Holstentor
Start on the city side of the Holstentor and the gate looks like a single block: two round towers and a central building fused into one brick face. Walk through the passage to the field side, the side that faced away from the city, and the three parts come apart. Here the towers bulge out as half-circles, reaching 3.5 metres beyond the central block, under conical roofs with a pediment between them. This Brick Gothic gate is one of the last pieces of Lübeck's medieval fortifications and one of only two city gates still standing; the other is the Burgtor. Together with the old town it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987.
Look up over the passage. On the city side the letters SPQL sit between the years 1477 and 1871. They copy Rome's SPQR and stand for Senatus populusque Lubecensis, the Senate and People of Lübeck, yet they were only added in 1871, the year of the gate's restoration and of the founding of the German Reich. The 1477 was long taken for the year of construction; the correct date is now known to be 1478.
The portcullis in the passage dates from 1934 and has nothing to do with the original defences. In its place hung a so-called pipe organ: separate bars that could be lowered one at a time. Defenders could drop all but one or two and leave a narrow gap for their own men to slip through later.
Going inside costs an entrance fee. The two faces and the passage are the heart of the visit; go in if you want to see the four floors from within. Then head into the old town along Petersilienstraße to the Europäisches Hansemuseum, 1290 m and about 18 minutes, the longest leg of the route.
