It's one of the most beautifully designed museums on a specific topic like this I've ever seen (it's also very accessible). The entire museum and all of its stations are translated into various languages by scanning a card you set up at the beginning, including customizing your information experience with certain topics you're particularly interested in (I chose naval architecture, if memory serves).
There's a cute coffee shop or two right there in the complex too, and the entirety of Lübeck is a beautiful, cozy area too. Many of the old Hanseatic buildings still stand as they were relatively untouched by the war.
Another hour in the same direction on the train takes you to the Travemünde beaches which are also gorgeous. Makes for a good day trip.
Other nerdy things to do there:
- Visit the container terminals of Europe's third busiest port
- Go to the Miniaturwunderland
- If you are into architecture or music: Elbphilharmonie
I wish more big industrial sites were set up for tourist access: mines, quarries, dams, ports etc. But maybe I'm just strange.
It's not like you could walk or ride around in there, and you shouldn't either.
It's all fenced, secured.
There are a few vantage points from where you can see into them, from afar, or the other side of the river, but that's it.
Drones? Uh Oh! Better not! Lingering around the fences to get a better view? Are you trying to find the smuggled drugs in some container? Trespassing into some empty quay which has recently been torn down, then elevated, now lying empty, to explore the growth of so called 'pioneer plants'? Better not, because signs say fine is 1000EUR. GULP!
"Easily" as in "26th to 30th of December, and tickets are available on three days in November if you can click fast enough" ;)
Autocracy and the absence of accountability (either financial or criminal) for the very wealthy is an age old problem that we still deal with.
In European Council proposal will only be adopted if all member states are in agreeance. Formal voting does not take place, the member states deliberate until they reach general agreement.
NATO is the same. Any Article consultations like Article 4, or 5 end with consensus. One country can water it down.
Consensus based does not mean equal. Big participants usually throw their weight around a lot.
Other things I remember:
- When you'd die, you'd pick an heir from your kids. They would be described as (sometimes you were supposed to understand as) being skilled at either fighting, exploring, or trading. If you didn't have an old enough one to pick, you'd have to pay a lot for some godparent to take over in the interim.
- You could raise capital by selling shares in your operation, but the more shares outstanding, the more interest (Zinsen) you'd have to pay. (You could also buy them back, but they'd be more expensive when you had a good year.)
- If you couldn't pay your obligations, you'd lose a turn to the Schuldturm (debtor's prison, lit. "debt tower").
- You could send explorers to find more lucrative ports, Novgorod being a good one.
- Depending on the weather, you might lose ships. Sometimes you wouldn't want to send any out, in which case it would warn you, "Keine Koggen auf der See! Zug wirklich beenden?" ("No cogs[2] on the sea! Really end turn?")
- You would get random events each turn, one of them being a soothsayer that would offer to predict your fortune. They would then give you the option to pay for extra advice, which would always be "Don't trust charlatans!"
- As your empire expanded, you'd be promoted in rank, some of the higher ones being Senator or Patrician.
- There would be battles, as nobles would sometimes attack your ports.
[1] https://www.mobygames.com/game/9273/hanse-die-expedition/
[2] A kind of ship used back then (also mentioned in the article as replacing the Knarr): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cog_(ship)?useskin=vector
The following funny little side story might have contributed to that:
The game's publisher Sonflower was sued by a descendant of the Fugger family because they claimed the game puts the name of his family in a bad light. They won and "Die Fugger II" could not be sold anymore. "Die Fugger III" appeared under the name "Die Gilde".
It had 2 more sequels after Die Gilde, in fact.
I ended up controlling the whole Hanseatic League from Lübeck.
Good times.
i distinctly remember the "beer from Gdansk -> Textile from Malmo -> sell everything in Lübeck" route
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valdemar_Atterdag_holding_Visb... ("Valdemar Atterdag holding Visby to ransom, 1361")
History Channel Documentary - King Solomon And The Queen Of Sheba https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VE9-6kHW6Q
The Priceless Treasure Of The Queen Of Sheba | Myth Hunters https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Tpoz1rGuM
The Story of the Queen of Sheba https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSPuFjFeuYQ
The Queen of Sheba's Mysterious Legacy (S2, E8) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq32h2zzg5o
Sheba: The Lost Kingdom of the Queen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySHMIeJW3lE
The Lost Gold of King Solomon (S1, E7) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjWG4geGLHQ
The Naked Archaeologist 206 - The Legacy of King Solomon Part 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGjETo2221k
The Entire History of the Phoenicians (2500 - 300 BC) Ancient History https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-p8OZz5KJoo
The Phoenicians: Princes of the Sea https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLHj1n9VTdI
History of the Phoenicians: The Maritime Superpowers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mU4aU5yoyp4
Revealing a Lost Mediterranean Civilization from the Levant to Spain https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rmp-d6XhQjM
The Quest For The Phoenicians https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBObLQZdeq8
Quest for the Phoenicians (National Geographic Documentary) https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9hsjf8
The Phoenicians Before Columbus Expedition | WYL Ep. 201 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcnYtAqn0iw
Phoenicians Before Columbus - Video for the Explorer's Club NY https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-jjFiiosh7A
Ancient Egypt - When Egyptians Ruled the Sea | FD Ancient History https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGTXqmbM-0w
When Ancient Egyptians Ruled the Sea https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RMuyEyCDTw
Sea Peoples: The Ancient Warriors Who Challenged Egypt https://www.youtube.com/shorts/i0XTCjjg3mQ
Sea Peoples and the Bronze Age Collapse https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CB7bo4f6E8
1177 B.C.: When Civilization Collapsed https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=M4LRHJlijVU
The Minoans | Ancient Worlds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VJqnTlbCS0
The Surprisingly Sophisticated Conveniences of Mycenae https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VmObzEWIEA
Ancient Sailing Ships from Bronze Age Scandinavia https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aFoy25t_Ns
The Nordic Bronze Age: Best Time to Ever be Alive https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_yKrkna1Dc
Lost Worlds of the Mediterranean | Drain the Oceans https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmH4FDs3yl0
Explore the Hidden Wonders of Jordan and Iran with Christopher Clark https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeF_Y4OU9ow
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