Hamburg - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

History

The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.
But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne

Charlemagne

Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...

in AD 808. The castle

Castle

A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...

was built on rocky terrain in a marsh between the River Alster

Alster

The Alster is a right tributary of the River Elbe in Northern Germany. It has its source near Henstedt-Ulzburg, Schleswig-Holstein, flows roughly southwards and reaches the Elbe in Hamburg. In the centre of Hamburg the Alster has been dammed...

and the River Elbe

Elbe

The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...

as a defence against Slavic

Slavic peoples

The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...

incursion. The castle was named Hammaburg, burg meaning castle or fort. The origin of the Hamma term remains uncertain, as does the exact location of the castle.

In 834, Hamburg was designated the seat of a Roman Catholic bishopric

Prince-Bishop

A Prince-Bishop is a bishop who is a territorial Prince of the Church on account of one or more secular principalities, usually pre-existent titles of nobility held concurrently with their inherent clerical office...

, whose first bishop, Ansgar

Ansgar

Saint Ansgar, Anskar or Oscar, was an Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen. The see of Hamburg was designated a "Mission to bring Christianity to the North", and Ansgar became known as the "Apostle of the North".-Life:After his mother’s early death Ansgar was brought up in Corbie Abbey, and made rapid...

, became known as the Apostle of the North. Two years later, Hamburg was united with Bremen as the bishopric of Hamburg-Bremen. In 1529, the city embraced Lutheranism

Lutheranism

Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...

, and Hamburg subsequently received Protestant

Protestantism

Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...

refugees from the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

and France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

and, in the 17th century, Sephardi Jews

Portuguese Jewish community in Hamburg

From about 1590 on there has been a Portuguese Jewish community in Hamburg, whose qehilla קהילה existed until its compulsory merger with the Ashkenazi congregation in July 1939...

from Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

.

Hamburg was destroyed and occupied several times. In 845, a fleet of 600 Viking

Viking

The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...

ships sailed up the River Elbe

Elbe

and destroyed Hamburg which, at that time, was a town of around 500 inhabitants. In 1030, the city was burned down by King Mieszko II Lambert

Mieszko II Lambert

Mieszko II Lambert was King of Poland during 1025–1031, and Duke from 1032 until his death.He was the second son of Bolesław I the Brave, but the eldest born from his third wife Emmilda, daughter of Dobromir, possible ruler of Lusatia. He was probably named after his paternal grandfather, Mieszko I...

of Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

. Valdemar II of Denmark

Valdemar II of Denmark

Valdemar II , called Valdemar the Victorious or Valdemar the Conqueror , was the King of Denmark from 1202 until his death in 1241. The nickname Sejr is a later invention and was not used during the King's own lifetime...

raided and occupied Hamburg in 1201 and in 1214. The Black Death

Black Death

The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...

killed at least 60% of Hamburg's population in 1350. Hamburg had several great fires, the most notable ones in 1284 and 1842. In 1842, about a quarter of the inner city was destroyed in the "Great Fire". This conflagration started on the night of the 4 May 1842 and was extinguished on 8 May. It destroyed three churches, the town hall, and many other buildings, killing 51 people and leaving an estimated 20,000 homeless. Reconstruction took more than 40 years.

In 1189, by imperial charter, Frederick I "Barbarossa"

Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor

Frederick I Barbarossa was a German Holy Roman Emperor. He was elected King of Germany at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March, crowned King of Italy in Pavia in 1155, and finally crowned Roman Emperor by Pope Adrian IV, on 18 June 1155, and two years later in 1157 the term...

granted Hamburg the status of an Imperial Free City

Free Imperial City

In the Holy Roman Empire, a free imperial city was a city formally ruled by the emperor only — as opposed to the majority of cities in the Empire, which were governed by one of the many princes of the Empire, such as dukes or prince-bishops...

and tax-free access up the Lower Elbe into the North Sea. In 1265, an allegedly forged letter was presented to or by the Rath of Hamburg. This charter, along with Hamburg's proximity to the main trade routes of the North Sea

North Sea

In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...

and Baltic Sea

Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...

, quickly made it a major port in Northern Europe

Northern Europe

Northern Europe is the northern part or region of Europe. Northern Europe typically refers to the seven countries in the northern part of the European subcontinent which includes Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Finland and Sweden...

. Its trade alliance with Lübeck

Lübeck

The Hanseatic City of Lübeck is the second-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany, and one of the major ports of Germany. It was for several centuries the "capital" of the Hanseatic League and, because of its Brick Gothic architectural heritage, is listed by UNESCO as a World...

in 1241 marks the origin and core of the powerful Hanseatic League of trading cities. On 8 November 1266, a contract between Henry III

Henry III of England

Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...

and Hamburg's traders allowed them to establish a hanse in London. This was the first time in history that the word hanse was used for the trading guild of the Hanseatic League

Hanseatic League

The Hanseatic League was an economic alliance of trading cities and their merchant guilds that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe...

. The first description of civil, criminal and procedural law for a city in Germany in the German language, the Ordeelbook (Ordeel: sentence) was written by the solicitor of the senate of Hamburg, Jordan von Boitzenburg, in 1270. On August 10, 1410, civil unrest forced a compromise (German:Rezeß, literally meaning: withdrawal). This is considered the first constitution of Hamburg

Constitution of Hamburg

The Constitution of the Free and Hanseatic city of Hamburg is the basic governing document of the German city-state of Hamburg. It was approved on 6 June 1952...

.

Upon the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire

Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...

in 1806, the Free Imperial City

Free Imperial City

of Hamburg was not incorporated into a larger administrative area while retaining special privileges (mediatised

Mediatization

Mediatisation is the loss of imperial immediacy. Broadly defined it is the subsumption of one monarchy into another monarchy in such a way that the ruler of the annexed state keeps his sovereign title and, sometimes, a measure of local power...

), but became a sovereign

Sovereignty

Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...

state with the official title of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. Hamburg was briefly annexed by Napoleon I

Napoleon I

Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...

to the First French Empire

First French Empire

The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...

(1810–14). Russian forces under General Bennigsen

Levin August, Count von Bennigsen

Levin August Gottlieb Theophil , Count von Bennigsen was a German general in the service of the Russian Empire....

finally freed the city in 1814. Hamburg reassumed its pre-1811 status as a city-state in 1814. The Vienna Congress

Congress of Vienna

The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...

of 1815 confirmed Hamburg's independence and it became one of 39 sovereign states of the German Confederation

German Confederation

The German Confederation was the loose association of Central European states created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to coordinate the economies of separate German-speaking countries. It acted as a buffer between the powerful states of Austria and Prussia...

(1815–66).

In 1860, the state of Hamburg adopted a republican constitution. Hamburg became a city-state within the North German Confederation

North German Confederation

The North German Confederation 1866–71, was a federation of 22 independent states of northern Germany. It was formed by a constitution accepted by the member states in 1867 and controlled military and foreign policy. It included the new Reichstag, a parliament elected by universal manhood...

(1866–71), the German Empire

German Empire

The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...

(1871–1918) and during the period of the Weimar Republic

Weimar Republic

The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...

(1919–33). Hamburg experienced its fastest growth during the second half of the 19th century, when its population more than quadrupled to 800,000 as the growth of the city's Atlantic

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

trade helped make it Europe's third-largest port. With Albert Ballin

Albert Ballin

Albert Ballin was a German businessman. He was born into a modest Jewish family of Hamburg with origins in Denmark.- Business :...

as its director, the Hamburg-America Line

Hamburg America Line

The Hamburg Amerikanische Packetfahrt Actien Gesellschaft was a transatlantic shipping enterprise established in Hamburg, Germany during...

became the world's largest transatlantic

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

shipping company at the turn of the century. Shipping companies sailing to South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

, Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

and East Asia

East Asia

East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...

were based in the city. Hamburg was the departure port for most Germans and Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...

ans to emigrate to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Trading communities from all over the world established themselves here.

A major outbreak of cholera

Cholera

Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...

in 1892 was badly handled by the city government, which still retained an unusual degree of independence for a German city at the time. About 8,600 died in the largest German epidemic of the late 19th century, and the last major cholera epidemic in a major city of the Western world.

Second World War

In the Third Reich, Hamburg was a Gau from 1934 until 1945. During World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

Hamburg suffered a series of British air raids

Bombing of Hamburg in World War II

The Allied bombing of Hamburg during World War II included numerous strategic bombing missions and diversion/nuisance raids. As a large port and industrial center, Hamburg's shipyards, U-boat pens, and the Hamburg-Harburg area oil refineries were attacked throughout the war...

,
which devastated much of the inhabited city as well as harbour areas. On 23 July 1943 a firestorm

Firestorm

A firestorm is a conflagration which attains such intensity that it creates and sustains its own wind system. It is most commonly a natural phenomenon, created during some of the largest bushfires, forest fires, and wildfires...

developed as a result of British firebombing and, spreading from the Hauptbahnhof (central station) and quickly moving south-east, completely destroyed entire boroughs, such as Hammerbrook

Hammerbrook

Hammerbrook is a quarter in the Hamburg-Mitte borough of the Free and Hanseatic city of Hamburg in northern Germany. In 2006, the population was 435.-Geography:In 2007, Hammerbrook has an area of , and was part of the Hamburg-Mitte borough....

, Billbrook or Hamm-south. These densely populated working-class boroughs underwent a dramatic demographic change as a result as thousands of people perished in the flames.
While some of the destroyed boroughs have been rebuilt as residential areas after the war,
others such as Hammerbrook are nowadays purely commercial areas with almost no residential population.
The raids, codenamed Operation Gomorrah by the RAF, killed about 40,000 civilians; the precise number is not known.
About 1 million civilians were evacuated in the aftermath of the raids.

