Nosferatu Tour

A classic film celebrates its 100th birthday in 2022!

Nosferatu - A Symphony of Horror is a 1922 German feature film directed by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau.The silent classic is an - unauthorized - adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula and tells the story of Count Orlok (Nosferatu), a vampire from the Carpathians who falls in love with the beautiful Ellen and brings fear and terror to her hometown of Wisborg.Wisborg is a fictional northern German town by the sea, and many of the exterior scenes were shot in Lübeck and Wismar. Nosferatu is considered one of the first representatives of the horror film and exerted a great influence on the genre with its visual design - without any computer technology at all! At the same time, the work with its demonic main character and its dreamlike staging reflecting tortured states of mind is considered one of the most important works of cinema of the Weimar Republic. The film was supposed to be destroyed in 1925 after a lost copyright dispute, but it survived in countless edited versions and is available today in several restored versions.You can still discover some of the locations where the outdoor scenes were shot in Lübeck a hundred years ago.Start your search for clues on the banks of the Obertrave. Here you have a beautiful view of the historic salt warehouses, which were used in the Middle Ages for the storage of the "white gold". This was the name given to the salt from Lüneburg and the salt works in Bad Oldesloe, which was exported profitably to the entire Baltic Sea region. In the film, the salt warehouses, which were already old at the time, served as the backdrop for the half-ruined masonry that the demonic Count Orlok acquires in Wisborg as his new home in order to be close to his Ellen.Today, you can explore the restored salt warehouses from the inside during a shopping trip through the fashion house Heick & Schmaltz.By the way: The historic salt warehouses in Lübeck have twice been the setting for filming "Nosferatu", because parts of "Nosferatu - Phantom of the Night" with Klaus Kinski (directed by Werner Herzog, 1979) were also filmed here.If you continue walking south along the banks of the Trave, you will come to the next Nosferatu filming location. Turn left into the street called "Depenau". This street was depicted in the film as the work route of Ellen's husband Thomas Hutter, and the scene in which the coffins of the plague dead were carried through the street was also filmed here. Unfortunately, many historic houses of the "Depenau" were almost completely destroyed in the Second World War in 1942.From the street "Depenau", you reach the "passage" in the "Marlesgrube" from which you then go in the direction of Obertrave. Once there, turn left and follow the Obertrave to the south. Shortly after you have passed the "Dankwartsgrube", turn left into the "Rosen Hof" and start your own little tour of the corridors.The corridors date back to the 14th century and are part of Lübeck's UNESCO World Heritage Site. The flourishing trade at that time led to a lack of space and housing shortage, so that new living space had to be created. For this purpose, so-called "Buden" were built in the backyards, which were accessible through a narrow passageway (a breach through the front fronts of the houses). Nowadays, about 90 of the formerly 180 built corridors and courtyards are still preserved and can be visited.The tour of the corridors includes the "Rosen Hof" as well as the "Kalands Gang" and the "Heynaths Gang". After visiting the corridors, turn left from "Heynaths Gang" into "Hartengrube". At the end of the street (at the corner "Parade") go straight ahead into the "Domkirchhof". Here you have the possibility to visit the cathedral.Afterwards you turn into the street "Fegefeuer" and you can make a detour to the right into "Hölle". After you have left "Hölle" and turned right again onto "Fegefeuer", you cross "Mühlenstraße" and follow "St.-Annen-Straße". The Museumsquartier St. Annen is definitely worth a visit and has a lot to offer to inquisitive people and art lovers. A little further on is the café "Konvent", which is just one of the many cafés and restaurants that invite you to dine. To the left, the street continues into "Aegidienstraße" and to the St. Aegidien church, which can also be visited. This was supposed to play a role in the opening scene as a filming location, but the church council could not come to terms with Murnau's idea, so they switched to St. Mary's Church in Wismar as an alternative.In the Aegidienkirchhof near St. Aegidien Church is the outdoor setting of Hutter's House, which is still very well preserved today. It is a row of houses built during the Renaissance and is still inhabited today. Please do not be surprised: In the film, Hutter's house and Count Orlok's estate are shown as neighboring properties, but this does not correspond to reality. In the film, the view through Ellen's bedroom window falls directly on the salt warehouses, which are actually a good 800m away - the editing technique makes this possible.From "Aegidienstraße", walk back to "St.-Annen-Straße" and then continue on "Balauerfohr". In this street you will find the gallery "Kontrapost", which is only one of the numerous galleries in Lübeck. Then turn left into "Hüxstraße" and you will find a wide range of cafés, restaurants, galleries and many small individual stores. Recommended here is the "Kaffeehaus", which offers not only coffee, but also a variety of cakes. The "Nudelbude Pasta Manufaktur", which belongs to the restaurant "Miera", offers fresh, homemade pasta like from Italy. A little further directly at "Miera" there is a possibility to buy delicatessen and wine. The galleries "AC Noffke" and "Koch-Westenhoff" as well as the gallery "Ansichtssache" show different kinds of art.After you have explored the street and arrived at the "Kaffeehaus", turn right at the end of the street into the "Königstraße" and then directly right again into the "Fleischhauerstraße". There you will find the gallery "ARTEmani" as well as many individual cafés and restaurants. Especially recommendable are the "Cycle Roasters", which sell their special "Specialty Coffee" or the Kontitoreibar "Uter", which offers a wide range of breakfasts and cakes. Would you also like vegetarian or vegan food? Then "Nitsche - Deli und Freiraum" with its large selection of vegan and vegetarian dishes is best suited. If you want to have an ice cream afterwards, you should not miss the ice cream of "Soulmates", which is produced without artificial flavors.Next, turn left into the street "Bei St. Johannis" and follow it until you meet the "Dr.-Julius-Leber-Straße". Here you have the possibility to make a detour to the left and take a seat in the restaurant "Johanna Berger". Then turn left again onto the street "Bei St. Johannis" and follow this street, which then turns into the street "Rosengarten". If you want to visit another corridor, it is possible to turn left into the "Rosen Gang".Back on the street "Rosengarten" you continue to the "Galerie für eine Nacht", which is located in the street "Tünkenhagen". At the end of the street you turn into the "Glockengießerstraße" and meet the "Freibackhaus" - this is a small organic bakery. Continue straight on to the farms on the right, such as the Glandorps Hof and the Füchtingshof.Another Nosferatu filming location on Lübeck's Old Town Island was the well-known Füchtingshof in the "Glockengießerstraße" below the Katharinenkirche. It is still one of the largest and most magnificent foundation courtyards in Lübeck, which served as a residential courtyard for widows of sailors and merchants since 1639. Two outdoor scenes of the classic film were shot in its historic setting, including the scene in which Hutter tells an acquaintance on the street about his planned trip to the Carpathians.Tip: on Fridays or Saturdays, after your tour, you can go for a nightcap at Torrio's bar , located on Königstraße.