Lübeck was founded as "Liubice" (meaning "the lovely" or "the beautiful") around 1000 AD. The settlement didn't last long, but in 1143, Count Adolf II von Schauenberg recycled its name when he built a TRADING CENTER in the city's current location. The town was destroyed by fire in 1157, and a disillusioned Adolf handed it over to Heinrich the Lion of Saxony, who began construction of a new city in 1159. Within a few years, Lübeck was the Baltic's answer to Venice, and the city's layout has remained essentially unchanged since the 12th Century.