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| There it is, Hamburg, in the centre of Schleswig Holstein |
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| Approaching the City |
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| Hansestadt Hamburg - centre for marine commerce since Centuries |
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| The City's Coat of Arms |
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| One needs a couple of Pilots, even to find ones way through a multitude of sand banks... |
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| Many towns are behind dams, to protect them from tidal surges - just like the Netherlands |
Hamburg is the largest seaport of Germany, despite being
located 120 km inland. Rotterdam is the largest in Europe, with Hamburg being
the second in line. Container ships longer than 350 meters, loaded with 10,000
containers, lumber upriver Elbe, guided by one or more of the dozens of pilots
keeping things flowing smoothly and safely. Tidal influences are drastic even
way upriver here in Hamburg. The harbour itself covers hundreds of hectares
with container terminals, shipyards, historical quays, new and old cruise ship
terminals (the Gigantic Queen Mary II docked ahead of our little Prinsendam)
and hundreds of bridges old and new connecting various parts of riverside
Hamburg.
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| Dwarfed by The Queen - Queen Mary II |
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| New Condos in New Harbour District |
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| This has been razed to make room for a fashionable residential area and the impressive Elbe Philharmonic building in the New Harbour District |
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| Queen Mary's fake stern. She actually has a transom stern to accommodate azipod style propulsion. However, as a nod to tradition, it has been 'rounded off' above the waterline, which gives her a classic cruise ship shape, instead of the current floating Tupper ware box style. |
Water is the unifying element of the city of Hamburg. Hamburg dates
back centuries, however, it was almost totally destroyed during WWII (45,000
civilians died in one night of carpet bombing alone). Historic buildings have
been restored, a few have survived the War intact, and are complemented with
ultramodern developments such as the new Harbour City, which rises from the
ruins of abandoned industrial sites which are turning into a completely new
city district with jewels of modern architecture and livable city design.
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| The Fishmarket (Fischmarkt) where the bars open at 5:30 a.m. on a Sunday morning... |
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| Tour boat in Hamburg; the floating Landing Piers in the background... |
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| Elbe Philharmonic (Concert Hall) under construction |
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| Detail of glass outer walls of concert hall |
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| Construction observing the passage Prinsendam through glass outer skin of concert hall |
There is so much to see and experience in Hamburg: the said
Hafen City (Harbour City) with its landmark Elb Philharmonie (Elbe Concert
Hall) still under construction but already rating as one of the city’s major
attractions, the Restored Warehouse District (most extensive in the world) with
the largest miniature railway museum in the world (remember Maerklin?), the
Reeperbahn (where rope – reep makers
used to work) and Neue Freiheit with its infamous night life, the UNESCO Inner
City with its iconic Rathaus (City Hall), the Binnen and Aussen Alster (a
centre city lake) with its Jungfernstieg (Virgin’s Pier).
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| Segment of old Warehouse District, condos with a high price tag indeed... |
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| One of the surviving wood frame buildings |
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| Warhouse DIstrict from one of the dozens of bridges connecting parts of Hamburg |
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| Restored facades along one of the City's Canals |
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| Warning - don't look at this office building - the Dancing Towers - even if slightly inebriated... |
iThere are many characteristic churches (the 150
meter high steeple of one of them preserved is as a ruin dating from WWII as a
warning against war), centre city parks like Planten and Bloomen, and Shopping
and Dining to satisfy every wish, as well as highly popular gathering places
like the Fishmarket where one may wake up sipping a dawn beer instead of a
breakfast coffee. The historic Landungs Bruecken (Landing Piers)in St Pauli
district are filled with outdoor restaurants and dozens of tour boats, as well
as giving access to the unique Elbe Tunnel.
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| The Binnen Alster - Inner Lake |
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| Sunset over the Alster Lake |
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| Round building on left is the entrance to the Elbe Tunnel |
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| Elbe Tunnel illustration |
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| Internet Photo of part of the Elbe Tunnel |
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| Elevators for cars to reach Elbe Tunnel |
And there is the truly unique Red Light
District also called the `Mile of Sin`, where the Beatles started their career
– as musicians of course, not as red light attractions. After all those
thousands of sailors arriving here for centuries had to do something to spend
their hard earned money.
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| Baroque St Pauli Church |
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| Krameramtsstuben - 1620 - one of the oldest buildings that survived, now a venue for restaurants and shops |
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| The Rathaus, City Hall. No it is not Gothic, the city fathers took a long time to decide to build in this style long after it was out of style in the rest of the world. |
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| Even being fake Gothic, it makes for a pleasant interlude from the bustling city surrounding City Hall |
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| Almost Venice...a colonnaded passage with a view of Alster Lake and Rathaus |
Being Germany, everything seems efficient, whether it is
public transport, opening hours for businesses, or public toilets –all run like
clockwork. Public Toilets are fee based, most have attendants who keep the
stalls clean and grudgingly help foreign tourists finding the magic green knob
which activates access and exit turn styles.
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| A good place for a short refreshment.... |
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| Status Symbol....an antique Gogomobil |
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| Moenckestrasse, one of the many elegant shopping streets of Hamburg |
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| Chile Haus in the UNESCO World Heritage warehouse district |
Fashions have changed of course since I lived in Germany.
However, favourite colours hover in the dark blue, grey, brown and black scale.
The latest trend in men`s fashion is a scandalous departure from these `discreet
‘colours: many men seem to be in love with tomato red pants, which look rather
ridiculous to me. Women`s latest colour
trends have emerged since decades of drab around various shades of white, ochre
and light brown. Fashion related liberation of women has uni-sexified clothing
and haircuts, so much so, that sometimes it is difficult to figure out which
one of a heterosexual couple (young or old) is the female and which one the
male. Female haircuts are SHORT, with the chainsaw skull shave being the most
popular, closely followed by the bob long in front and shaved skull in the back.
