Lübeck

City (population 2002 est.: 213,486), northern Germany. Founded on the site of a Slavic settlement in 1143, it developed as a trading post. It became a free city in 1226 and the seat of the Hanseatic League in 1358. It declined after the 16th century, and its trade was ruined during the Napoleonic Wars. It revived after the Elbe-Lübeck canal was built in 1900. Its status as a self-governing entity ended in 1937, when the Nazis made it part of the Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein. It is one of Germany's largest Baltic ports. Historic sites include a 12th-century cathedral and several Gothic churches.