) to Georg Wilhelm. Two more brothers were to be apanaged, including the third of the sons, Ernst August, who later played a role because he took over the rule in Hanover (Calenberg) after Christian Ludwig died in Celle and Georg Wilhelm from Hanover his office in Celle had taken over, whereby Hanover had become vacant, so to speak, and was occupied by the third son, Ernst August. That sounds pretty confused again and unfortunately it is.
Georg Wilhelm, who in the meantime resided in Celle, actually wanted to marry Sophie von der Pfalz, who was a candidate for the English royal throne. That would have been a very good match, but he fell in love with Eleonore d'Olbreuse and was into love marriage. That is why he asked his brother Ernst August in Hanover whether he could marry Sophie von der Pfalz in his place so that the way in Celle would be free for Eleonore d'Olbreuse. So it happened - but only under the agreement that the two partial duchies with the residences of Hanover and Celle would be reunited after the death of Georg Wilhelm, under the direction of Calenberg, i.e. Hanover.
So it happened and since the death of Georg Wilhelm in 1705 Hanover became the residential city of the reunited partial duchies.
The son of Ernst August and Sophie von der Pfalz, Georg Ludwig von Braunschweig Lüneburg, became King George I of Great Britain in 1714, which was the beginning of almost two centuries of royal dignity of the House of Hanover from 1714 - 190, the age of the "Georgian era", which lasted from 1714-1837. The names Hanover and George appear in many places in America and Canada: e.g. the state of Georgia, the province of New Brunswick in Canada, Hanover Square in New York City, etc. All of this is due to the Guelfs who were Kings of Britain.
Celle belonged to the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg, which arose after Otto the child, the grandson of Heinrich the Lion, bequeathed his territory to his two sons. This resulted in the duchies of Braunschweig and Braunschweig-Lüneburg. Lüneburg was the residential city of Braunschweig-Lüneburg and there were - as so often in German history - disputes between the bourgeoisie of the city and the aristocratic rulers. This ultimately led to the sovereign rulers, i.e. the Guelphs,
were looking for a more peaceful place of residence - namely Celle - this happened in 1433. The residence in Lüneburg on the Kalkberg was razed by the bourgeoisie and the Guelphs settled in Celle for a longer period of time. Life was leisurely there, there were no quarrels, but the citizens viewed the farm as an economic engine that bought their products and provided offices. The court had no excessive need for representation, so that the castle was renovated in the Renaissance style, but the subjects were spared an expensive, baroque new construction. There were no revolts by the citizens against the sovereigns.
The whole thing went on peacefully until 1705 when Celle lost its status as a residence to Hanover. How did that happen?
Once again - as so often in German history - an inheritance occurred: We are in the year 1648, Braunschweig-Lüneburg was inherited, Celle went to Christian Ludwig, Hanover with Göttingen (the so-called Calenberg) to Georg Wilhelm. Two more brothers were to be apanaged, including the third of the sons, Ernst August, who later played a role because he took over the rule in Hanover (Calenberg) after Christian Ludwig died in Celle and Georg Wilhelm from Hanover his office in Celle had taken over, whereby Hanover had become vacant, so to speak, and was occupied by the third son, Ernst August. That sounds pretty confused again and unfortunately it is.
Georg Wilhelm, who in the meantime resided in Celle, actually wanted to marry Sophie von der Pfalz, who was a candidate for the English royal throne. That would have been a very good match, but he fell in love with Eleonore d'Olbreuse and was into love marriage. That is why he asked his brother Ernst August in Hanover whether he could marry Sophie von der Pfalz in his place so that the way in Celle would be free for Eleonore d'Olbreuse. So it happened - but only under the agreement that the two partial duchies with the residences of Hanover and Celle would be reunited after the death of Georg Wilhelm, under the direction of Calenberg, i.e. Hanover.
After the death of Georg Wilhelm in 1705, Hanover became the royal seat of the reunited partial duchies.
The son of Ernst August and Sophie von der Pfalz, Georg Ludwig von Braunschweig-Lüneburg, became King George I of Great Britain in 1714, which marked the beginning of the almost two centuries long British royal dignity of the House of Hanover from 1714-1901, the age of the "Georgian." era ", which lasted from 1714-1837. The names Hanover and George appear in many places in America and Canada: e.g. the state of Georgia, the province of New Brunswick (New Brunswick) in Canada, Hanover Square in New York City, etc. All of this can be traced back to the Guelphs as them English kings were.