Schiffergesellschaft - Lubeck, Germany

Schiffergesellschaft is a historic restaurant in Lubeck, Germany 

located in a building built in 1535. Schiffer means captain of a ship or seaman and gesellschaft means association or society. The sign in English calls it the “house of the seamen’s guildhall” or “convention house of the seamen and skippers.” It was originally only used by sailors. Although the building dates from 1535, the front stepped gables were built in 1880 

and the sailing vessel picture on the front is from the 1600s. 

I loved the design over the front door.

Inside, the tables and high-backed benches, carved with coats of arms of Baltic merchants, 

are made of thick oak planks, the kind used in shipbuilding. They remain basically unchanged from the 1600s. It almost has the feel of a maritime museum. Small wooden ships 

hang from the ceiling, 

the oldest 

from the year 1607. 

In addition there are paintings and some stained glass. 

Lonely Planet rates it as no. 4 of 39 things to do in Lubeck and no. 38 out of 724 restaurants in Germany. Tripadvisor rates it as the fifth best restaurant in Lubeck out of 270 restaurants. I was looking for good traditional German food, and found it, with a strong representation of seafood from the Baltic Sea which is so close. We received a basket of bread with three types of bread. 

One was pumpernickel and each was thick. Very German. I got a bowl of salmon cream soup with dill dumplings. 

I’ve never had anything quite like it. It was quite thick and dilly and had chunks that I couldn’t quite identify, perhaps salmon with dill. It was fun to try and different, but I didn’t love it. I then got what they called the “North-fish-plate” 

with pickled salmon (sort of like lox, but with added ingredients), white herring (I believe wrapped in onion with some sort of sauce inside), smoked pepper-mackerel (with a sprig of green on top) and shrimp (with some sort of sauce on top). There was also a mustard sauce, half a hard-boiled egg, some green pea pods, and part of a lime. There was not a lot of food but it was very fresh and good. The shrimp particularly seemed just out of the water. I would have liked more of it, but what I did get was exactly the sort of thing I was after. The food fit the venue. Judy got a bowl of fresh vegetables that included peas, carrots and other vegetables I don’t recall, 

some nice fried potatoes 

and a large schnitzel. 

I’m not a major schnitzel fan, but she grew up in a German household and loves it. This would be a good decent restaurant based on the food. That, combined with the wonderful architecture and decorations, put it over the top and make it a very nice destination.