Lübeck

The birthplace of the Hanseatic League was the centre of northern Europe for centuries. Lübeck's trading network spread throughout Scandinavia and the Baltic, bringing new trading opportunities, laws and architecture. The north was made in Lübeck's image.

Despite bombing, the partly rebuilt UNESCO world-heritage old town is intact. Behind its signature monument the Holstentor are red-brick churches, town houses, a historic town hall and a historical  harbour of ships that recall the port's 19th century. Sett-paved streets remain and a network of alleys and residential courtyards have survived.

In a place of such significance, museums must tell part of the story. The extraordinary Museumsquartier-St-Annen brings together an ensemble of devotional art, 16th and 17th century portraiture, domestic interiors, porcelain and historical musical instruments. The Europäisches Hansemuseum tells the Hanseatic story. Another house gathers exhibits the life of Lübeck's Willy Brandt, anti-Nazi resistance operative and later German chancellor.