At least 42,900 people are thought to have perished in the Neuengamme concentration camp

Nazi concentration camps

Nazi Germany maintained concentration camps throughout the territories it controlled. The first Nazi concentration camps set up in Germany were greatly expanded after the Reichstag fire of 1933, and were intended to hold political prisoners and opponents of the regime...

(situated about 25 km (16 mi) outside the city in the marshlands), mostly due to epidemics and in the bombing of evacuation vessels at the end of the war.

Postwar history

Hamburg surrendered without a fight to British Forces

British Armed Forces

The British Armed Forces are the armed forces of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.Also known as Her Majesty's Armed Forces and sometimes legally the Armed Forces of the Crown, the British Armed Forces encompasses three professional uniformed services, the Royal Navy, the...

on 3 May 1945. After World War II

World War II

, Hamburg was in the British Zone of Occupation and became a state of the then Federal Republic of Germany

West Germany

West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....

in 1949. On 16 February 1962, the North Sea flood of that year

North Sea flood of 1962

The North Sea flood of 1962 was a natural disaster affecting mainly the coastal regions of Germany and in particular the city of Hamburg in the night from 16 February to 17 February 1962...

caused the Elbe to rise to an all-time high, inundating one-fifth of Hamburg and killing more than 300 people. In 1961, the Beatles

The Beatles

The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

became famous by playing music in clubs in Hamburg.

The Inner German Border — only 50 kilometres (31.1 mi) east of Hamburg — separated the city from most of its hinterland and further reduced Hamburg's global trade. After German reunification

German reunification

German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...

in 1990, and the accession of some Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe

an and Baltic States

Baltic states

The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...

into the EU

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

in 2004, the Port of Hamburg has ambitions for regaining its position as the region's largest deep-sea port for container shipping and its major commercial and trading centre.

Demographics

On 31 December 2006 there were 1,754,182 people registered as living in Hamburg (up by 6.2% from 1,652,363 in 1990) in an area of 755.3 km² (291.6 sq mi). The population density

Population density

Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

was 2322 PD/sqkm. The metropolitan area of the Hamburg region (Hamburg Metropolitan Region

Hamburg Metropolitan Region

The Metropolregion Hamburg is the compilation of 8 rural districts in the German federal state of Lower Saxony, 6 districts in the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein and the city-state of Hamburg in northern Germany...

) is home to about 4.3 million, living on 19000 km² (7,335.9 sq mi).

There were 856,132 men and 898,050 women in Hamburg. For every 1,000 males there were 1,049 females. In 2006 there were 16,089 births in Hamburg (of which 33.1% were to unmarried women), 6,921 marriages and 4,583 divorces. In the city, the population was spread out with 15.7% under the age of 18, and 18.8% were 65 years of age or older.

Recent estimates put the number of people with a migrant background at 28% (487.000). European immigrants constitute 70% of the migrant population, while Africans and south Asians make up 6% and 19%, respectively. Immigrants come from 180 different countries, including Turkey

Turkish people

Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...

, Poland

Poland

, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

, Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

, Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...

, Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

or Ghana

Ghana

Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...

.

In 1999, there were 910,304 households, of which 18.9% had children under the age of 18; 47.9% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 1.9.

Religion

In 2007, 30.7% of Hamburg's population belonged to the North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church, and 10.2% to the Roman Catholic Church. Two years later, by the end of 2009, 29.9 % of Hamburg's population belonged to the North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church, and 10.1% to the Roman Catholic Church. 60 % of the population does not belong to one of these two churches of these - according to an estimate, there are 90,000 Muslims (74% Sunni, 13% Alevi and 8% Shi'ite). However, Alevi

Alevi

The Alevi are a religious and cultural community, primarily in Turkey, constituting probably more than 15 million people....

s do not always identify as Muslims. The remainder of the population consists of members of smaller Christian churches, Buddhists

Buddhism

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

, Sikh

Sikh

A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...

s, Hindus

Hinduism

Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...

, Jews

Jews

The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...

, and those unaffiliated with any faith. Hamburg is seat of one of the three bishops of the North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church and seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hamburg. There are several mosques, including the Islamic Centre Hamburg

Islamic Centre Hamburg

The Islamic Centre Hamburg is one of the oldest Shia mosques in Germany and Europe. Established in Hamburg, in northern Germany, in the late 1950s by a group of Iranian emigrants and business people it rapidly developed into one of the leading Shia centres in the Western world.Many leading...

and a growing Jewish community.

Government

The city of Hamburg is one of 16 German states

States of Germany

Germany is made up of sixteen which are partly sovereign constituent states of the Federal Republic of Germany. Land literally translates as "country", and constitutionally speaking, they are constituent countries...

, therefore the Mayor of Hamburg

Government of Hamburg

The government of Hamburg is divided into executive, legislative and judicial branches. Due to the characteristic that Hamburg is a city-state and a municipality in Germany, the governance deals several details of state politics and community politics. It takes place in two ranks; a city-wide and...

's office corresponds more to the role of a minister-president

Minister-President

A minister-president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments, in which a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government prevails, who presides over the council of ministers...

than to the one of a city mayor. As a German state government, it is responsible for public education, correctional institutions and public safety; as a municipality, it is additionally responsible for libraries, recreational facilities, sanitation, water supply and welfare services.

Since 1897, the seat of the government has been the Hamburg Rathaus

Hamburg Rathaus

The Hamburg Rathaus is the Rathaus—the city hall or town hall—of Hamburg, Germany, it is the seat of the government of Hamburg, located in the Altstadt quarter in the city centre, near the lake Binnenalster and the central station...

, with the office of the mayor, the meeting room for the Senate and the floor for the Hamburg Parliament

Hamburg Parliament

The Hamburg Parliament is the unicameral legislature of the German state of Hamburg according to the constitution of Hamburg. As of 2011 there were 121 members in the parliament, representing a relatively equal amount of constituencies...

. From 2001 until 2010, the mayor of Hamburg was Ole von Beust

Ole von Beust

Carl-Friedrich Arp Ole Freiherr von Beust, generally called Ole von Beust, born April 13, 1955, in Hamburg, Germany, was First Mayor of the city-state of Hamburg from 31 October 2001 to 25 August 2010, serving as President of the Bundesrat from 1 November 2007 on for one year...

, who governed in Germany's first state-wide "black-green" coalition, consisting of the conservative CDU

Christian Democratic Union (Germany)

The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum...

and the alternative GAL, which are Hamburg's regional wing of the Alliance '90/The Greens

Alliance '90/The Greens

Alliance '90/The Greens is a green political party in Germany, formed from the merger of the German Green Party and Alliance 90 in 1993. Its leaders are Claudia Roth and Cem Özdemir...

party. Von Beust was briefly succeeded by Christoph Ahlhaus in 2010 but the coalition broke apart on November, 28. 2010. On 7 March 2011 Olaf Scholz

Olaf Scholz

Olaf Scholz is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany and Mayor of Hamburg since 7 March 2011.From May to October 2001 he was Minister of the Interior of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg and from 2002 to 2004 he was general secretary of the SPD...

(SPD) became mayor.

Boroughs

Hamburg is made up of 7 boroughs (German: Bezirke) and subdivided into 105 quarters (German: Stadtteile). There are also 180 localities (German: Ortsteile). The urban organization is regulated by the Constitution of Hamburg and several laws. Most of the quarters were former independent cities, towns or villages annexed into Hamburg proper. The last large annexation was done through the Greater Hamburg Act of 1937, when the cities Altona

Altona, Hamburg

Altona is the westernmost urban borough of the German city state of Hamburg, on the right bank of the Elbe river. From 1640 to 1864 Altona was under the administration of the Danish monarchy. Altona was an independent city until 1937...

, Harburg and Wandsbek

Hamburg-Wandsbek

Wandsbek is an urban quarter in the Wandsbek borough of Hamburg, Germany, and the former city Wandsbek in the Duchy of Holstein. In 2006 the population was 32,350.-History:...

were merged into the state of Hamburg. The Act of the Constitution and Administration of Hanseatic city of Hamburg established Hamburg as a state and a municipality. Some of the boroughs and quarters have been rearranged several times over the years.

Each borough is governed by a Borough Council (German: Bezirksversammlung) and administered by a Municipal Administrator (German: Bezirksamtsleiter). The boroughs of Hamburg are not independent municipalities. The power of borough governments is limited and subordinate to the Senate of Hamburg. The borough administrator is elected by the Borough Council and thereafter requires confirmation and appointment by Hamburgs' Senate. The quarters have no governing bodies of their own.

In 2008 the boroughs of Hamburg were Altona, Bergedorf, Eimsbüttel, Hamburg-Mitte, Hamburg-Nord, Harburg and Wandsbek.

Altona
Altona, Hamburg
Altona is the westernmost urban borough of the German city state of Hamburg, on the right bank of the Elbe river. From 1640 to 1864 Altona was under the administration of the Danish monarchy. Altona was an independent city until 1937...

is the westernmost urban borough on the right bank of the Elbe river. From 1640 to 1864 Altona was under the administration of the Danish monarchy. Altona was an independent city until 1937. Politically, the following quarters are part of Altona: Altona-Altstadt, Altona-Nord, Bahrenfeld

Bahrenfeld

Bahrenfeld is a western quarter of the city of Hamburg in Germany, it is subject to the district/borough Bezirk Altona and was an independent settlement until 1890. It is home to DESY and the Color Line Arena. In 2006 the population was 26,434.-History:...

, Ottensen

Ottensen

Ottensen located in Hamburg, Germany in the Altona borough on the right bank of the Elbe river, is a former town. It is a now one of the 105 quarters of Hamburg. Ottensen is an urban area, which population was 32,757 in 2006....

, Othmarschen

Othmarschen

Othmarschen is a quarter in the Altona borough of the Hamburg in northern Germany. In 2006 the population was 12,169.-History:The first records on Othmarschen are from 1317...

