To spot the Old Lionapotheke, just look for the striking yellow building with a layered, stepped gable roof and a fanciful golden lion perched over the front door-set right at the end of Krämerstraße.
Now, let’s imagine ourselves back in the swirling mists of medieval Wismar. You’re standing right where the city’s midwives once hurried along Bademutterstraße, and the air around the Old Lionapotheke is thick with scents of herbs, brewing, and a hint of mystery. Built in the bold Gothic style by the high-and-mighty von der Lühe family, this house was bustling with business-after all, they owned not just the house, but the right to brew beer! Can you picture barrels rolling by, gossip bubbling as people gathered for a drink? Some of that original timber still stands here, dating as far back as 1334.
But things took a curious turn in 1659, after the Thirty Years’ War. Mathias Scheffel’s son decided it was high time to open an apothecary-a place where remedies could be found for all the town’s aches, pains, and probably a few broken hearts too. He added the grand baroque facade, and you’ll still find traces of those days if you look closely.
Want a wild secret? In the back rafters sits a cannonball, stubbornly wedged there since the time of the Great Northern War. Every time the wind rattles the windows, I like to imagine the ghostly echo of cannon fire somewhere in the distance.
Ownership of the pharmacy passed through many hands until 1851, when a clever pharmacist renamed it the Lion-Apotheke, giving a nod to the lion’s legendary strength in folk medicine. Peek up-you’ll see two stone lion medallions on the gable and that bright golden lion over the doorway. Locals say the poor beast has run off a few times-stolen, then mysteriously returned. Maybe it just wanted a coffee-because, after centuries of potions and powders, this building finally settled down as the cosiest café in town. If those Jugendstil glass windows could talk, I bet they’d have stories to tell!
