EBG Rating: 8.3/10

Choice/Quality of Drinks:
❤️❤️❤️
Basic lager and typical German back bar with brown liqueur common in the region, however unusually they offer Lowenbrau Triumphator, a Doppelbock, on tap.

Style/Décor:
❤️❤️❤️❤️
Narrow, traditional pub with loungey interior and a sepia patina from all the cig smoke over the decades. Hanging lamps, wooden furniture and comfortable seating.

Atmosphere/Character:
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Intimate, social, casual and relaxed, somewhere to be at ease and hang out with friends.

Amenities/Events:
❤️❤️❤️
Smoking permitted, snacks.

Value For Money:
❤️❤️❤️
Typical for the city centre.

Description:
A 17th century tavern which has been operating under this name since 1898. They claim it is the oldest purely public house in Lübeck with records of rights granted in 1697.

Situated near Gunter Grass Haus, the exterior gabling is not the traditional Lübeck brick gothic style, with a cream facade.

History is found in layers here though, from the foundations upwards. As you walk in, you’ll find a beautiful, seemingly untouched time capsule that looks like a 1920’s pub, with its hanging lamps, sepia tones (accented further by the century of cigarette smoke) and wooden furnishings.

It’s a narrow pub, fairly small and entirely drinks focused which makes a pleasant change from the two typical options – firstly the are-we-aren’t-we quasi-restaurants and secondly the trashy Kneipen you find around Germany. This meets all the criteria that an British or Irish person would call a pub, and that’s good enough to go on.

By local standards (which aren’t fantastic) it’s a late bar, opening at 5pm and going on until around 1am.

There’s a sense of institution to the place which can be seen in the rhythms of the customers and their behaviour just as much as the surroundings which makes it a must-visit venue.

Warning – smoking is still permitted and despite the website’s remark about the excellent ventilation, you will not escape the smoke. However this is the case in many, many North German pubs so if you’re visiting just for a few days then in our view you should just get on with it.