greetings from luneburg germany today we're going to be visiting a town that
rose to prosperity during the middle ages thanks to salt aka white gold
this is a legacy that is still visible today namely in the form of dipping streets and
leaning buildings but we'll get to that part a bit later in the video in today's tour we'll
show you where to get the best panoramic views of luna bulk the views are just so spectacular we'll
admire that gothic red brick architecture that dominates the town we'll walk along the river
and spot the old medieval crane we'll sample some unique chocolate flavors including salt
the local favorite and we'll finish off the day with some hearty dishes in a cozy german pub
the following is our luna book travel guide and in this video we're going to be sharing 10 things
to do in lüneburg germany during your visit so guys that is what we need to climb let's go do it
the water tower the water tower our first stop of the day was the water tower and
fun fact this is the tallest building in luneburg's old town that is not a church
the tower stands 55 meters tall and offers great panoramic views okay so we made it into the water
tower and we are currently taking the elevator all the way to the top and then you get to come down
by the stairs so they've really made it easy for visitors we are saving our legs for the way down
so we have made it to the top and this is definitely where you're going to get your best
city views i'm talking 360 degree views you can see in all directions i actually didn't realize
how many churches there were in the city but being up here i am surrounded by church steeples in all
directions so that's pretty cool to see we've also got windmills off in the distance you can
see the beautiful historic town red rooftops all around and then just forest off in the distance
like this town is surrounded by so much greenery so yeah it is so worth coming up here so worth it
and something else that's really cool is that this place gets a hundred thousand tourists a year yeah
and about i think 220 weddings two out of every three days there's a wedding being held exactly
and they also put on concerts a few times a month but yeah if you find yourself visiting the city
definitely definitely make time for this activity because the views like i'm saying the views are
just so spectacular they are wow cool little find here yeah we were just about to leave and this
caught my eye and i was wondering are these donors no these are the all the couples who got married
look it has their their names and everything and the date and uh sometimes a little message
beside it too very cute yeah married at the water tower yeah what a cool place to get married huh
then it was time to make our way down the tower this is the
part where you get to descend through the old water tank which is 500 cubic meters
we then continued over to plat amzande which is one of the oldest squares in
luneburg germany and also one of the most important medieval squares in all of germany
medieval trade routes used to run through here so if you were to travel back in time several hundred
years you'd find merchants bringing their goods by cards to trade and haggle in this very spot
we tend to enjoy wandering around the new place without much direction and in this
instance we ended up in front of the basilica of saint nicolai this is one of the three main
churches in town and it was built between 1407 and 1440 in the gothic style don't forget to
look up at the star rib vault which is a pretty unique design for northern germany
okay so we just finished visiting the basilica of saint nikolai here in the old town and apparently
this used to be the church for the sailors and the salt barrel coopers so that's a cool little bit of
history right there and just as we walked in they were starting concerts an organ concert so we gave
a donation and we were able to just sit there on the pews and enjoy the music it was very peaceful
they also have a nice collection of artwork so we kind of walked around enjoyed a bit of that and
then they have what we thought was a crypt but actually when we went down there it's a room of
silence where you can sit in prayer and meditation and ponder um so we visited that as well and yeah
i really like it it's gothic architecture once again it's modeled after saint mary's in lubeck
and yeah a very beautiful church it's not the main one the main one was closed when we tried earlier
after our visit to the basilica we walked over to the banks of the river ilmanal which flows
through the town this is a really picturesque area and if you're looking for postcard perfect photo
ops this is where you'll find them you have the weeping willow swing next to the river you can
see buildings in a variety of architectural styles all standing next to each other
and you also have the old wooden crane which was first mentioned in documents in the year 1330.