, Groß Flottbek, Osdorf

Osdorf, Hamburg

Osdorf is a quarter in the city of Hamburg, Germany. It belongs to the Altona borough. In 2006 the population was 25,206.-History:...

, Lurup

Lurup

Lurup is a quarter in the Altona borough of the Free and Hanseatic city of Hamburg in northern Germany. It was a former independent town. In 2006 the population was 33,459.-History:...

, Nienstedten

Nienstedten

Nienstedten is a quarter in the city of Hamburg, Germany. It belongs to the Altona borough on the right bank of the Elbe river. Nienstedten is home to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. In 2006 the population was 6,783.-Geography:...

, Blankenese

Blankenese

Blankenese is a former independent town, now a suburban quarter in the borough Altona in the western part of Hamburg . It is located on right bank of the Elbe river...

, Iserbrook

Iserbrook

Iserbrook is a quarter in the Altona borough of the Free and Hanseatic city of Hamburg in northern Germany. In 2007 the population was 10,660.-Geography:...

, Sülldorf

Sülldorf

Sülldorf is a quarter in the Altona borough of the Free and Hanseatic city of Hamburg in northern Germany. In 2006 the population was 8,980.-Geography:...

, Rissen, Sternschanze.

Bergedorf
Bergedorf
Bergedorf is the largest of the seven boroughs of Hamburg, Germany and a quarter within this borough. In 2006 the population of the borough was 118,942.-History:...

consists of the quarters Allermöhe

Allermöhe

Allermöhe is a quarter in the borough Bergedorf of the Free and Hanseatic city of Hamburg in northern Germany. The quarter consists of a rural area and the old settlement Allermöhe, on the other hand the new neighbourhood Neu-Allermöhe West, which is a development zone of several agencies of...

, Altengamme

Altengamme

Altengamme located in the Bergedorf borough of the Free and Hanseatic city of Hamburg in northern Germany, is a rural quarter on the right bank of the Elbe river. Altengamme is the most eastern part of Hamburg. In 2009 the population was 2,192....

, Bergedorf

Bergedorf (quarter)

Bergedorf is a quarter in the homonymous borough of the Free and Hanseatic city of Hamburg in northern Germany. In 2006, the population was 41,019.-History:The quarter was first mentioned in 1162...

—the centre of the former independent town, Billwerder, Curslack, Kirchwerder, Lohbrügge

Lohbrügge

Lohbrügge is a quarter in the Bergedorf borough of the Free and Hanseatic city of Hamburg in northern Germany. In 2006, the population was 38,343.-Geography:...

, Moorfleet, Neuengamme

Neuengamme

The Neuengamme concentration camp, a Nazi concentration camp, was established in 1938 by the SS near the village of Neuengamme in Bergedorf district within the City of Hamburg, Germany. It was in operation from 1938 to 1945. By the end of the war, more than half of its estimated 106,000 prisoners...

, Ochsenwerder, Reitbrook, Spadenland and Tatenberg.

Eimsbüttel
Eimsbüttel
Eimsbüttel is one of the seven boroughs of Hamburg, Germany. In 2006 the population was 246,087.-History:On March 1, 2008 Eimsbüttel lost a part of its area to form the quarter Sternschanze in the borough Altona.-Geography:...

is split into nine quarters: Eidelstedt, Eimsbüttel

Eimsbüttel (quarter)

Eimsbüttel is one of the 105 quarters in the Eimsbüttel borough of Hamburg, Germany. In 2006 the population was 54,702.-History:On March 1, 2008 the Eimsbüttel quarter lost a part of its area to form the quarter Sternschanze in the borough Altona....

, Harvestehude, Hoheluft-West, Lokstedt, Niendorf, Rotherbaum

Rotherbaum

Rotherbaum is a quarter of Eimsbüttel, a borough of Hamburg, Germany. In 2006 the population was 16,853.In German, "roter Baum" means red tree. The "th", which in general was abolished in the spelling reform of 1900, was preserved in names...

, Schnelsen and Stellingen. Located within this borough is former Jewish neighbourhood Grindel.

Hamburg-Mitte
Hamburg-Mitte
Hamburg-Mitte located in the Free and Hanseatic city of Hamburg, Germany is one of the seven boroughs of Hamburg, covering mostly the urban center of the city of Hamburg. The quarters Hamburg-Altstadt and Neustadt are the historical origin of Hamburg...

("Hamburg Centre") covers mostly the urban centre of the city of Hamburg and consists of the quarters Billbrook, Billstedt, Borgfelde, Finkenwerder

Finkenwerder

Finkenwerder is a quarter of Hamburg, Germany in the borough Hamburg-Mitte. It is the location of a plant of Airbus and its airport...

, HafenCity

HafenCity

HafenCity is a quarter in the District of Hamburg-Mitte in Hamburg, Germany. It is located on the Elbe river island that use to be called Kehrwieder and Wandrahm....

, Hamm-Nord, Hamm-Mitte, Hamm-Süd, Hammerbrook

Hammerbrook

, Horn

Horn, Hamburg

Horn is a quarter in the borough Hamburg-Mitte, in the eastern part of Hamburg, Germany. In 2007 the population was 36,890.-History:During World War II the Hamburg and therefore Horn were targets of the air raids of the so called Operation Gomorrah....

, Kleiner Grasbrook

Kleiner Grasbrook

Kleiner Grasbrook is a quarter of Hamburg, Germany within the borough of Hamburg-Mitte. It is situated on the homonymous island between the Northern and Southern branches of the Elbe river , together with the other quarters of Steinwerder, Veddel and Wilhelmsburg...

, Neuwerk

Neuwerk

Neuwerk is a Wadden Sea island on the German North Sea coast and a homonymous quarter of the city of Hamburg, Germany, in the borough Hamburg-Mitte...

, Rothenburgsort

Rothenburgsort

Rothenburgsort is a quarter in the Hamburg-Mitte borough of the Free and Hanseatic city of Hamburg in northern Germany. In 2006, the population was 8,660.-Geography:The quarter is situated in the south-east center of Hamburg...

, St. Georg

St. Georg, Hamburg

St. Georg is a central quarter in the borough Hamburg-Mitte of Hamburg, Germany. In 2006 the population was 10,551.-History:In 1410 the articles 17 and 18 of a contract between the Senate and the citizens were regulating the accommodation of the patients in the hospital St. Georg . This hospital...

, St. Pauli

St. Pauli

St. Pauli , located in the Hamburg-Mitte borough, is one of the 105 quarters of the city of Hamburg, Germany. Situated on the right bank of the Elbe river, the Landungsbrücken are a northern part of the port of Hamburg. St. Pauli contains a world famous red light district around the street Reeperbahn...

, Steinwerder, Veddel

Veddel

Veddel is a quarter in the Hamburg-Mitte borough of the Free and Hanseatic city of Hamburg on the homonymous island in the Elbe river, in northern Germany. In 2006, the population was 4,944.-Demographics:...

, Waltershof and Wilhelmsburg. The quarters Hamburg-Altstadt ("old town") and Neustadt ("new town") are the historical origin of Hamburg.

Hamburg-Nord
Hamburg-Nord
Hamburg-Nord is one of the seven boroughs of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, in north-western Germany...

contains the quarters Alsterdorf

Alsterdorf

Alsterdorf is a quarter in the Hamburg-Nord borough of the Hamburg, Germany. The name has its origin after the river Alster which become later the dams Außenalster and Binnenalster in the center of Hamburg...

, Barmbek-Nord, Barmbek-Süd, Dulsberg, Eppendorf, Fuhlsbüttel

Fuhlsbüttel

Fuhlsbüttel is an urban quarter in the north of Hamburg, Germany in the district Hamburg-Nord. It is known as the site of Hamburg's international airport, and as the location of a prison which served as a concentration camp in the Nazi system of repression....

, Groß Borstel, Hoheluft-Ost, Hohenfelde, Langenhorn

Langenhorn, Hamburg

Langenhorn is a quarter in the borough Hamburg-Nord of Hamburg, Germany. In 2006 the population was 40,425.-History:On January 25, 1332, Langenhorn was sold to Hamburg by the Count of Holstein...

, Ohlsdorf, Uhlenhorst and Winterhude

Winterhude

Winterhude is a quarter in the borough Hamburg-Nord of Hamburg, Germany. In 2007 the population was 48,799.-History:Winterhude was first mentioned in the 13th century, but archeological findings of tools, weapons and grave-mounds were dated in 1700 bC and 700 bC.During World War II the port of...

.

Harburg lies on the southern shores of the river Elbe and covers parts of the port of Hamburg, residential and rural areas, and some research institutes. The quarters are Altenwerder

Altenwerder

Altenwerder is a quarter in the Harburg borough of the Free and Hanseatic city of Hamburg in northern Germany. In the 1970s the city of Hamburg announced the formal dispossession of all property to build the Container Terminal Altenwerder. The terminal started its operation in 2003. Altenwerder is...

, Cranz

Cranz, Hamburg

Cranz is a quarter in the Harburg borough of Hamburg, Germany. It is on the left bank of the Elbe river and one of the 105 quarters of Hamburg. In 2006 the population was 857.-History:Cranz belonged to the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen...

, Eißendorf, Francop, Gut Moor, Harburg

Harburg (quarter)

General-External links:...

, Hausbruch, Heimfeld, Langenbek, Marmstorf, Moorburg, Neuenfelde

Neuenfelde

Neuenfelde is a rural quarter located in the borough Harburg of Hamburg, Germany near the Lower Saxony border. The quarter is well known for its quality of fruit and unique houses, many of which prove to be popular attractions for tourists passing through, it belongs to the Altes Land region and is...

, Neugraben-Fischbek

Neugraben-Fischbek

Neugraben-Fischbek is a quarter of Hamburg, Germany belongs to the borough Harburg. The quarter consists of the old settlements Neugraben and Fischbek, and the more recently constructed area Neuwiedenthal.-History:-History of Fischbek:...

