The Hospital of the Holy Spirit (Heiligen-Geist-Hospital) is the red-brick building with three gables and four slender spires on the Koberg, the square at the northern end of Lübeck's old town. Completed in 1286, it is one of the oldest social institutions in the world that still exists. Behind its church hall lies the Long House, where Lübeck's poor and elderly once slept in rows, and where in 1820 tiny wooden cubicles were built so that each resident had a room of their own.
The Hospital of the Holy Spirit at a glance
- Where: on the Koberg square at the northern end of Lübeck's old town, opposite St James's Church and a few minutes' walk from the Burgtor gate.
- Built: founded as a charitable foundation in the 1220s; the building was completed in 1286.
- What it is today: a foundation that still runs a retirement and nursing home in the complex, with the medieval church hall and Long House open to visitors.
- Time needed: 30–45 minutes for the church hall and the Long House.
Seven centuries of care
The hospital was founded by wealthy Lübeck merchants in the early 13th century; the merchant Bertram Morneweg is named as one of its founders and its first administrator. In a medieval Hanseatic city, endowing a hospital was both charity and an investment in the hereafter: donors hoped the prayers of the people they fed and housed would help them into heaven. The present brick Gothic building on the Koberg was finished in 1286. The foundation was paid for by estates in the countryside around Lübeck, whose income fed and cared for the residents, and it still owns farmland today.
Inside, the building follows the plan of medieval hospitals: a church hall at the front, where residents could hear Mass, and behind it the Long House, a vast vaulted ward where beds stood in open rows. In 1820 the beds were replaced with two rows of small wooden cubicles, the Kabäuschen, each of about six square metres, giving residents a little privacy for the first time. People went on living in them well into the 20th century. The modern home for the elderly now occupies other parts of the complex, and in 2023 a threatened closure of the home was averted.
What to look for
- The façade on the Koberg: three stepped gables and four slender turrets, which are purely decorative and cannot be climbed.
- The church hall: a tall Gothic hall with medieval wall paintings, stained glass and a carved rood screen separating it from the Long House.
- The Long House: the medieval ward stretching back under a high roof, with its two rows of 1820 cubicles along a central corridor.
- The cubicle furnished as it was in the late 1970s, which shows how small a resident's private world really was.
- The open roofs of the cubicles: look up and you will see that they have no ceilings, only the great roof of the medieval hall above.
Christmas inside the hospital
For about ten days in the run-up to Christmas, the church hall and the Long House host a craft market, one of the most atmospheric of Lübeck's Christmas markets. Stalls fill the Gothic halls and even the old cubicles, and the market is sheltered from the northern German winter weather. Expect crowds at weekends.
Tips for your visit
- Walk through the church hall slowly and look up: the wall paintings and windows are easy to miss if you head straight for the cubicles.
- Keep your voice down in the Long House; part of the complex is still a home for elderly people.
- Combine the visit with the north of the old town: St James's Church, the Schiffergesellschaft guild house and the Burgtor gate are all a few minutes away.
Nearby
- St James's Church (Jakobikirche): the sailors' church across the Koberg, with a memorial chapel for the sailing ship Pamir, lost in 1957, and one of her lifeboats.
- Schiffergesellschaft: the guild house of Lübeck's ship captains, built in 1535, now a restaurant with model ships hanging from the ceiling.
- Burgtor: the medieval northern gate of the old town, a short walk up Große Burgstraße.
- Behnhaus Drägerhaus: an art museum in two merchants' houses on Königstraße, with 19th- and early 20th-century paintings.
See Lübeck with World City Trail
Our Lübeck scavenger hunt turns the old town into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops and takes around 2 hours, with about 44 minutes of walking. It includes places such as the Holsten Gate, the Town Hall and St Mary's Church.
If you prefer a different format, there is also a self-guided walking tour and an outdoor escape game in Lübeck.
Play the Lübeck scavenger hunt →
Take the self-guided walking tour of Lübeck →
Play the outdoor escape game in Lübeck →
Facts checked in October 2026.