this crane was mainly used for the transport of salt and salted herring
and although it is not in use today its current state is still operational which is amazing
so we've just been walking down to the river here and this is probably the most iconic view
of the city i mean you just have the old crane you have the restaurants that are located right by the
riverbank and then you also have the stream and the bridge i mean i also noticed some love locks
as well well we found a restaurant with a view we decided not to eat at the river closer to our
place i know look at that since we visited the water tower in the morning we chose a restaurant
by the tower so we can continue enjoying the views yeah and you've got to enjoy outdoor dining
and fall as long as we can so we're we're milking that uh mid-teen weather the restaurant we ate at
is called frida's ambassador and we had a lovely meal i got their parmesan cream soup with pesto
and sam went for a giant burger oh so this is a wonderful looking burger this is the haida burger
let's open the hood wow look at all the greens up here looks like we have a kind of a salsa
dressing on top with some onions pickles loads of cheese and oh wow a nice stick burger you
think you can get all of that in one bite i don't know it's pretty big guys do the test
wow that looks juicy that is a juice asaurus rex that is a beautiful burger
wow but then i have some seasoned fries over here check those out mayo dip
that afternoon we visited johannes kierke which is the oldest lutheran church in luneburg
much like the basilica we visited earlier this one is also built in that red brick gothic style
it was here that johann sebastian bach composed his first works
and don't forget to turn around when you reach the altar because the organ is a work of art
later that afternoon we joined the guided walking tour of luneburg which was super
informative and taught us a lot about the history of the town and its relationship with salt one of
the first stops was the building known as the pregnant house due to its huge bulging valley
this occurred because the walls were built using plaster that contained a large amount of calcium
and because the bricks were fired for too long they absorbed and accumulated moisture
resulting in the walls expanding outwards
we also visited the town hall building which came into being over the course of
several centuries and therefore comprises an eclectic mix of architectural periods
which range from north german brick gothic to baroque this is the largest medieval town
hall in northern germany and it also has a beautiful rose garden out back
during our guided walk we learned how luna bulk found its wealth through salt in the middle ages
during a time when table salt was almost as valuable as gold the problem is that the salt
was underneath the town and water was pumped down to extracted creating cavities this resulted in
parts of the town sinking and it's something that continues to happen to this day you can see this
as you walk past medieval houses that aren't quite level and whose doorways and windows are slanted
we also noticed this when we visited saint michael's church and saw its leaning columns
they actually have a plumb line hanging to the left of the nave
where you can clearly see how slanted everything is
after we finished our walking tour it was time to try some chocolates we ended up at shokotek which
is a chocolate shop that carries a wide variety of hand-selected chocolates from across the globe
we did a little tasting and also bought some chocolates to take home as gifts
some of the highlights included the salted caramel chocolate
pistachio and nougat and then black licorice for sam if you've been watching this channel for a
while you know full well about his salted licorice obsession one bite there you go
i don't think i've had salty chocolate before but it's very mild yes and it's a nice saltiness
all right guys we have had a very fun afternoon we just came out of the shokotek it is basically a
chocolate shop that sells chocolates from all over the world and we got to do a tasting and mayo mai
we ate some amazing chocolates in there seriously we had a canadian chocolate surprise surprise
that is made with goat milk and it has goat cheese and it just had like this nice like saltiness to
it it was so good then sam tried a salted caramel that just like oh that was the best and then it
melted in your licorice as well so i'm going to show you what we got we just couldn't resist we
had to buy some chocolate this one here it's a marzipan chocolate with almonds i'm gifting
these to my mom because she loves marzipan she lived in northern germany for many years
so her taste buds are accustomed to it and this is another marzipan chocolate with orange
and then along with her chocolate tasting we did a little bit of a wine tasting the lady who owns
this chocolate shop is originally from franconia in southern germany and she brings franconian
wine let me turn it around franconian wine that's the very distinct shape of the bottle from that
area and it's won a number of awards we tried that one very good yeah and so that's another gift the
see nirvana grape so overall yeah a really good experience we highly recommend going there yes
we would choco tech a lot of fun and some tasty chocolates to take back home with souvenirs yes
by then it was dinner time so we went off in search of food we ended up at klone for some
hearty german pub fare and a beer of course hello from the german pub we are at crone
so i am having right now the local pilsner it is called officially the lune burger pilsner
and this is the big one of course 400 ml my first official beer here in germany
with you with your apple juice by the way
that's a great pilsner always good to go local guys if you're traveling
go for the local beer and yeah we're gonna have uh we haven't even actually ordered our food yet
but we're going to get some hearty potato dishes for supper tonight that's what we've decided on
came out here fast so i got a giant baked potato with what appears to be
like a bit of a yogurt sauce yeah it's got pickled herring and apples fancy schmancy
looks so good that's good i feel like i'm having a potato salad
with a bit of herring on the side look you can see the chunks of fish there oh you can
so nice look at that there's the fish it's like sweet and sour cause it's been marinated yeah so
you get that sourness and onions as well and it came with a side salad trying to balance things
out here because we are eating quite heavy nice hearty meal for a fall evening though is it not um
you know what i love about pub food they do not mess around with the portions
this is a big plate so i'm basically having a potato pancake it comes with mushrooms
chicken and a gravy creamy gravy sauce so first bite get some chicken in there go to petite hmm
so delicious the crispy pancake creamy sauce chicken
mushrooms oh yeah that's so hearty so good perfect for fall day
all right guys we are back in the hotel after a very fun day exploring yeah
how did you like it i loved it i think you know what it's been my favorite city to walk around
on foot yes charming everything about it i love i mean we got to visit some fascinating cathedrals
the views from the water tower we met some great local people some guides it just was a great day
like everything was positive everything was fun and the weather held off like we did not get the
rain even though it was teasing us all day i know so that was great really able to cover
a lot and yeah as you said we had a great time i loved the architecture in this place you know that
hanseatic style with the red brick gothic it was so cool and right now we are coming to you from
our hotel we are staying in das state house and it's pretty cool because it's a historic property
and that means all the floors are crooked and like if you look at the doorways they're like slanted
which is perfect because the whole town is like this yeah we had a really lovely stay here lots
of cool artwork in this hotel it's very bright and colorful so we really enjoyed it and tomorrow
we are saying goodbye to luna book and we are continuing on towards cele so we will see you
in the next episode yeah thanks so much for watching guys
you