, Neuland, Rönneburg, Sinstorf and Wilstorf.

Wandsbek
Wandsbek
Wandsbek is the second-largest of seven boroughs that make up the city of Hamburg, Germany. The name of the district is derived from the river Wandse which passes here. The quarter Wandsbek, which is the former independent city, is urban and, with the quarters Eilbek and Marienthal part of the...

is divided into the quarters Bergstedt, Bramfeld, Duvenstedt, Eilbek

Eilbek

Eilbek is a quarter of the German city of Hamburg and part of the Wandsbek borough. It originated as an independent small village on the outskirts of Hamburg and was eventually incorporated when the city expanded...

, Farmsen-Berne, Hummelsbüttel, Jenfeld, Lemsahl-Mellingstedt, Marienthal, Poppenbüttel

Poppenbüttel

Poppenbüttel is a quarter in the borough Wandsbek of Hamburg, Germany. In 2006 the population was 21,930.-History:Poppenbüttel became a part of Hamburg in 1937....

, Rahlstedt, Sasel, Steilshoop, Tonndorf, Volksdorf, Wandsbek, Wellingsbüttel and Wohldorf-Ohlstedt.

Cityscape

Architecture

Hamburg has architecturally significant buildings in a wide range of styles. There are, however, only few skyscraper

Skyscraper

A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...

s. On the other hand, churches like St. Nicholas's church

St. Nikolai, Hamburg

The Gothic Revival Church of St. Nicholas was formerly one of the five Lutheran Hauptkirchen in the city of Hamburg. It is now in ruins, serving as a memorial and an important architectural landmark. When Hamburg residents mention the Nikolaikirche, it is generally to this church that they are...

, the world's tallest building in the 19th century, are important landmarks. The skyline of Hamburg features the high spires of the principal churches (Hauptkirchen) St. Michael's Church (nicknamed “Michel"), St. Peter's Church, St. James's

St. Jacobi, Hamburg

The St. Jacobi church is one of the five principal Lutheran churches of Hamburg, Germany. The church is located directly in the city center, has a 125 m tall tower and features a famous organ by Arp Schnitger from 1693. It is dedicated to St James the Greater and often incorrectly known in English...

(St. Jacobi) and St. Catherine's Church

St. Catherine's Church, Hamburg

St. Catherine's Church is one of the five principal Lutheran churches of Hamburg, Germany. The base of its spire, dating from the 13th century, is the oldest building preserved in the city; after the lighthouse on Neuwerk island...

covered with copper plates, and of course the Heinrich-Hertz-Turm

Heinrich-Hertz-Turm

The Heinrich-Hertz-Turm is a radio telecommunication tower and a famous landmark of Hamburg, Germany....

, the once publicly accessible radio and television tower.

The many streams, rivers and canals in Hamburg are crossed by over 2300 bridges, more than Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

or Venice

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

. Hamburg has more bridges inside its city limits than any other city in the world. The Köhlbrandbrücke

Köhlbrandbrücke

The Köhlbrand Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge in Hamburg, Germany, which connects the harbour area on the island of Wilhelmsburg between the Norderelbe and Süderelbe branches of the Elbe river with motorway 7 . It bridges the Süderelbe, here called Köhlbrand, before it unites with the Norderelbe...

, Freihafen Elbbrücken, and Lombardsbrücke and Kennedybrücke dividing Binnenalster from Aussenalster are important roadways.

The town hall

Hamburg Rathaus

is a richly decorated Neo-Renaissance building finished in 1897.
The tower is 112 metres (367 ft) high. Its façade, 111 m (364 ft) long, depicts the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire, since Hamburg was, as a Free Imperial City, only under the sovereignty of the emperor. The Chilehaus

Chilehaus

The Chilehaus is a ten-story office building in Hamburg, Germany. It is an exceptional example of the 1920s Brick Expressionism style of architecture...

, a brick stone office building built in 1922 and designed by architect Fritz Höger

Johann Friedrich Höger

Johann Friedrich Höger was a German architect from Bekenreihe near Elmshorn, Schleswig-Holstein.His best-known work is the Brick Expressionist Chilehaus in Hamburg, constructed 1922-24 for saltpeter importer Henry B. Sloman...

, is shaped like an ocean liner.

Europe's largest inner-city development (as of 2008), the HafenCity

HafenCity

HafenCity is a quarter in the District of Hamburg-Mitte in Hamburg, Germany. It is located on the Elbe river island that use to be called Kehrwieder and Wandrahm....

, will house about 10,000 inhabitants and 15,000 workers. The plan includes designs by Rem Koolhaas

Rem Koolhaas

Remment Lucas Koolhaas is a Dutch architect, architectural theorist, urbanist and "Professor in Practice of Architecture and Urban Design" at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, USA. Koolhaas studied at the Netherlands Film and Television Academy in Amsterdam, at the Architectural...

and Renzo Piano

Renzo Piano

Renzo Piano is an Italian architect. He is the recipient of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, AIA Gold Medal, Kyoto Prize and the Sonning Prize...

. The Elbe Philharmonic Hall

Elbe Philharmonic Hall

The Elbphilharmonie Hamburg is a concert hall under construction in the HafenCity quarter of Hamburg, Germany. The concert hall is designed by Herzog & de Meuron on top of an old warehouse...

(Elbphilharmonie), expected to be completed by mid-2012, will house concerts in a building on top of an old warehouse, designed by the Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron
Herzog & de Meuron
Herzog & de Meuron Architekten, BSA/SIA/ETH is a Swiss architecture firm, founded and headquartered in Basel, Switzerland in 1978. The careers of founders and senior partners Jacques Herzog , and Pierre de Meuron , closely paralleled one another, with both attending the Swiss Federal Institute of...

.

The many parks of Hamburg are distributed over the whole city, which makes Hamburg a very verdant city. The biggest parks are the Stadtpark, the Ohlsdorf Cemetery

Ohlsdorf Cemetery

-External links:* *...

and Planten un Blomen

Planten un Blomen

Planten un Blomen is a park with a size of 47 hectares in the center of Hamburg. The name is Low German for plants and flowers.-Overview:The first plant was a Platanus, planted by Johann Georg Christian Lehmann in November 1821...

. The Stadtpark, Hamburg's "Central Park", has a great lawn and a huge water tower, which houses one of Europe's biggest planetaria

Planetarium

A planetarium is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation...

. The park and its buildings were designed by Fritz Schumacher

Fritz Schumacher (architect)

Fritz Schumacher was a German architect and urban designer.Schumacher was born into a diplomatic family in Bremen. The family Schumacher has been living there since 15th century....

in the 1910s.

Parks and gardens

The Alter Botanischer Garten Hamburg
Alter Botanischer Garten Hamburg
The Alter Botanischer Garten Hamburg, sometimes also known as the Schaugewächshaus or the Tropengewächshäuser, is a botanical garden now located primarily within greenhouses in the Planten un Blomen park at Stephansplatz, Hamburg, Germany...

is a historic botanical garden

Botanical garden

A botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...

, located in the Planten un Blomen
Planten un Blomen
Planten un Blomen is a park with a size of 47 hectares in the center of Hamburg. The name is Low German for plants and flowers.-Overview:The first plant was a Platanus, planted by Johann Georg Christian Lehmann in November 1821...

park, which now consists primarily of greenhouse

Greenhouse

A greenhouse is a building in which plants are grown. These structures range in size from small sheds to very large buildings...

s. The Botanischer Garten Hamburg
Botanischer Garten Hamburg
The Botanischer Garten Hamburg , more formally known as the Botanischer Garten der Universität Hamburg and the Biozentrum Klein Flottbek und Botanischer Garten, is a botanical garden maintained by the University of Hamburg...

is a modern botanical garden

Botanical garden

maintained by the University of Hamburg

University of Hamburg

The University of Hamburg is a university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by Wilhelm Stern and others. It grew out of the previous Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen and the Kolonialinstitut as well as the Akademisches Gymnasium. There are around 38,000 students as of the start of...

Culture and contemporary life

Hamburg offers more than 40 theatres, 60 museums and 100 music venues and clubs. In 2005, more than 18 million people visited concerts, exhibitions, theatres, cinemas, museums, and cultural events. More than 8,552 taxable companies – the average size was 3.16 employees – were engaged in the culture sector, which includes music, performing arts and literature. There are five (5) companies in the creative sector per thousand residents (Berlin 3, London 37).
Hamburg has entered the European Green Capital Award

European Green Capital Award

‎The European Green Capital Award as an award for a European Capital based on its environmental record. The award was launched by the European Commission on 22 May 2008 and the first award was given to Stockholm for the year 2010...

scheme, and was awarded the title of European Green Capital for 2011.

Theatres

The state-owned Deutsches Schauspielhaus
Deutsches Schauspielhaus
The Deutsches Schauspielhaus is a theatre in the St. Georg quarter of the city of Hamburg, Germany. With a capacity for 1192 spectators, it places it as Germany's largest theatre...

, the Thalia Theatre, "Ohnsorg Theatre", "Schmidts Tivoli" and the Kampnagel are well-known theatres in Germany and abroad. The English Theatre near U3 Mundsburg station was established in 1976 and is the oldest professional English-speaking theatre in Germany, and has exclusively English native-speaking actors in its company.

Museums

Hamburg possesses several big museums and galleries showing classical and contemporary art, as for example the Kunsthalle Hamburg

Kunsthalle Hamburg

The Hamburger Kunsthalle is an art museum in Hamburg, Germany. The art museum focuses on painting in Hamburg in the 14th century, paintings by Dutch and Flemish artists of the 16th and 17th centuries, French and German paintings of the 19th century, modern, and contemporary art...

with its contemporary art gallery (Galerie der Gegenwart), the Museum for Art and Industry (Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe
Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg
The Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe is a museum of fine, applied and decorative arts in Hamburg, Germany. It is located centrally, near the Hauptbahnhof.-History:...

