Queen of the Hanse
 

http://rapidshare.de/files/22047000/Luebeck.wmv.html

I have the habit to save pictures of cities that I know, namely Berlin and Lübeck. Of the 200 pics I have about Lübeck, from the web, scanned postcards and book-pictures, I made a 10 minute-video about Lübeck - the only city there is of which I truely could say that I really love it and would love to live there. There is something about it that makes Lübeck the city in Germany with the - by far - most positive ratio between size of population and initiatives of citizens to maintain the citie's houses and it's general appearances. People living there put tremendous care into carinf for their city, far more than in any other German city. The statistic says so, but you also feel it when being there. In the 70s, major parts were slums, but then money was pumped into it and the old houses got renovated, which now are valued attractions for tourists and make the city a true gem of ancient architecture. The city has been put on the UNESCO list of world heritage. It also has a great and famous past, having been the heart and centre of the Hanse which ones ruled the Eastern sea and the northern coast of Germany, and pretty much the whole North of Germany as well. Lübeck, not Hamburg, was the true Queen of the Hanse, and the administrative, financial, cultural and power centre. It's influence reached to many other streets who copied the architecture of Lübeck, that is why you often seem to recognize Lübeck in cities like Bremen, Hamburg, Wismar (especially Wisamr!), Rostock and Danzig as well.

Be warned, the download is 52 MB, the movie is ten minutes.