Free Hanseatic City of Luebeck1841

Lübeck – the former capital and Queen City of the Hanseatic League – was founded in the 12th century and prospered until the 16th century as the major trading center for Northern Europe. It has remained a center for maritime commerce to this day, particularly with the Nordic countries. Despite the damage, it suffered during the Second World War, the old city’s basic structure consisted mainly of 15th- and 16th-century patrician residences, public monuments (the famous Holstentor brick gate), churches, and salt storehouses, remains unaltered. Hanseatic City Lübeck Passport

Lübeck is on the World Heritage List of the UNESCO Hanseatic City Lübeck Passport

Founded in 1143 on the Baltic coast of northern Germany, Lübeck was from 1230 to 1535 one of the principal cities of the Hanseatic League, a league of merchant cities that came to hold a monopoly over the trade of the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. The plan of the Old Town island of Lübeck, with its blade-like outline determined by two parallel routes of traffic running along the crest of the island, dates back to the beginnings of the city and attests to its expansion as a commercial center of Northern Europe.

To the west, the most affluent quarters with the trading houses and the homes of the wealthy merchants are located, and to the east, small commerce and artisans. The rigorous socio-economic organization emerges through the singular disposition of the Buden, small workshops set in the back courtyards of the rich hares, to which access was provided through a narrow network of alleyways (Gänge).

Lübeck has remained an urban monument characteristic of a significant historical structure even though the city was severely damaged during World War II. Almost 20% of it was destroyed, including the most famous monumental complexes-the Cathedral of Lübeck, the churches of St Peter and St Mary, and especially the Gründungsviertel, the hilltop quarter where the gabled houses of the wealthy merchants clustered. Selective reconstruction has permitted the replacement of the most important churches and monuments. Hanseatic City Lübeck Passport

As outstanding buildings, the most authentic areas of the Hanseatic City of Lübeck exemplify the power and the historical role of the Hanseatic League. The heart of the Old Town is surrounded by water on all sides and, partly, by dams and park areas. Despite the damage it suffered during the Second World War, the Old City’s basic structure consists mainly of 15th, and 16th-century Patrician residences, public monuments (the famous Holstentor brick gate), churches, and salt storehouses remain unaltered. Today, its layout is clearly recognizable as a harmonious, complete masterpiece, and its uniquely uniform silhouette is visible from far. Hanseatic City Lübeck Passport

The Passport

One double sheet, 34.8 x 22.5 cm. Printed and handwritten passport of the Free and Hanseatic City of Lübeck from December 6, 1841.

“Im Namen der Hansestadt Lübeck werden alle Civil- und Militair-Behörden ersucht” dem “Schüler Anton Gütschow, gebürtig und wohnhaft in Lübeck, welcher sich durch Persönlichkeit gehörig legitimiert und um seinen Pass nach Frankreich, England und Holland über Hamburg nachgesucht hat, frei und ungehindert passieren und repassieren, ihm auch nöthigenfalls Schutz und Beistand angedeiehn zu lassen”. Hanseatic City Lübeck Passport

Signed by Anton Gütschow and (presumably) Dr. Matthias Sievers, alderman of the Hanseatic City of Lübeck. The letterhead with the double-headed imperial eagle with Hanseatic coat of arms as a breastplate. With the stamp “Polizey Siegel der Stadt Lübeck” and on the verso two further seals, various stamps and the handwritten confirmations of the French, British, Dutch, and Belgian consulates on departure and onward travel. – Anton Christoph Gütschow (1823-?) was the son of Carl Philipp Gütschow, a Lübeck physician and the first doctor of the Lübeck mental hospital. Gütschow Junior also became a physician.

His father is considered the model for the character of the family doctor Dr. Friedrich Grabow in Thomas Mann’s “Buddenbrooks.”

The German Empire passports of the Free Hanseatic City of Lübeck are already one of the rarest booklets of a collector can grab. Still, such a double-folio passport from 1841 with a rather prominent name is indeed something outstanding! When the passport was issued in 1841, Lübeck had a population of only 25,000 citizens. Nowadays, it’s 221,000.

More details on the city https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/272/

Hanseatic City Lübeck Passport

Tom Topol | Passport Historian & Author
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