) and the Deichtorhallen

Deichtorhallen

Deichtorhallen, in Hamburg, is one of Europe's largest art centers for contemporary art and photography. The two historical buildings dating from 1911-13 are iconic in style, with their open steel-and-glass structures. It's architecture creates a backdrop for spectacular major international...

/House of Photography. The Internationales Maritimes Museum Hamburg

Internationales Maritimes Museum Hamburg

The Internationales Maritimes Museum Hamburg is a private museum in the HafenCity quarter of Hamburg, Germany. The museum houses Peter Tamm's collection of model ships, construction plans, uniforms, and maritime art, amounting to over 40,000 items and more than one million photographs...

opened in the HafenCity quarter in 2008. There are various specialised museums in Hamburg, such as the Museum of Labour (Museum der Arbeit), and several museums of local history, for example the Kiekeberg Open Air Museum (Freilichtmuseum am Kiekeberg
Kiekeberg
The Kiekeberg is, at 127 metres above sea level, one of the more prominent hills in the Harburg Hills in north Germany. It is located in the parish of Ehestorf in the municipality of Rosengarten in the district of Harburg in the southern foothills of the range, which is also known as The Black...

). Two museum ships near Landungsbrücken bear witness to the freight ship (Cap San Diego
Cap San Diego
MS Cap San Diego is a general cargo ship, situated as a museum ship in Hamburg, Germany. Notable for its elegant silhouette, it was the last of a series of six ships known as the white swans of the south atlantic, and marked the apex of German-built bulk carriers before the advent of the container...

) and cargo sailing ship era (Rickmer Rickmers
Rickmer Rickmers
Rickmer Rickmers is a sailing ship permanently moored as a museum ship in Hamburg, near the Cap San Diego.Rickmer Clasen Rickmers, was a Bremerhaven shipbuilder and Willi Rickmer Rickmers, led a Soviet-German expedition to the Pamirs in 1928.The Rickmer Rickmers was built in 1896 by the Rickmers...

). The world's largest model railway museum Miniatur Wunderland

Miniatur Wunderland

Miniatur Wunderland is a model railway attraction in Hamburg, Germany and the largest of its kind in the world. , the railway consists of of track in HO scale, divided into seven sections: Harz, the fictitious city of Knuffingen, the Alps and Austria, Hamburg, America, Scandinavia, and Switzerland...

with 12 km (7.46 mi) total railway length is also situated near Landungsbrücken in a former warehouse.

BallinStadt Emigration City is dedicated to the millions of Europeans who emigrated from its mass accommodation halls to North and South America between 1850 and 1939. Visitors descending from those overseas emigrants may search for their ancestors at computer terminals.

Music

Hamburg State Opera

The Hamburg State Opera is one of the leading opera companies in Germany.Opera in Hamburg dates back to 2 January 1678 when the "Opern-Theatrum" was inaugurated with a performance of a biblical Singspiel by Johann Theile...

is a leading opera company. Its orchestra is the Philharmoniker Hamburg

Philharmoniker Hamburg

The Philharmoniker Hamburg is a German symphony orchestra based in Hamburg. Its current Music Director is GMD Simone Young. It is also the orchestra of the Hamburg State Opera....

. The city's other well-known orchestra is the North German Radio Symphony Orchestra

North German Radio Symphony Orchestra

The North German Radio Symphony Orchestra is a German orchestra, the symphony orchestra of the Norddeutscher Rundfunk in Hamburg....

. The main concert venue is the Laeiszhalle

Laeiszhalle

The Laeiszhalle is a concert hall in Hamburg, Germany and home to the Hamburger Symphoniker.The hall is named after the German shipowning company F. Laeisz, founder of the concert venue and was planned by the architect Martin Haller.-External links:...

, Musikhalle Hamburg, pending completion of the new Elbe Philharmonic Hall

Elbe Philharmonic Hall

The Elbphilharmonie Hamburg is a concert hall under construction in the HafenCity quarter of Hamburg, Germany. The concert hall is designed by Herzog & de Meuron on top of an old warehouse...

. The Laeiszhalle also houses a third orchestra, the Hamburger Symphoniker

Hamburger Symphoniker

The Hamburger Symphoniker is a German orchestra based in Hamburg, Germany. Founded in 1957, it is one of the city's three largest orchestras...

. György Ligeti

György Ligeti

György Sándor Ligeti was a composer of contemporary classical music. Born in a Hungarian Jewish family in Transylvania, Romania, he briefly lived in Hungary before becoming an Austrian citizen.-Early life:...

and Alfred Schnittke

Alfred Schnittke

Alfred Schnittke ; November 24, 1934 – August 3, 1998) was a Russian and Soviet composer. Schnittke's early music shows the strong influence of Dmitri Shostakovich. He developed a polystylistic technique in works such as the epic First Symphony and First Concerto Grosso...

taught at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg

Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg

The Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg is one of the larger universities of music in Germany.It was founded 1950 as Staatliche Hochschule für Musik on the base of the former private acting school of Annemarie Marks-Rocke and Eduard Marks.Studies include various music types from church music...

.

Since the German premiere of Cats
Cats (musical)
Cats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot...

in 1985, there have always been musicals

Musical theatre

Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...

running in the city, including The Phantom of the Opera
The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical)
The Phantom of the Opera is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the French novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux.The music was composed by Lloyd Webber, and most lyrics were written by Charles Hart, with additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. Alan Jay Lerner was an early collaborator,...

, The Lion King
The Lion King (musical)
The Lion King is a musical based on the 1994 Disney animated film of the same name with music by Elton John and lyrics by Tim Rice along with the musical score created by Hans Zimmer with choral arrangements by Lebo M. Directed by Julie Taymor, the musical features actors in animal costumes as well...

, Dirty Dancing, and Dance of the Vampires
Dance of the Vampires
Dance of the Vampires is a musical remake of a 1967 Roman Polanski film of the same name . Polanski also directed the original German production of this musical...

. This density, the highest in Germany, is partly due to the major musical production company Stage Entertainment
Stage Entertainment
The musical production company Stage Entertainment is based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It has a very successful subsidiary in Germany based in Hamburg which almost has a monopoly in Germany.- History :...

being based in the city.

Hamburg is the birthplace of Johannes Brahms

Johannes Brahms

Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...

, who spent his formative early years in the city. Hamburg was also the birthplace and home for famous waltz composer Oscar Fetrás

Oscar Fetrás

Oscar Fetrás was a German composer of popular dance music, military marches, piano pieces and arrangements....

who wrote the well-known "Mondnacht auf der Alster" waltz.

Prior to the group's initial recording and subsequent widespread fame, Hamburg provided residency and performing venues for The Beatles

The Beatles in Hamburg

The Beatles members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe and Pete Best regularly performed at different clubs in Hamburg, Germany, during the period from August 1960 to December 1962; a chapter in the group's history which honed their performance skills, widened their...

from 1960 to 1962. Hamburg has produced a number of pop musicians. Identical twin brothers Bill Kaulitz

Bill Kaulitz

Bill Kaulitz is a German singer, songwriter, voice actor, designer and model. He is best known for his work from 2001 to the present as the lead singer of the band Tokio Hotel....

and Tom Kaulitz from the rock band Tokio Hotel

Tokio Hotel

Tokio Hotel is a pop rock band from Germany, founded in 2001 by singer Bill Kaulitz, guitarist Tom Kaulitz, drummer Gustav Schäfer and bassist Georg Listing...

live and maintain a recording studio in Hamburg, where they recorded their second and third albums, Zimmer 483

Zimmer 483

Zimmer 483 is the second album by the German rock band Tokio Hotel. It was released in Germany on 23 February 2007. The album yielded four singles including "Übers Ende der Welt", "Spring nicht" and "An deiner Seite "...

and Humanoid

Humanoid

A humanoid is something that has an appearance resembling a human being. The term first appeared in 1912 to refer to fossils which were morphologically similar to, but not identical with, those of the human skeleton. Although this usage was common in the sciences for much of the 20th century, it...

. Singer Nena

Nena

Gabriele Susanne Kerner , better known by her stage name Nena, is a German singer and actress. She rose to international fame in 1983 with the New German Wave song "99 Luftballons". In 1984, she re-recorded this song in English as "99 Red Balloons". Nena was also the name of the band with whom she...

also lives in Hamburg. There are German hip hop acts, such as Fünf Sterne deluxe

Fünf Sterne Deluxe

Fünf Sterne deluxe was a German-language hip-hop band from Hamburg, Germany, founded in mid-1997, consisting of the rappers Das Bo and Tobi Tobsen , the graphic designer Marcnesium , and the disc jockey DJ Coolmann . They released two full length albums and a number of singles and EPs...

, Samy Deluxe

Samy Deluxe

Samy Sorge , commonly known as Samy Deluxe, Wickeda MC or Sam Semillia is a German rapper, and hip hop artist from Hamburg. He is one of Germany's most successful solo rap musicians while also releasing albums as a member of two separate crews, Dynamite Deluxe and ASD...

, Beginner and Fettes Brot

Fettes Brot

Fettes Brot is a German hip hop group founded in 1992.Fettes Brot is German for fat bread. "Fett" is a German slang term for "excellent" and brot is slang for "hash". The band took the name from a fan who called them "Fettes Brot" after an early gig, which was probably meant as a compliment, but...

. There is a substantial alternative

Alternative rock

Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

and punk

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

scene, which gathers around the Rote Flora

Rote Flora

The Rote Flora is a former theater in the neighbourhood Schanzenviertel in Hamburg. It has been squatted in November 1989 in response to the decision to turn it into a musical theatre.- History of the building :...

