The Stecknitz bargemen and their families used to live on Obertrave. They lived together in a tight-knit community in their quaint little alley houses near the riverbank where their salt barges lay moored. From the Middle Ages until the mid-19th century, they transported the valuable “white gold” from Lüneburg via the Stecknitz Canal – the precursor to today’s Elbe-Lübeck Canal – all the way to Lübeck on behalf of Lübeck merchants. The saltworks in Lübeck was the only one in the whole of Northern Europe. In Lübeck, the salt was stored in the salt warehouses at the Holsten Gate until it was exported to the whole of the Baltics with sea-going ships. Salt was a valuable commodity, the demand was huge and the salt trade made a fortune for the 12 Lübeck families trading in salt and the city, too, as a result. Today, the old Stecknitz bargemen’s district below the cathedral is one of the most beautiful areas in the Old Town where time seems to have stood still. Discover the old residential district with its densely developed, steep passages with their bumpy paving stones and twisty alleys and courtyards!
Did you know? The region around the river Stecknitz is directly adjoining to the Lübeck city area. Here you can explore numerous nature reserves, but cultural sight await you as well.
By the way: Pay attention to the windows on the canal side at the Salzspeicher. Once it gets dark, Nosferatu appears. Parts of Wilhelm Murnau's cinema classic were filmed in Lübeck more than 100 years ago.