Lübeck Gabled houses and shops line the river Trave in the old merchants’ quarter of Lübeck, the “Queen of the Hanseatic League,” while the brick spires of Saint Mary’s and Saint Peter’s churches, begun in the thirteenth century by prosperous citizens, loom above. Much of the central city and many of the churches were destroyed in World War II, but they have been rebuilt following medieval plans, and this photo provides a good sense of what a Hansa city centered on commerce would have looked like.
(Insights/UIG via Getty Images)