HANSEATIC CITY LUEBECK    

The Kolk and it's narrow passages - Where is the house with two ground floors?

Lübeck impresses with it's many narrow and tiny streets and passages - the tiniest of them is the picturesque Kolk. The name goes back to a place called "to dem Kolke" in 1334, in low german this means a deepening caused through the water of a river.

The Kolk is dominated by the wall of the hill of St. Petri. This causes the phenomenon of the house with the two ground floors. From the Kolk you can enter the ground floor of a restaurant, go upstairs to the first floor. If you leave the restaurant now, you will find yourself in the church-yard of St. Petri.

The Kolk runs into the Große Petersgrube. This is the only one of Lübeck's streets that is completely preserved. Here you still can find all styles of architecture used in Lübeck: Houses in gothic (No. 7, 11, 15, 25), in renaissance (No. 4, 10), in baroque (No. 9, 21, 23) and in classical style (No. 12, 13, 17-19, 27, 29). The house No. 21 is one of the most beautiful buildings of late baroque style (1776) with an interesting yard and the original interior.

In the Kleine Petersgrube you can find two special jewels: the theater and the museum of marionettes and the St. Jürgen - Gang. This very small passage is mentioned first in 1342. It's two - storey brick - built houses date back to the year 1587. Above the entrance - portal armorial bearings with the date of building are fixed.

There exist two different versions about the origin of the name of the third street running into the Kolk: the Pagönnienstraße. Both versions go back to a latin origion. The first one is the word Proge which means poor people, the other one is the word Porcus meaning pig.

The other small passages of the Kolk, the Depenau, the Marlesgrube and the Dankwartsgrube invite you to enjoy the picturesque idyll and the beautiful small pubs and restaurants.