Editing Lübeck (section)

===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>