Of the late medieval town fortifications, only one tower – dating from the 13th century – remains today and is used as a bell tower for St. John’s Church. A town gate, built in 1555 and separated the town center from the Drawehn suburb to the west, was demolished in 1793. In 1537, Lüchow suffered from an outbreak of the plague. Barely half a century later, in 1589, the town was largely destroyed by a fire. Another fire – in 1608 – destroyed much of what had been rebuilt and a catastrophic fire, in 1811, destroyed even the city hall and the castle reducing most of the town of Lüchow to ashes. In 1855 the town was united with the two suburbs – Salzwedeler and Drawehner Vorstadt.