Editing Lübeck (section)

==History==
{{Main|Liubice|Free City of Lübeck|Timeline of Lübeck}}
{{More citations needed|section|date=August 2022}}

Humans settled in the area around what today is Lübeck after the [[Weichselian glaciation|last Ice Age]] ended about 9700 BCE. Several [[Neolithic]] [[dolmen]]s can be found in the area.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

Around 700 AD, [[Polabian Slavs|Slavic people]]s started moving into the eastern parts of [[Holstein]], an area previously settled by [[Germanic peoples|Germanic inhabitants]] who had moved on in the [[Migration Period]]. [[Charlemagne]], whose efforts to [[Christianisation|Christianise]] the area were opposed by the Germanic [[Saxons]], expelled many of the Saxons and brought in [[Polabian Slavs]] allies. [[Liubice]] (the place-name means "how lovely") was founded on the banks of the River Trave about {{convert|4|km|abbr=on}} north of the present-day city-center of Lübeck.

In the 10th century, it became the most important settlement of the [[Obotrites|Obotrite confederacy]] and a castle was built. In 1128, the pagan [[Rani (Slavic tribe)|Rani]] from [[Rügen]] razed Liubice.

In 1143, [[Adolf II of Holstein|Adolf II]], Count of Schauenburg and Holstein, founded the modern town as a German settlement on the river island of [[Bucu]]. He built a new castle, first mentioned by the chronicler [[Helmold]] as existing in 1147. Adolf had to cede the castle to the Duke of Saxony, [[Henry the Lion]], in 1158. After Henry's fall from power in 1181, the town became an [[Imperial Free City|Imperial city]] for eight years.{{citation needed |date=March 2011}}

Emperor [[Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor|Barbarossa]] (reigned 1152–1190) ordained that the city should have a ruling council of 20 members. With the council dominated by merchants, pragmatic trade interests shaped Lübeck's politics for centuries. The council survived into the 19th century. The town and castle changed ownership for a period afterwards and formed part of the [[Duchy of Saxony]] until 1192, of the County of [[Holstein]] until 1217, and of the kingdom of Denmark until the [[Battle of Bornhöved (1227)|Battle of Bornhöved]] in 1227.

===Hanseatic city===
[[File:Nuremberg chronicles f 265-66 (Lubeca).jpg|thumb|400px|Lübeck as illustrated in the ''[[Nuremberg Chronicle]]'', 1493]]

Around 1200, the port became the main point of departure for colonists leaving for the Baltic territories conquered by the [[Livonian Order]], and later, by the [[Teutonic Order]]. In 1226, Emperor [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick II]] elevated the town to the status of an Imperial free city, by which it became the [[Free City of Lübeck]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

In the 14th century, Lübeck became the "Queen of the [[Hanseatic League]]", being by far the largest and most powerful member of that medieval trade organization. In 1375, Emperor [[Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles IV]] named Lübeck one of the five "Glories of the Empire", a title shared with [[Venice]], [[Rome]], [[Pisa]], and [[Florence]].

Several conflicts about trading privileges resulted in fighting between Lübeck (with the Hanseatic League) and Denmark and Norway – with varying outcome. While Lübeck and the Hanseatic League prevailed in conflicts in 1435 and 1512, Lübeck lost when it became involved in the [[Count's Feud]], a civil war that raged in Denmark from 1534 to 1536. Lübeck also joined the pro-Lutheran [[Schmalkaldic League]] of the mid-16th century.

===Decline===
After its defeat in the [[Count's Feud]], Lübeck's power slowly declined. The city remained neutral in the [[Thirty Years' War]] of 1618–1648, but the combination of the devastation from the decades-long war and the new transatlantic orientation of European trade caused the Hanseatic League – and thus Lübeck with it – to decline in importance. However, even after the ''de facto'' disbanding of the Hanseatic League in 1669, Lübeck still remained an important trading town on the Baltic Sea.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

===From the Napoleonic wars to the Franco-Prussian war===
In the course of the war of the [[Fourth Coalition]] against [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon]], troops under Marshal [[Charles XIV John of Sweden|Jean Baptiste Bernadotte]] (who would later become King of Sweden) occupied Lübeck after a battle against Prussian General [[Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher|Gebhard Blücher]] on 6 November 1806 due to the latter's illegal use of the city as a fortress, in violation of Lübeck's neutrality, following the French pursuit of his corps after the [[Battle of Jena-Auerstadt]]. Under the [[Continental System]], the State bank went into bankruptcy. In 1811, the [[First French Empire|French Empire]] formally annexed Lübeck as part of France but the anti-Napoleonic allies liberated the area in 1813.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

After Napoleon's defeat, the [[Congress of Vienna]] of 1815 recognised Lübeck as an independent free city. The city became a member of the [[German Confederation]] (1815–1866), the [[North German Confederation]] (1866–1871) and the [[German Empire]] (1871–1918).

[[File:HL Damals – 1871.jpg|thumb|Entry of the Fusilier battalion on June 18, 1871, in Lübeck]]
During the [[Franco-Prussian War]], the battalion de Fusilier of Lübeck was part of the "2nd Hanseatic Infantry Regiment No. 76".
On the day of the [[Battle of Loigny–Poupry|Battle of Loigny]] the commander of the [[17th Division (German Empire)|17th Division]], Hugo von Kottwitz, of the morning advanced in front of the Fusilier battalion of the regiment, urging them to "commemorate the bravery of the Hanseatic League". his attack in the north while the other battalions turned towards [[Loigny-la-Bataille|Loigny]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

This shock surprised the French so much that they were invaded by their flank. They fled to the Fougeu place and were kicked out of this. The battle was to become the founding myth of the last Lübeck regiment, 3rd Hanseatic Infantry Regiment No. 162, which was founded in 1897. When the battalion commander returned to Lübeck with his battalion, he was appointed regimental commander.

