By the way, people who can’t get away from the colourful LEGO bricks all their lives are called AFOLs – Adult Fans of LEGO. I am definitely not an AFOL. Just a mom and grandma who spent decades of her life looking for parts the size of a µ somewhere in the household or stepping on them with bare feet.
The Hanseatic League of 500,000 bricks.
However, the LEGO World, created from 500,000 bricks at the European Hansemuseum, is definitely my summer excursion tip. I’m thrilled that the organizers managed to playfully tell the complicated story of the Hanseatic League as accurately as possible. (Well: not the whole story. That would be sheer unthinkable). Let’s go and take a look!
About 2,500 mini-LEGO men show what the contemporaries of the Hanseatic League were concerned about since its founding on the Neva. It is great fun to discover the many lovingly designed details hidden in the six glass display cases.
Like, for example, the Grim Reaper walking through the Große Burgstraße at the time of the plague. Light and sound effects reinforce the impression of people’s everyday lives. Thus, at this place one becomes an acoustic witness of a procession accompanied by bell ringing and Christian chants, which led to a burial place for plague victims at the Hospital of the Holy Spirit. A scene, by the way, evidenced by archival documents. And that’s what I find so exciting.
Hanseatic League within reach.
Three large-scale models – the Hanseatic merchant Winnie Warendorp as a selfie point at the entrance, a cog from the 14th century weighing 150 kg and a typical merchant’s house complete the mini-worlds. And then there’s Juna, a LEGO lady who takes a trip back in time through the dioramas and addresses current issues, especially environmental ones. In Bergen, she gleefully eats a huge plate of vegetables. Amidst the stockfish crowds, a sign of overfishing in the seas.
Incidentally, the European Hansemuseum is planning numerous accompanying activities for the duration of the exhibition until July 24, 2022 . Online and directly on site.
My conclusion:
Go there!
Image sources:
Barbara Schwartz
Olaf Malzahn, Hansemuseum Lübeck
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