Lübeck, Kiel and Hamburg November 12-14

On my final weekend in Germany for this time around, I made a virtue out of having had to move out of my apartment in Bamberg and went on a sight-seeing trip to the north part of the country. With this trip to the states of Schleswig Holstein and Hamburg I have now been in each of the German states, at least briefly.


I took a night train to the city of Lübeck that arrived at 6:00 am on the morning of Friday November 12. I had to kill a few hours before I could check into my hotel. I then walked around the city on the cold and blustery day and went to the natural history museum, the Kunsthalle art museum built in a former Convent of St. Anne and the Burgkloster history and archaeology museum, built in a notorious prison during the Nazi period.

The city gate of Lübeck

The next day, Saturday November 13 I took a train to the city of Kiel, where I spent a drizzly day walking around and visiting the natural history museum, aquarium and Kunsthalle art museum.

Then on Sunday November 14 I took a train to Hamburg. I first took an hour and half bus tour and then went to the Kunst and Gewerbe Museum. I then walked around to the city hall area, where the Christmas tree lights were being installed for the advent market that was soon to open in the city square.

The Hamburg city hall

I also went to the Völkerkunde ethnographic museum, where an international crafts fair was underway. The craft displays covered up the exhibits in much of the museum.

The craft displays at the Völkerkunde Museum

I then rode up and down some of the subway lines, before ending up back at the train station. My evening train leaving Hamburg was overfull, so I had to stand for the first couple of hours. After changing trains in Köln, I arrived at the Frankfurt airport at 2:30 am on Monday November 15 and I hung out until my flight to Chicago left at 8:00 am.