In the middle of the 12th century, Lübeck developed into the cradle of the Hanseatic League, of which it was considered the de facto capital and most important city from then on.

Lübeck's historic old town, located on a densely built-up island, is Germany's most extensive UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Due to their southwestern location, Travemünde and the nearby seaside resorts of Niendorf, Timmendorfer Strand, Scharbeutz, Haffkrug, Sierksdorf, and Grömitz are among Germany's most visited.

Lübeck Main Station is located on the Vogelfluglinie railway line connecting continental Europe (Hamburg) to Scandinavia (Copenhagen) via the future Fehmarn Belt fixed link.

Liubice (the place-name means "lovely") was founded on the banks of the River Trave about 4 km (2.5 mi) north of the present-day city-center of Lübeck.

In 1143, Adolf II, Count of Schauenburg and Holstein, founded the modern town as a German settlement on the river island of Bucu.

The town and castle changed ownership for a period afterwards and formed part of the Duchy of Saxony until 1192, of the County of Holstein until 1217, and of the kingdom of Denmark until the Battle of Bornhöved in 1227.

[citation needed] In the 14th century, Lübeck became the "Queen of the Hanseatic League", being by far the largest and most powerful member of that medieval trade organization.

In 1375, Emperor Charles IV named Lübeck one of the five "Glories of the Empire", a title shared with Venice, Rome, Pisa, and Florence.

Several conflicts about trading privileges resulted in fighting between Lübeck (with the Hanseatic League) and Denmark and Norway – with varying outcome.

[citation needed] In the course of the war of the Fourth Coalition against Napoleon, troops under Marshal Jean Baptiste Bernadotte (who would later become King of Sweden) occupied Lübeck after a battle against Prussian General Gebhard Blücher on 6 November 1806 due to the latter's illegal use of the city as a fortress, in violation of Lübeck's neutrality, following the French pursuit of his corps after the Battle of Jena-Auerstadt.

On the day of the Battle of Loigny the commander of the 17th Division, Hugo von Kottwitz, of the morning advanced in front of the Fusilier battalion of the regiment, urging them to "commemorate the bravery of the Hanseatic League".

[4] Hildebrandt installed Otto-Heinrich Drechsler as the Bürgermeister, displacing the duly-elected Social Democrat, Paul Löwigt [de].

Under the provisions of the Greater Hamburg Act, Lübeck was absorbed into the Prussian Province of Schleswig-Holstein, effective 1 April 1937, thereby losing its 711-year status as an independent free city.

During World War II (1939–1945), Lübeck became the first German city to suffer substantial Royal Air Force (RAF) bombing.

This raid destroyed three of the main churches and large parts of the built-up area; the bells of St Marienkircke plunged to the stone floor.

In total, nearly 20% of the city centre was entirely destroyed, with particular damage in the Gründungsviertel neighborhood, where the rich merchants from the Hanseatic League had once lived.

[citation needed] Lübeck's population grew considerably, from about 150,000 in 1939 to more than 220,000 after the war, owing to an influx of ethnic German refugees expelled from the former eastern provinces of Germany in the Communist Bloc.

Built in 1286, the Hospital of the Holy Spirit at Koberg is one of the oldest existing social institutions in the world and one of the most important buildings in the city.

Other sights include: The composer Franz Tunder was principal organist in the Marienkirche, Lübeck, when he initiated the tradition of weekly Abendmusiken.

His well-known 1901 novel Buddenbrooks made readers in Germany (and later worldwide, through numerous translations) familiar with the manner of life and mores of the 19th-century Lübeck bourgeoisie.

Lothar Malskat was hired to restore medieval frescoes of the Marienkirche, which were unearthed as a result of severe bomb damage during World War II.

Writer and Nobel laureate Günter Grass featured this incident in his 1986 novel The Rat; from 1995 he lived close to Lübeck in Behlendorf, where he was buried in 2015.

According to local legend, marzipan was first made in Lübeck, possibly in response either to a military siege of the city or a famine year.

The story, perhaps apocryphal, is that the city ran out of all food except stored almonds and sugar, which were used to make loaves of marzipan "bread".

[18] Like other coastal North German communities, Fischbrötchen and Brathering are popular takeaway foods, given the abundance of fish varieties.

The Graduate School for Computing in Medicine and Life Sciences is a central faculty of the university and was founded by the German Excellence Initiative.

Due to forest Lauerholz in its west and river Trave in the north, Schlutup is relatively isolated from the other city parts.

The station is mostly served by regional rail services to Hamburg, Lüneburg, Kiel, the Island of Fehmarn and Szczecin (Poland).

The Scandinavienkai (the quay of Scandinavia) is the departure point for ferry routes to Malmö and Trelleborg (Sweden); Liepāja (Latvia); Helsinki (Finland) and Saint Petersburg (Russia).