===20th century===
At the end of the [[First World War]] and the fall of the German Empire, Lübeck became a member state of the [[Weimar Republic]] (1919–1933). After the [[Nazi seizure of power]], Lübeck, like all other German states, was subjected to the process of ''[[Gleichschaltung]]'' (coordination). Subsequent to the enactment of the "[[Second Law on the Coordination of the States with the Reich]]" on 7 April 1933, [[Friedrich Hildebrandt]] was appointed to the new position of ''[[Reichsstatthalter]]'' (Reich Governor) of Lübeck on 26 May 1933.<ref>{{cite book |last1= Miller |first1= Michael D. |last2= Schulz |first2= Andreas |title= Gauleiter: The Regional Leaders of the Nazi Party and Their Deputies, 1925–1945 |volume= 1 (Herbert Albrecht - H. Wilhelm Hüttmann) |publisher= R. James Bender Publishing |year= 2012 |page=485 |isbn= 978-1-932-97021-0}}</ref> Hildebrandt installed  [[Otto-Heinrich Drechsler]] as the ''[[Burgomaster|Bürgermeister]]'', displacing the duly-elected [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|Social Democrat]], {{interlanguage link|Paul Löwigt|de}}.

Additionally, on 30 January 1934, the Reich government enacted the "[[Law on the Reconstruction of the Reich]]," formally abolishing all the state parliaments and transferring the sovereignty of the states to the central government. With this action, the Lübeck popular assembly, the ''Bürgerschaft'', was dissolved and Lübeck effectively lost its rights as a federal state. Under the provisions of the [[Greater Hamburg Act]], Lübeck was absorbed into the [[Free State of Prussia|Prussia]]n [[Province of Schleswig-Holstein]], effective 1 April 1937, thereby losing its 711-year status as an independent free city.

During [[World War II]] (1939–1945), Lübeck became the first German city to suffer substantial [[Royal Air Force]] (RAF) bombing. The attack of 28 March 1942 created a [[firestorm]] that caused severe damage to the historic centre. [[Bombing of Lübeck in World War II|This raid]] destroyed three of the main churches and large parts of the built-up area; the bells of St Marienkircke plunged to the stone floor.<ref name="luebeck-tourism.de">{{Cite web |url=http://www.luebeck-tourism.de/discover/sights/churches-in-luebeck/st-marys.html |title=St. Mary's - luebeck-tourismus.de |access-date=10 November 2015 |archive-date=30 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930212939/https://www.luebeck-tourism.de/discover/sights/churches-in-luebeck/st-marys.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>  Nearly 1,500 houses were completely destroyed, 2,200 heavily damaged and 9,000 slightly damaged.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.ndr.de/geschichte/chronologie/Maerz-1942-Luebeck-brennt-im-Bombenhagel,bombenaufluebeck101.html | title=März 1942: Lübeck brennt im Bombenhagel }}</ref> More than 320 people lost their lives. The industrial area of Lübeck was bombed on 25 August 1944 and 110 people were killed. In total, nearly 20% of the city centre was entirely destroyed, with particular damage in the Gründungsviertel neighborhood, where the rich merchants from the Hanseatic League had once lived.<ref name = "unesco"/> Germany operated a [[prisoner-of-war camp]] for officers, [[Oflag X-C]], near the city from 1940 until April 1945. The British [[Second Army (United Kingdom)|Second Army]] entered Lübeck on 2 May 1945 and occupied it without resistance.

On 3 May 1945, one of the biggest disasters in naval history occurred in the [[Bay of Lübeck]] when RAF bombers sank three ships: the [[SS Cap Arcona|SS ''Cap Arcona'']], the [[SS Deutschland (1923)|SS ''Deutschland'']], and the [[SS Thielbek (1940)|SS ''Thielbek'']] – which, unknown to them, were packed with concentration-camp inmates. About 7,000 people died.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

Lübeck's population grew considerably, from about 150,000 in 1939 to more than 220,000 after the war, owing to an influx of ethnic German refugees expelled from the [[Historical Eastern Germany|former eastern provinces]] of Germany in the [[Communist Bloc]]. Lübeck remained part of Schleswig-Holstein after World War II (and consequently lay within [[West Germany]]). It stood directly on what became the [[inner German border]] during the division of Germany into two states in the [[Cold War]] period. South of the city, the border followed the path of the river [[Wakenitz]], which separated Germany by less than {{convert|10|m|0|abbr=on}} in many parts. The northernmost border crossing was in Lübeck's district of Schlutup. Lübeck spent decades restoring its historic city centre. In 1987, [[UNESCO]] designated this area a [[World Heritage Site]].

In April 2015, Lübeck hosted the G7 conference.<ref name="conference">{{Cite news|url=http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/g7-gipfel-in-luebeck-die-beschluesse-a-1028769.html|title = G7-Gipfel in Lübeck: Die Beschlüsse|newspaper = Der Spiegel|date = 15 April 2015}}</ref>