Lucky Day Trip

HARD LOCKDOWN

  Tomorrow, on Wednesday will begin the Hard Lockdown. 

Our last day trip for a while will be visiting Gluckstadt. We have not been able to go anywhere overnight but there are many wonderful towns to visit within a couple of hour's drive time. Translation of Gluckstadt = Luck City. It will be our last day lucky city.

Stadtkirche

The rain did not stop us but the never-ending cloudy weather has dulled my photos for weeks. now.

Between 1618 and 1623 the Stadtkiche was the first protestant church built after the reformation in Holstein, it surely is one of Glückstadt’s most significant buildings. The steeple features the Danish crown and the monogram C4 of King Christian IV. A rather unusual feature for a Christian church is the lightly veiled pagan goddess Fortuna.

Think pink, the house, and matching roses.

Roses are still blooming everywhere. Never have enough time to stop and smell them.

Orders for take-away only

This where we could NOT eat.

No dining inside but they did offer take-away. Inside the hotel is more of the Art Nouveau of the Wilhelminia style. Over 100 years of serving northern German cuisine. Zeitgeist movement was referred to which I will need to learn more about.

Today's offering at the ANNO Hotel restaurant was mustard eggs with spinach. Hmm, a new dish for me but a favorite for Peter. 

Another "bus picnic".

Maybe when we return they will have something else on the menu.

In non-Covid times there would be a festive Christmas Market right here. The good King Christian in the year 1624 granted privilege to Gluckstadt for a twice-weekly butter market. Yet today this tradition is upheld every Tuesday and Friday. You can be assured in today's world much more than butter will be sold there.

Many of the towns and villages have a fantastic Stadtbäckerei (city bakery). Gluckstadt has a bakery with a long history of baking dating back to 1632. They must know what they are doing. Bakeries are allowed to remain open even under the Hard Lockdown mandate. 

Everywhere we go there are Christmas trees for sale.

Through the city tunnel gate.

Another street to walk down.

Glückstadt is the only town in Schleswig-Holstein founded by a king. The town’s layout was designed on the drawing board which bears no resemblance to other cities in Germany. Inspired by Italian Renaissance cities it is polygonal with radial streets projecting outward.

In 1617 Christian IV, King of Denmark, and Duke of Schleswig and Holstein had the town built in an attempt to draw Elbe commerce away from Hamburg. His clever move to populate his new town was to invite wealthy business-minded folks to create a swift and strong economic growth. Incentives were offered to Portuguese Jews and Dutch Protestants. Glückstadt strongly benefitted from their capital, ships, and their global trade connections. This also explains the prominent gables of Dutch architecture.

Christmas trees line the streets. Also too many construction workers today. 

Today's vending machine sighting - cigarettes sold right on a city street.