, a squatted

Squatting

Squatting consists of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied space or building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have permission to use....

former theatre located in the Sternschanze. Hamburg is famous for an original kind of German alternative music

Alternative rock

called Hamburger Schule
Hamburger Schule
The Hamburger Schule is a musical current in Germany during the 1980s and early 1990s. With some active bands and artists it is still present. It is encompassing elements from punk, grunge and experimental pop, and featuring intelligent lyrics...

("Hamburg School"), a term used for bands like Tocotronic

Tocotronic

Tocotronic is a German rock band founded in 1993 . Similar to Blumfeld or Die Sterne they are considered a part of the Hamburger Schule movement...

, Blumfeld

Blumfeld

Blumfeld was an indie-pop band from Hamburg, Germany, formed by singer and songwriter Jochen Distelmeyer. The name of the band was coined by the main character of the short story "Blumfeld, ein älterer Junggeselle" by Franz Kafka...

, Tomte

Tomte (band)

Tomte is an indie band from Hamburg in Germany. Their lyrics are almost completely in German and their sound could be described as guitar pop with some punk influences. The group may be considered to be a part of the “Hamburger Schule” on the basis of the band Tocotronic's influence on their work...

or Kante.

The city was a major centre for heavy metal music

Heavy metal music

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...

in the 1980s. Helloween

Helloween

Helloween is a German power metal band founded in the mid 1980s by members of Iron Fist and Powerfool. The band was a pioneering force in the European Power Metal movement and their second and third studio albums, Keeper of the Seven Keys, Pt...

, Running Wild

Running Wild (band)

Running Wild is a German heavy metal band, formed in 1976 in Hamburg. They were part of the German heavy/speed/power metal scene to emerge in the early to mid 1980s. The band has carved its niche in the metal world as the first "pirate metal" band, a theme which took off with the release of Under...

and Grave Digger

Grave Digger (band)

Grave Digger are a German heavy metal/power metal band formed in 1980. They were part of the German heavy/speed/power metal scene to emerge in the early to mid 1980s.-Band history:...

started in Hamburg. The industrial rock

Industrial rock

Industrial rock is a musical genre that fuses industrial music and specific rock subgenres. Industrial rock spawned industrial metal, with which it is often confused...

band KMFDM

KMFDM

KMFDM is an industrial band led by German multi-instrumentalist Sascha Konietzko, who founded the group in 1984 as a performance art project...

was also formed in Hamburg, initially as a performance art project. The influences of these and other bands from the area helped establish the subgenre of power metal

Power metal

Power metal is a style of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. The term refers to two different but related styles: the first pioneered and largely practiced in North America with a harder sound similar to speed metal, and a...

.

Hamburg has a vibrant psychedelic trance community, with record labels such as Spirit Zone

Spirit Zone Records

Spirit Zone Recordings was an electronic music record label from Germany which started in 1994. Spirit Zone was home to notable projects such as Electric Universe, Etnica, and Space Tribe.As of 2005 Spirit Zone Recordings is defunct....

Festivals and regular events

Hamburg is noted for several festivals and regular events. Some of them are street festivals, such as the gay pride

Gay pride

LGBT pride or gay pride is the concept that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people should be proud of their sexual orientation and gender identity...

Christopher Street Day
Christopher Street Day
Christopher Street Day is an annual European LGBT celebration and demonstration held in various cities across Europe for the rights of LGBT people, and against discrimination and exclusion. Only Germany and Switzerland use the term CSD, in other countries, the same kind of event is called Gay...

festival or the Alster fair, held at the Binnenalster
Binnenalster
Binnenalster or Inner Alster Lake is one of two artificial lakes within the city limits of Hamburg, Germany, which are formed by the river Alster . The main annual festival is the Alstervergnügen.The lake has an area of ....

. The Hamburger DOM
Hamburger DOM
The Hamburger Dom is a large funfair held in Hamburg, at Heiligengeistfeld fair ground, in Northern Germany. With three fairs per year it is the biggest and the longest fair throughout Germany. It attracts approximately ten million visitors annually. This Volksfest is a funfair...

is a northern Germany's biggest fun fair held three times a year. Hafengeburtstag is a funfair

Funfair

A funfair or simply "fair" is a small to medium sized travelling show primarily composed of stalls and other amusements. Larger fairs such as the permanent fairs of cities and seaside resorts might be called a fairground, although technically this should refer to the land where a fair is...

to honour the birthday of the port of Hamburg with a party and a ship parade. The biker's service in Saint Michael's Church attracts tens of thousands of bikers

Motorcycle

A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...

. Christmas markets in December are held at the Hamburg Rathaus

Hamburg Rathaus

square, among other places. The long night of museums offers one entrance fee for about 40 museums until midnight. The sixth Festival of Cultures was held in September 2008, celebrating multi-cultural life. The Filmfest Hamburg — a film festival originating from the 1950s Film Days (German: Film Tage) — presents a wide range of films. The Hamburg Messe and Congress offers a venue for trade shows, such hanseboot, an international boat show, or Du und deine Welt, a large consumer products show. Regular sports events—some open to pro and amateur participants—are the cycling competition Vattenfall Cyclassics

Vattenfall Cyclassics

The Vattenfall Cyclassics is an annual one-day pro and amateur cycling race in and around Hamburg. Although it is a race with a short history, it is nevertheless reckoned as a classic. It started as an unimportant race in 1996, but because of the fast growing popularity of cycling in Germany, it...

, the Hamburg Marathon

Hamburg Marathon

The Hamburg Marathon is an annual marathon race over the classic distance of held in Hamburg, Germany. In 2009, 13,938 participants were counted.- History :The first edition took place in 1986 with about 8,000 participants...

, the biggest marathon in Germany after Berlin, the tennis tournament Hamburg Masters and equestrian events like the Deutsches Derby

Deutsches Derby

The Deutsches Derby is a Group 1 flat horse race in Germany open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Hamburg-Horn over a distance of 2,400 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year in July....

. Since 2007, Hamburg has the Dockville

Dockville

Dockville is a music and art festival on Europe's biggest river island, Hamburg's district Wilhelmsburg. It is sponsored by the German Internationalen Bauausstellung and for the first time it took place in 2007. Many parts of the festival area are located directly in front of the river Elbe, in a...

music and art festival. It takes place every year in summer in Wilhelmsburg.

Cuisine

Original Hamburg dishes are Birnen, Bohnen und Speck
Birnen, Bohnen und Speck
Birnen, Bohnen und Speck is a North German dish which is especially popular in the states of Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Hamburg. It also goes under the names of Bohnen, Birnen und Speck and, locally, the Low German names of Beer'n, Bohn un Speck, Grööner Hein and...

(Low Saxon Birn, Bohn un Speck, green beans cooked with pears and bacon), Aalsuppe (Low Saxon Oolsupp) is often mistaken to be German for “eel soup“ (Aal/Ool translated ‘eel’), but the name probably comes from the Low Saxon allns [aˑlns], meaning “all”, “everything and the kitchen sink”, not necessarily eel. Today eel is often included to meet the expectations of unsuspecting diners. There is Bratkartoffeln (Low Saxon Brootkartüffeln, pan-fried potato slices), Finkenwerder Scholle (Low Saxon Finkwarder Scholl, pan-fried plaice), Pannfisch (pan-fried fish), Rote Grütze
Rødgrød
Rødgrød , Rote Grütze , or Rode Grütt is a dish from Denmark and Germany.Grød or Grütze was traditionally made of groat or grit, as revealed by the second component of the name in Danish, German or Plattdeutsch...

(Low Saxon Rode Grütt, related to Danish rødgrød, a type of summer pudding made mostly from berries and usually served with cream, like Danish rødgrød med fløde) and Labskaus
Labskaus
Labskaus is a culinary specialty from Northern Germany and in particular from the cities of Bremen, Lübeck, and Hamburg. The main ingredients are salted meat or corned beef, potatoes, and onion...

(a mixture of corned beef, mashed potatoes and beetroot, a cousin of the Norwegian lapskaus and Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

's lobscouse

Scouse (food)

Scouse is a type of lamb or beef stew. The word comes from lobscouse or lapskaus, Norwegian for "stew" and refers to a meat based stew commonly eaten by sailors throughout Northern Europe, which became popular in seaports such as Liverpool.-Origin of the term:In the 18th and 19th centuries...

, all offshoots off an old-time one-pot meal that used to be the main component of the common sailor's humdrum diet on the high seas).

Alsterwasser (a reference to the city's river Alster with its two lakes in the city centre created by impoundment is the local name for a type of shandy

Shandy

Shandy, or shandygaff, is normally a beer mixed with citrus-flavored soda, carbonated lemonade, ginger beer, ginger ale, or cider. The proportions of the two ingredients are adjusted to taste, normally half-and-half. There are also non-alcoholic shandy mixes known as “rock shandies”...

, a concoction of equal parts of beer and carbonated lemonade (Zitronenlimonade), the lemonade being added to the beer.

There is the curious regional dessert pastry called Franzbrötchen. Looking rather like a flattened croissant, the Franzbrötchen is somewhat similar in preparation but includes a cinnamon and sugar filling, often with raisins or brown sugar streusel

Streusel

In baking and pastry making, streusel is a crumb topping of butter, flour, and white sugar that is baked on top of muffins, breads, and cakes .Some modern recipes add various spices and occasionally chopped nutmeats...

. The name may also reflect to the roll's croissant

Croissant

A croissant is a buttery flaky pastry named for its distinctive crescent shape. It is also sometimes called a crescent, from the French word for "crescent". Croissants are made of a leavened variant of puff pastry...

