Luebeck is a magic place

So remember yesterday when I told you about the special volume of music that Buxtehude put together, which includes the cantata "Herzlich lieb hab ich dich, o Herr"? Today I saw it with my own eyes, completely unexpectedly! This is how it happened: last night at the concert I met a new friend, Herr Arndt Schnoor, who is one of the officers of the Buxtehude Society. Because I am a member of the society, I was able to get in for free last night, and he let me know that I could also receive a free facsimile of Buxtehude's "Membra Jesu Nostri", if I would go to the Luebeck city library the next morning to pick it up. So I went there and met Herr Schnoor and we had a nice chat (me with my broken German) and he said "I thought you might like to see this," and lo and behold, there's the manuscript! I was thrilled! ( Life as an early music fan is just one crazy thrill-ride after another! Hee!) ;-) He also showed me a newly rediscovered letter that Buxtehude wrote in his capacity as Werkmeister of St. Mary's (that means he kept the books of the church.) We owe much of our knowledge of Buxtehude's musical life to those account books that he kept.
After that, we went to the history museum which is housed in the Holstentor. Many of the exhibits are dedicated to the merchants of the Hansa who were responsible for Luebeck's great wealth starting in the Middle Ages. The Hanseatic League was an alliance of trading guilds that held a monopoly on the Baltic and North Seas starting in the 13th century. Luebeck was the most important of the Hanseatic cities, and was known as the Queen of the Hansa. It's still known as "Hansastadt Luebeck".
After our visit to the museum, we practiced another important local custom: afternoon coffee and cake at a Konditorei. Jim had some amazing apple concoction with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream (the all-important "Schlag"), and I had something with cherries and crumb topping. Heavenly.
This afternoon we took a tour by boat all around the island, and enjoyed seeing it all from a different angle than we saw on foot. Pictures to follow!
Tonight we are eating at one of Luebeck's most famous restaurants- the Schiffergesellschaft,  which has been in business since the 1530's. I made the reservation on the phone auf Deutsch all by myself. Small victories! :-)
We picked up our rental car this afternoon. Tomorrow we're taking a day trip to Bremen so that I can interview Prof. Dr. Manfred Cordes, who is the director of one of my favorite ensembles: Weser-Renaissance Bremen. They perform frequently on Ancient Voices. After that we'll take a side-trip to Stade to hear a famous organ built by Arp Schnitger. My geekiness reaches its full potential in Northern Germany. :-)