by Anthony Shaw

Created on: August 22, 2010

The city of Lübeck is to be found in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein. It is Germany's largest port on the Baltic Sea, and has prospered for centuries due to its beneficial location. It was founded in its current form in 1143, was already a significant port city in the 13th century, and became a vital and vibrant member of the Hanseatic League. It is rich in history from this period, and much of the town retains a medieval look, that has been purposefully and carefully, maintained, but one should not ignore the fact that it remains a port of great significance even now in the 21st century. Goods from the port can be speedily shipped along the Elbe-Lübeck canal on to the river Elbe, and from there across the country as a whole.

The current population is somewhere in the region of 220,000 people. A substantial number of the current inhabitants are the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of people who fled from the Eastern part of the country following the communist take-over there, and were assimilated into the local population during the 1940s and 1950s.

Its location might be described as "interesting", even "fascinating", but for many people in Germany it was also seen as a pearl hidden away in a far-off, somewhat remote, corner of the country. These days though, modern communications have brought the city more into the mainstream. Lübeckers can now proudly point to their airport, which has daily flights to and from the UK (via Ryanair to London and Edinburgh), Sweden (Stockholm can be reached, again on Ryanair), Italy (Ryanair has flights to both Milan/Bergamo and Pisa), Poland (on Wizzair to Gdansk), and locations in Spain, Portugal and the Ukraine.

For those coming from international destinations, which do not conveniently fit into this flight schedule, then arrival at Germany's major international airport in Frankfurt is recommended. From there, you can make use of Germany's excellent railway service to reach the city. The journey time is somewhere in the region of five and a quarter hours, and will usually involve a change of train in Hamburg.

Anyone wishing, meanwhile, to take the chance to arrive in Lübeck by the "traditional route" (i.e. by sea) can do so by taking the ferry service from Trelleborg in Sweden. The service is operated by TT Lines, four services a day are available, and the estimated journey time is seven hours. This is a car ferry service, so those driving round Europe can make use of the service to

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