-like appearance – franz appears to be a shortening of französisch, meaning "French", which would make a Franzbrötchen a “French roll.”
Ordinary bread rolls tend to be oval-shaped and of the French bread variety. The local name is Rundstück (“round piece” rather than mainstream German Brötchen, diminutive form of Brot “bread”), a relative of Denmark's rundstykke. In fact, while by no means identical, the cuisines of Hamburg and Denmark, especially of Copenhagen have a lot in common. This also includes a predilection for open-faced sandwiches of all sorts, especially topped with cold-smoked or pickled fish. The American hamburger

Hamburger

A hamburger is a sandwich consisting of a cooked patty of ground meat usually placed inside a sliced bread roll...

seems to have developed from Hamburg's Frikadelle: a pan-fried patty (usually larger and thicker than its American counterpart) made from a mixture of ground beef, soaked stale bread

Staling

Staling, or "going stale", is a chemical and physical process in bread and other foods that reduces their palatability. Stale bread is dry and leathery.-Mechanism and effects:...

, egg, chopped onion, salt and pepper, usually served with potatoes and vegetables like any other piece of meat, not usually on a bun. The Oxford Dictionary defined a Hamburger steak in 1802: a sometimes-smoked and -salted piece of meat, that, according to some sources, came from Hamburg to America.

Language

As is typical for Northern Germany, the original language of Hamburg is Low German

Low German

Low German or Low Saxon is an Ingvaeonic West Germanic language spoken mainly in northern Germany and the eastern part of the Netherlands...

, usually referred to as Hamborger Platt (German Hamburger Platt) or Hamborgsch
Hamburgisch
Hamburgisch is a group of Northern Low Saxon varieties spoken in Hamburg, Germany. Occasionally, the term Hamburgisch is also used for Hamburg Missingsch, a variety of standard German with Low Saxon substrates...

. Since large-scale Germanization beginning in earnest within the 18th century, various Low German-colored dialects have developed (contact-varieties of German on Low Saxon substrates). Originally, there was a range of such Missingsch

Missingsch

Missingsch is a type of Low-German-coloured dialect or sociolect of German. It is characterised by Low-German-type structures and the presence of numerous loanwords from Low German in High German.- Description :...

varieties, the best-known being the low-prestige ones of the working classes and the somewhat more bourgeois Hanseatendeutsch (Hanseatic German), although the term is used in appreciation. All of these are now moribund due to the influences of Standard German used by education and media. However, the former importance of Low German is indicated by several songs, such as the famous sea shanty

Sea shanty

A shanty is a type of work song that was once commonly sung to accompany labor on board large merchant sailing vessels. Shanties became ubiquitous in the 19th century era of the wind-driven packet and clipper ships...

Hamborger Veermaster

´De Hamborger Veermaster´ is a famous sea shanty sung in Low German. It is partly in English and partly in Low German...

, written in the 19th century when Low German was used more frequently.

Tourism

Tourists play a significant role in the city's economy. In 2007, Hamburg attracted more than 3,985,105 visitors with 7,402,423 overnight stays. The tourism sector employs more than 175,000 people full-time and brings in revenue

Revenue

In business, revenue is income that a company receives from its normal business activities, usually from the sale of goods and services to customers. In many countries, such as the United Kingdom, revenue is referred to as turnover....

of €9.3 billion, making the tourism industry a major economic force in the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. Hamburg has one of the fastest-growing tourism industries in Germany. From 2001 to 2007, the overnight stays in the city increased by 55.2% (Berlin +52.7%, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania +33%).

A typical Hamburg visit includes a tour of the city hall and the grand church St. Michaelis (called the Michel), and visiting the old warehouse district (Speicherstadt
Speicherstadt
The Speicherstadt in Hamburg, Germany is the largest timber-pile founded warehouse district in the world. It is located in the port of Hamburg—within the HafenCity quarter—and was built from 1883 to 1927.The district was built as a free zone to transfer goods without paying customs...

) and the harbour promenade

Landungsbrücken

The St. Pauli Landungsbrücken , part of the Hamburg Harbour, are in the quarter St. Pauli of Hamburg, Germany, between the lower harbor and the Fischmarkt directly on the Elbe River. The Landungsbrücken today are a major tourist attraction and a central transportation hub, with S-Bahn, U-Bahn and...

(Landungsbrücken). Sightseeing buses connect these points of interest. As Hamburg is one of the world's largest harbours many visitors take one of the harbour and/or canal boat tours (Große Hafenrundfahrt, Fleetfahrt) which start from the Landungsbrücken. Major destinations also include museum

Museum

A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...

s.

Many visitors take a walk in the evening around the area of Reeperbahn

Reeperbahn

The Reeperbahn is a street in Hamburg's St. Pauli district, one of the two centres of Hamburg's nightlife and also the city's red-light district...

in the quarter St. Pauli

St. Pauli

, Europe's largest red light district and home of strip clubs, brothels, bars and nightclubs. The singer and actor Hans Albers

Hans Albers

Hans Philipp August Albers was a German actor and singer. He was the single biggest male movie star in Germany between 1930 and 1945 and one of the most popular German actors of the twentieth century.- Life and work :...

is strongly associated with St. Pauli, and wrote the neighbourhood's unofficial anthem, "Auf der Reeperbahn Nachts um Halb Eins" in the 1940s. The Beatles

The Beatles

had stints on the Reeperbahn early in their careers. Others prefer the laid-back neighbourhood Schanze with its street cafés, or a barbecue on one of the beaches along the river Elbe. Hamburg's famous zoo, the Tierpark Hagenbeck

Tierpark Hagenbeck

The Tierpark Hagenbeck is a zoo in Stellingen, now a quarter in Hamburg, Germany. The collection began in 1863 with animals that belonged to Carl Hagenbeck Sr. , a fishmonger who became an amateur animal collector. The park itself was founded by Carl Hagenbeck Jr. in 1907...

, was founded in 1907 by Carl Hagenbeck

Carl Hagenbeck

Carl Hagenbeck was a merchant of wild animals who supplied many European zoos, as well as P.T. Barnum. He is often considered the father of the modern zoo because he introduced "natural" animal enclosures that included recreations of animals' native habitats without bars...

as the first zoo with moated, barless enclosures.

Some visit Hamburg out of a specific interest, notably one of the musicals, a sports event, a trade show or convention. In 2005, the average visitor spent two nights in Hamburg.

The majority of visitors come from Germany. Most foreigners are European, especially from the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

(171,000 overnight stays), Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

(about 143,000 overnight stays) and Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

(about 137,000 overnight stays). The largest group from outside Europe comes from the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

(129,000 overnight stays).

The cruise terminal is also a draw. The Queen Mary 2

RMS Queen Mary 2

RMS Queen Mary 2 is a transatlantic ocean liner. She was the first major ocean liner built since in 1969, the vessel she succeeded as flagship of the Cunard Line....

has docked in Hamburg regularly since 2004, and there are six departures planned from 2010 onwards.

English culture

There are several English-speaking communities in Hamburg, such as Caledonian Society of Hamburg, British Club Hamburg, British and Commonwealth Luncheon Club, Professional Women's Forum. American and international English-speaking organisations are The American Club of Hamburg e.V.

Eingetragener Verein

Eingetragener Verein is a legal status for a registered voluntary association in Germany and Austria. While any group may be called a Verein, registration as eingetragener Verein holds many legal benefits because a registered association may legally function as a corporate body rather than just...

, the American Women's Club, the English Speaking Union, and the German-American Women's Club.

Memorials

A memorial for successful English engineer William Lindley

William Lindley

William Lindley , was a famous English engineer who together with his sons designed water and sewerage systems for over 30 cities across Europe.-Life:...

, who reorganized, beginning in 1842, the drinking water and sewage system and thus helped to fight against cholera, is located near Baumwall train station in Vorsetzen street.

In 2009, more than 2,500 "stumbling blocks" (Stolpersteine
Stolpersteine
Stolperstein is the German word for "stumbling block", "obstacle", or "something in the way". The artist Gunter Demnig has given this word a new meaning, that of a small, cobblestone-sized memorial for a single victim of Nazism...

) were laid, engraved with the names of deported and murdered citizens. Inserted into the pavement in front of their former houses, the blocks are meant to draw attention to the victims of Nazi persecution.

Economy

The 2007 gross domestic product

Gross domestic product

Gross domestic product refers to the market value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given period. GDP per capita is often considered an indicator of a country's standard of living....

(GDP) totaled €88.9 billion.
The city has the highest GDP in Germany – €50,000 per capita – and a relatively high employment rate, at 88 percent of the working-age population, employed in over 120,000 businesses. In 2007, the average income of employees was €30,937.

Port

The most significant economic unit for Hamburg is the Port of Hamburg, which ranks 3rd only to Rotterdam

Rotterdam

Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...

and Antwerp in Europe and 9th worldwide with transshipments of of cargo and 134 million tons of goods in 2007. After German reunification, Hamburg recovered the eastern portion of its hinterland, becoming by far the fastest-growing port in Europe. International trade is also the reason for the large number of consulates in the city. Although situated 68 miles (109.4 km) up the Elbe, it is considered a sea port due to its ability to handle large ocean-going vessels.
Hamburg, along with Seattle and Toulouse

Toulouse

Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...

, is an important location of the civil aerospace

Aerospace

Aerospace comprises the atmosphere of Earth and surrounding space. Typically the term is used to refer to the industry that researches, designs, manufactures, operates, and maintains vehicles moving through air and space...

industry. Airbus

Airbus

Airbus SAS is an aircraft manufacturing subsidiary of EADS, a European aerospace company. Based in Blagnac, France, surburb of Toulouse, and with significant activity across Europe, the company produces around half of the world's jet airliners....

, which has an assembly plant in Finkenwerder, employs over 13,000 people.

Heavy industry includes the making of steel, aluminium, copper and a number of shipyards such as Blohm + Voss

Blohm + Voss

Blohm + Voss , is a German shipbuilding and engineering works. It is a subsidiary of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems; there were plans to sell 80% of Blohm + Voss to Abu Dhabi Mar Group, but talks collapsed in July 2011.-History:It was founded on April 5, 1877, by Hermann Blohm and Ernst Voss as a...

