Lüneburg

The Lüne Mill is an impressive, half-timbered, richly decorated old mill that dates to the late 16th century, but has been extensively restored.

The Bell House and its courtyard, Bell Court (Glockenhof) make for an attractive little sideshow off Lüneburg's main square. The building was a bell foundry dating to 1482, but was also used in emergencies to cast cannon for the defence of the town.

The Hospital Zum Roten Hahn is a picturesque building just north of the main pedestrian area that has three attractive, half-timbered gables and a charming inner courtyard surrounding by the poorhouses from the 16th and 17th centuries. The view of St. Nicholas Church from the courtyard is a classic photo shot.

The German Salt Museum is a journey through the history of salt mining and trading within the walls of the former saltworks that only closed in 1980, bringing to an end the town's centuries-old association with the industry that made its name. As well as displays and artefacts there is the opportunity for visitors to make their own salt in small pans, reminiscent of the way it was once done.

St. Michael's Church in the Altstadt once hosted a choir for boys with outstanding treble voices who came from poor families. Its most famous student was Johann Sebastian Bach who attended St. Michael's School from 1700 to 1703 and sang soprano in the church's choir. When his voice broke around 1703, he switched to playing the harpsichord to accompany the choir. The church is worth visiting for its interesting architecture. Although some of the foundations came from an earlier abbey and date to 956, work on the rest of the foundations for the current church began in 1376 and was finished in 1379. The building itself was completed in 1412, while the tower followed in 1434 and has one of the oldest bells in Europe. Since the church was built on salt mines, over time, and due to over mining, the ground under the church dropped by 70 cm, which also tilted the structure of the church in a very interesting and strange way. Although strong steel braces now support the building, one cannot help but notice that most of its main supports and Gothic columns are very crooked. Even the orchestra section is crooked.

The Senkungsgebiet is the area of Lüneburg that has suffered from subsidence as a result of mining. The salt was found below this part of the town. As it was fetched by floating the salt gallery (that was not supported sufficiently afterwards) the town sank over the years. Now it is about 5 m lower than it was in the beginning of the salt mining. If you stand on the Marienplatz and look into the direction of the Michaelis Church, you get a good impression of this. Being the oldest part of the medieval town, there are a lot of small, beautiful houses, many of them having been carefully restored.

The Kalkberg is a limestone hill and one of the town's landmark. The limestone won from this hill was used for building houses. In Katzenstraße, there is a house with a huge buckle in the wall. This was caused by the limestone in the mortar that absorbed water from the air and hence lost its stability. Other houses collapsed due to this loss of stability, but this one remained. The hill itself is an easy climb and offers good views over the town.

A church built in the 15th century

A beautiful brick Gothic water tower serving as a lookout point these days. There's an elevator, but it makes sense to go down by stairs and see the internals of the water tower accompanied by different facts about water consumption.

Lüne Abbey is about 2 km from the town centre. There has been an abbey on the site since the 1100s, but the present day Lüne Abbey – now a convent – was founded in 1372.

The Salü Spa is a thermal bath complex comprising indoor and outdoor pools, saunas, massage and gym facilities, a bar and restaurant. It's a nice place to relax after a long day especially in winter. The complex features a large wave pool, several whirlpools, a children's pool with huge slide, a heated indoor/outdoor pool open all-year round and a salt floating pool. All the pools are saline. The sauna complex features a steam bath, an outdoor sauna with fireplace, a Finnish sauna, a eucalyptus sauna, a light sauna, in addition to a rose aromatherapy room. But remember, it's Northern Europe so everyone is naked (don't worry, not in the pool area...) and the facilities are mixed. Upon reservation, the place offers massages of all types, private floating baths, a relaxarium, and other cosmetic services.

Every town has its green area where people flock on sunny days for sports and barbecues. The Kurpark is Lüneburg's central park, with large green areas for sunbathing, a large fountain, ponds, and walking trails.