L&uuml,beck &ndash the for­mer cap­i­tal and Queen City of the Hanseat­ic League &ndash was found­ed in the 12th cen­tu­ry and pros­pered until the 16th cen­tu­ry as the major trad­ing cen­tre for north­ern Europe. It has remained a cen­tre for mar­itime com­merce to this day, par­tic­u­lar­ly with the Nordic coun­tries. Despite the dam­age it suf­fered dur­ing the Sec­ond World War, the basic struc­ture of the old city, con­sist­ing main­ly of 15th- and 16th-cen­­tu­ry patri­cian res­i­dences, pub­lic mon­u­ments (the famous Hol­sten­tor brick gate), church­es and salt store­hous­es, remains unal­tered.