Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: Baroque altar

The settlement was first mentioned as "Lyva" in 1253. It was a small unfortified harbour town in the state of the Livonian Order. In the 14th century it was burnt down several times by the Lithuanians. As a result of the Reformation, two Lutheran parishes emerged in Libau. One congregation was formed by the Protestants of Latvian language, the other one for German speaking Protestants. The granting of the town charter took place in 1625. Soon after the construction of the harbour began. In 1698, a major fire destroyed most of the town's wooden buildings. The Great Plague of 1708 to 1714 claimed the lives of a third of the citizens. Svētās Annas baznīca is the oldest church in Liepāja, as it was first mentioned in written records in 1508. It was a wooden church at that time, it got then altered and rebuilt several times. The last construction took place in the 19th century. The monumental wood-carved altarpiece from 1697 is a masterpiece of the Baroque period. It is about 9,50m wide and more than 10 m high.

The area around Lübeck, today a large city with a population of more than 200,000, had been settled by Slavs since the 7th century. Slavs had a settlement north of the present city called "Liubice", which was razed by the pagan Rani tribe in 1128. 15 years later Adolf II, Count of Schauenburg and Holstein, founded the modern town as a German settlement on the river island of Bucu. He built a new castle, first mentioned as existing in 1147. Adolf II had to cede the castle to the Duke of Saxony, Henry the Lion, in 1158. After Henry's fall from power in 1181, the town became an Imperial city. Emperor Barbarossa ordained that the city should have a ruling council of 20 members. With the council dominated by merchants, trade interests shaped Lübeck's politics for centuries. In the 14th century, Lübeck became the "Queen of the Hanseatic League", being by far the largest and most powerful member of that medieval trade organization. In 1375, Emperor Charles IV named Lübeck one of the five "Glories of the Empire", a title shared with Venice, Rome, Pisa, and Florence. Conflicts about trading privileges resulted in fighting between Lübeck (with the Hanseatic League) and Denmark and Norway – with varying outcome. While Lübeck and the Hanseatic League prevailed in conflicts in 1435 and 1512, Lübeck lost when it became involved in a civil war that raged in Denmark from 1534 to 1536. From then on Lübeck's power slowly declined. The city remained neutral in the Thirty Years' War, but the devastation from the decades-long war and the new transatlantic orientation of European trade caused the Hanseatic League – and thus Lübeck with it – to decline in importance. However, Lübeck still remained an important trading town on the Baltic Sea. - The present three aisle church was erected around 1300 and replaced a Romanesque hall church on the same site after the great city fire of 1276, which was already mentioned around 1227. The Jakobikirche was consecrated in 1334 as a church of sailors and fishermen. St. Jakobi was one of the few Lübeck churches to remain undamaged during the bombing raid on Palm Sunday night in 1942. The center of the Baroque altar, created (and signed) by Hieronymus Hassenberg in 1717. The entombment of Christ an icon that was very popular in France (mise au tombeau).