Altes Kaufhaus

The department store was firstly documented in 1302 as Heringshaus. Back then, the herring was the most important Lenten food, pickled in salt and stored in barrels. In 1742, a new Baroque façade was built for the department store – the only part of the house that was saved after the disastrous arson in 1959. Back in the day, herring wasn’t the only thing stored and offered for sale at the department store. Today, it houses a hotel with art and exhibition rooms.

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Did you know that the historic stock and customs lists show that apart from fish and meat a whole range of goods was sold at Heringhaus, such as grain, hop, malt, wine, beer, drapery, wool, fur, wood, metal, glass and spices.

The façade sports an onion dome, very unusual for a North German building. The golden weather vane shows a lighter, a riverboat of about 18 metres with very little draft.

The people of Lüneburg wanted to have a real lighter in their historic harbour for a long time. If you are lucky, you might find the boat made from oak tied to the quay wall. The lighter was renovated by young adults, supported by craftsmen and social education workers, during the cooperation project “Salzwerkstatt”.