Hospital of the Holy Spirit in Lübeck

The medieval murals in the church hall are particularly worth seeing. Incidentally, the founder’s deed does not exist on paper. The faces of the benefactors are to be found on the North wall of the church hall. Their prominent positioning directly beside the figure of the returning Christ is explained by the Latin inscription in the book that the judge of worlds is holding in his hand: Quot uni ex minimis meis feci(s)tis michi fecitstis - whatsoever you do to the least of your brothers and sisters, you do unto me. The direct relationship between good deeds and their ties with Christ himself is plain here: the charitable work served the founders’ own salvation. A further art treasure is the multi-coloured rood screen with 23 tablets depicting an Elisabeth cycle which was created in 1440 and combined structural elements from several different centuries.

When moving into the Hospital of the Holy Spirit in the Middle Ages, residents undertook to live a life of poverty, obedience and chastity and promised to pray for the pious founders seven times a day. In return they received a roof over their heads, food and, from the 17th century onwards, a hot bath eight times a year. The cubbyholes in the long house, preserved to this day, have acquired worldwide fame; they were occupied by elderly citizens right up until 1970. They were reluctant to move out when the care home for the elderly which still exists today in parts of the hospital was converted. Until the cubbyholes were installed in 1820, men and women were strictly separated, sleeping in two rows of beds. Thanks to the open connection to the church hall, the poor and sick did not miss a single mass and even those confined to their beds took part in the service, at least acoustically. Up to eight litres of weak beer, brewed in the vaulted cellar of the hospital, were issued every day for sustenance. This was too much of a good thing for many of the residents and they secretly sold the surplus brew in the market for a few pennies. Maybe it was better that way!

In the period leading up to Christmas, the Hospital of the Holy Spirit opens its doors for its extremely popular craft market which is known far beyond the borders of Lübeck. It is one of the most beautiful, atmospheric markets in the “Christmas City of the North”. Around 150 hand-picked artists from Germany, Scandinavia, the Baltics and many other European countries show the diversity of old and new craft techniques in the medieval church hall decorated for the festive season and the cubbyholes of the long house, and offer their handcrafted art for sale. There are tasty, home-made waffles, Rotspon mulled wine (made from French red wine from Bordeaux) and festive trumpets sound from the rood screen. The long house and the vaulted cellar are only freely accessible once a year during the craft market. Above the doors of the cubbyholes where people used to live, you can still find some of the names of the residents. Incidentally, the cubbyholes had no roof or ceiling. Night watchmen patrolled on elevated boardwalks, checking regularly to see if those asleep were still alive.

The brewing of beer enjoyed a long tradition in medieval Lübeck and it was a lucrative trade. Especially as there was no pure, healthy drinking water that could be safely drunk. At times there were over 180 brewhouses in the town, most of them located where they could connect to the Wakenitz water supply. In fact, the brewhouses with their high water requirements were the reason for the early waterworks constructed at the Hüxter Gate in 1294 and the Castle Gate in 1302. Beer was also called “liquid bread” as it served as a substantial source of nourishment and was drunk by young and old at any time of day – it was even allowed during periods of fasting. There was town beer, stopbier and export beer with higher alcohol content that was supplied in the Baltic region but also to England, Holland and Flanders and even as far as the East Indies in early modern times. “Brauberger zu Lübeck” in Alfstraße is Lübeck’s only brewery today. Its concept is to brew “zwickelbier” as it was made in the Middle Ages.