The giveaway is the tomato red pants, definitely macho attire! Anyway, the North
American love affair with facelifts and
Botox, as well as the Latin American one with body part implants seem still
mercifully absent.
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| Bridge leading into warehouse district |
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| There are a few romantic corners in this functional and almost minimalist city... |
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| Dusk over a stretch of the Port of Hamburg |
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| 8 a.m. at the Fishmarket Pier |
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| There actually is a market - see plaza filled with vendor's tents on shore... |
Since the City`s inception, its citizens have enjoyed
prosperity and a high standard of living. Back in 1482, 300 years after its
foundation in 1189 allegedly by Kaiser Barbarossa – not the pirate king - the
city was awarded the Speicher Recht by the Hanse Merchant Association. Speicher
Recht means Warehousing Right. Between 1189 and 1482 the city was already `duty
free` over an area reaching from the sea to the city proper. The Speicher Recht
added another wealth creating fact: merchants arriving in Hamburg had to
unload, warehouse and offer their merchandise for sale before being allowed to
continue their journey. Between 1883 and 1928 the warehouse has grown to its
present day proportions, which necessitated 20,000 people to be evicted to make
room for the towering red brick buildings that stored goods like carpets, coffee
and tea.
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| Keeping in style with the older warehouses, newly constructed condos |
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| A good city for exploring on foot... |
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| Historic Pub with mini brewery |
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| Evening leading up to World Championship Elimination Soccer Game |
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| 6.8 % mini brew beer - Maibock |
I visited the Reeperbahn one evening – everything in terms
of risky business goes there. A couple of side streets are the Neue Freiheit,
where strip joint joins strip joint shoulder to shoulder, or bum to bum, and
Herbert Strasse, which is the official access-controlled prostitution shopping
street: youth under 18 years of age as well as women are not allowed to enter
through the 8 foot gated barrier. Merchandise is said to be expensive. The name Neue Freiheit means ‘new freedom’ and
has nothing to do libertine inclinations, but is the name of a church on said
road, which commemorates the granting of religious freedom to all in Hamburg,
which used to be a somewhat intolerant Lutheran religious stronghold after the
Reformation.
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| Women and children prohibited to enter....Herbert Strasse |
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| Keeping the Peace in the Red Light District... |
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| Yes, you are in Hamburg, a civilized city.... |
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....be prepared....
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Men and women ‘perform’ on the stages of pub/show/bar like
establishments lining Neue Freiheit. One Brazilian male Reeperbahn star
apparently just ‘retired’ after fifteen years of ‘acting’ as the male
complement of a gig, three four times every 24 hours – he sure had stamina!
Windows above street level in these establishments serve as a ‘come on up’
advertising where scantily clad - if at all - females wiggling their charms,
whilst transvestites ‘man’ the street level entrances below to entice
pedestrians to buy their tickets to sin.
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| Monument to The Beatles, who started their career right here... |
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| Enter the Grosse Freiheit! |
The strollers seem to
be average people, men and women, old and young, from all corners of the Globe
– out for an evening (business thrives 24 hours around the clock) enjoying a
‘good time’ not necessarily involving love for sale. The whole thing is
perfectly legal, if not to everyone’s taste. Nearby David Wache, the famous
David Street Police Station, is kept busier calming down drunks than
persecuting the oldest trade in the world.
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| For Visitors who may not understand German versions... |
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| The Beatle's favourite pub on the Grosse Freiheit... |
I strolled through around 11 p.m. when it was relatively
quiet, the joint really starts jumping around 1 a.m. when there are wall to
wall people filling the bars or just wandering up and down the two short streets
in question.
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| Upstairs.... |
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| ....and downstairs. |
The Beatles made their career debut here, playing nightly in
one of the bars when not frequenting their favourite watering hole (which I
frequented as well). Germany being beer country, a visit to mini brewery of
Groeninger Bier - in business since 1722 – is of course de rigeur. The Northern
German style has less ohm papa than the South (Munich) however; they adhere to
the custom of beer chasing: one beer followed by the downing of one schnapps.
One is definitely enough, even at the affordable price of 2 Euros a shot.
As usual I spent the entire next day walking and walking in
my by now dissolving shoes. Well, these shoes were made for walking – and after
this last port on the itinerary they will have their last stroll into the
ship’s waste basket. (A little side trip to Edam in Holland is still to come –
after I disembark the ship in Holland)
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| 2017 - Opening Year for the Elbe Philharmonic |
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| St Pauli Waterfront |
Intermittent rain made for impromptu planning in terms when
to duck into cafes and hiking along waterfronts or through city streets.
There were many tents, as it also was the start of the World
Soccer Championship, and the German team was scheduled to play their first
match that night. Preparations for what is called ‘public viewing’ were being
completed, i.e. tents, chairs, benches, picnic tables, umbrellas, portable beer
gardens and huge open air television screens awaited a couple of hundred
thousand soccer fans to cheer on their favourites doing their thing halfway
around the world. A whole park had been transformed into a soccer party venue
under towering television screens. Black-Red-Gold flags, t-shirts, car
adornments, posters, hats, Viking horns, flower garlands, hair adornments,
balloons, shorts, skirts, and dresses identified the true believers.
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| Floating down Elbe River |
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| Past dykes and villages and light houses |
I had planned to visit a Milonga (Tango Dance) in Hamburg,
albeit, start time was postponed until after the soccer match had finished, too
late for my tango aspirations. Those German tangueros get their priorities
right…soccer first, tango a lagging second! Well, they never won a World Championship
in Tango either…
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| Adios to the bucolic shores of the Elbe - off into the North Sea again! |