Media

Media businesses employ over 70,000 people. The Norddeutscher Rundfunk

Norddeutscher Rundfunk

Norddeutscher Rundfunk is a public radio and television broadcaster, based in Hamburg. In addition to the city-state of Hamburg, NDR transmits for the German states of Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Schleswig-Holstein...

which includes the television station NDR Fernsehen

NDR Fernsehen

NDR Fernsehen is a regional television channel targeting northern Germany, specifically the states of Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Hamburg and Bremen. It is broadcast by both Norddeutscher Rundfunk and Radio Bremen, although NDR provides most of the output as they are...

is based in Hamburg; as are the commercial television station Hamburg 1, the Christian television station Bibel TV
Bibel TV
Bibel TV is Germany's first Christian Television channel. Since October 1st 2002 it has been broadcasting 24 hours/365 days per year all over Europe...

and the civil media outlet Tide TV. There are regional radio stations such as Radio Hamburg

Radio Hamburg

Radio Hamburg is a private commercial radio station set up in the '80s to play the big hits of the times. Nowadays it plays hits from the '90s onwards, on high rotation. Their slogan is "Die Mega-Hits der 90er, 2000er und dem Besten von heute“. Its services also include reports on weather and...

. Some of Germany's largest publishing companies, Axel Springer AG

Axel Springer AG

Axel Springer AG is one of the largest multimedia companies in Europe, with more than 11,500 employees and with annual revenues of about €2.9 billion. The Company is active in a total of 36 countries, including Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Russia and Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland...

, Gruner + Jahr

Gruner + Jahr

Gruner + Jahr GmbH & Co. KG is the largest European printing and publishing firm. Its headquarters is in Hamburg, Germany.-History:Originally founded on August 1, 1948 as the Henri Nannen publishing house, Gruner + Jahr was created in 1965 from a merger by acquisition, by publishers John Jahr Sr....

, Bauer Media Group are located in the city. Many national newspapers and magazines such as Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe's largest publications of its kind, with a weekly circulation of more than one million.-Overview:...

and Die Zeit
Die Zeit
Die Zeit is a German nationwide weekly newspaper that is highly respected for its quality journalism.With a circulation of 488,036 and an estimated readership of slightly above 2 million, it is the most widely read German weekly newspaper...

are produced in Hamburg, as well as some special-interest newspapers such as Financial Times Deutschland
Financial Times Deutschland
The Financial Times Deutschland is a German language financial newspaper based in Hamburg, Germany, and is published by Gruner + Jahr. The newspaper contains four sections: Business, Politics & Economy, Finance, and Agenda .Founded in February 2000, the circulation grew to 103,000 readers in the...

. Hamburger Abendblatt
Hamburger Abendblatt
The Hamburger Abendblatt is a daily newspaper in Hamburg, Germany, published by Axel Springer AG. The paper used to appear Monday through Saturday only, but since 29 October 2006 it has also published a Sunday edition to compete with the Hamburger Morgenpost's introduction of a Sunday edition...

and Hamburger Morgenpost
Hamburger Morgenpost
Hamburger Morgenpost is a daily German newspaper, published in Hamburg in tabloid format.The Hamburger Morgenpost is the second largest newspaper in Hamburg.- History :...

are daily regional newspapers with a large circulation. There are music publishers, such as Warner Bros. Records

Warner Bros. Records

Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...

Germany, and ICT

Information and communication technologies

Information and communications technology or information and communication technology, usually abbreviated as ICT, is often used as an extended synonym for information technology , but is usually a more general term that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of...

firms such as Adobe Systems

Adobe Systems

Adobe Systems Incorporated is an American computer software company founded in 1982 and headquartered in San Jose, California, United States...

and Google

Google

Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...

Germany. Jimdo GmbH

Jimdo

Jimdo is a WYSIWYG web hosting service. Jimdo offers JimdoFree, a free web hosting service, JimdoPro and JimdoBusiness, both premium services. Jimdo is operated by Jimdo GmbH, a Hamburg, Germany-based company...

, a German web hosting provider, is headquartered in Hamburg. The Internet and telecommunications company HanseNet, which sells DSL Internet access under the Alice brand, has its headquarters in Hamburg.

Hamburg was one of the locations for the film Tomorrow Never Dies
Tomorrow Never Dies
Tomorrow Never Dies is the eighteenth spy film in the James Bond series, and the second to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Bruce Feirstein wrote the screenplay, and it was directed by Roger Spottiswoode. It follows Bond as he tries to stop a media mogul from engineering...

of the James Bond series

James Bond (film series)

The James Bond film series is a British series of motion pictures based on the fictional character of MI6 agent James Bond , who originally appeared in a series of books by Ian Fleming. Earlier films were based on Fleming's novels and short stories, followed later by films with original storylines...

. The Reeperbahn
Reeperbahn
The Reeperbahn is a street in Hamburg's St. Pauli district, one of the two centres of Hamburg's nightlife and also the city's red-light district...

street has been location for many sets, including the 1994 Beatles film Backbeat
Backbeat (film)
Backbeat is a 1994 British-German drama film directed by Iain Softley. It chronicles the early days of The Beatles in Hamburg, Germany. The film focuses primarily on the relationship between Stuart Sutcliffe and John Lennon , and also with Sutcliffe's German girlfriend Astrid Kirchherr...

.

Health systems

Hamburg has 54 hospitals. The University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, with about 1,300 beds, houses a large medical school. There are also smaller private hospitals. On December 31, 2007 there were about 12,600 hospital beds in Hamburg proper. The city had 1,061 day-care centres for children, 3,841 physicians in private practice and 462 pharmacies in 2006.

Transport

Hamburg is a major transportation hub in Germany. Hamburg is connected to four Autobahnen (motorways) and is the most important railway junction on the route to Scandinavia.

Bridges and tunnels connect the northern and southern parts of the city, such as the old Elbe Tunnel (Alter Elbtunnel) now a major tourist sight, and the Elbe Tunnel (Elbtunnel) the crossing of a motorway.

Hamburg Airport

Hamburg Airport

Hamburg Airport , also known as Hamburg-Fuhlsbüttel Airport , is an international airport serving Hamburg, Germany.It originally covered . Since then, the site has grown more than tenfold to . The main apron covers . The airport is north of the centre of the city of Hamburg in the Fuhlsbüttel...

is the oldest airport in Germany still in operation. There is also the smaller Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport, used only as a company airport for Airbus

Airbus

. Some airlines market Lübeck Airport

Lübeck Airport

Lübeck Blankensee Airport , marketed by some airlines as Hamburg Lübeck Airport, is an airport in Germany located south of Lübeck city centre and northeast of Hamburg. The airport serves the Hamburg Metropolitan Area and is second after Hamburg Airport....

in Lübeck

Lübeck

as serving Hamburg.

Hamburg's license plate prefix has been and is again "HH" (Hansestadt Hamburg, English: Hanseatic city of Hamburg) between 1906 and 1945 and again since 1956, rather than just the single-letter normally used for large cities since the federal registration reform in 1956, such as B for Berlin or M for Munich. The prefix "H" is used instead by Hanover

Hanover

Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...

since 1956. However, "H" was Hamburg's prefix in the years between 1945–1947.

Public transportation

Public transport

Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...

by rail, bus and ships is organized by a fare-collection joint venture between transportation companies. Tickets sold by one company in this Hamburger Verkehrsverbund
Hamburger Verkehrsverbund
The Hamburger Verkehrsverbund is a company coordinating the public transport in and around Hamburg, Germany. Its main objectives are to provide the user with a unified fare system, requiring only a single ticket for journeys with transfers between different operating companies, and to further...

("Hamburg transit authority") (HVV) are valid on all other HVV companies' services. The HVV was the first organization of this kind worldwide.

Rail
Nine mass transit rail lines across the city are the backbone of Hamburg public transportation. The Hamburg S-Bahn

Hamburg S-Bahn

The Hamburg S-Bahn is a railway network for public rapid mass transit in the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. Together the S-Bahn, the Hamburg U-Bahn, the AKN railway and the regional railway form the backbone of railway public transport in the city and the surrounding area...

(heavy railway system) system comprises six lines and the Hamburg U-Bahn

Hamburg U-Bahn

The Hamburg U-Bahn is a rapid transit system serving the cities of Hamburg, Norderstedt and Ahrensburg in Germany. Although technically an underground, most of the system's track length is above ground. The network is interconnected with the city's S-Bahn system, which also has underground...

three lines. U-Bahn is short for Untergrundbahn (underground railway). Approximately 41 km (25 mi) of 101 km (63 mi) of the subway is underground; most of the tracks are on embankments, viaducts or at ground level. Older residents still speak of the system as Hochbahn (elevated railway), also because the operating company of the subway is the Hamburger Hochbahn
Hamburger Hochbahn
Hamburger Hochbahn AG or HHA is a company operating the underground system and large parts of the bus system in Hamburg, Germany, founded in 1911 it is headquartered in Hamburg.-History:...

. Another heavy railway system, the AKN railway

AKN Eisenbahn

AKN Eisenbahn AG is a railway company operating commuter and freight trains in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. The company headquarters is located in Kaltenkirchen...

, connects satellite towns in Schleswig-Holstein to the city. On certain routes, regional trains of Germany's major railway company Deutsche Bahn AG

Deutsche Bahn

Deutsche Bahn AG is the German national railway company, a private joint stock company . Headquartered in Berlin, it came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany...

and the regional metronom
Metronom Eisenbahngesellschaft
Metronom Eisenbahngesellschaft mbH is a non State-owned railway company based in Uelzen, Lower Saxony, the largest since December 2005. The company is exclusively for passenger and operates on behalf of the public transportation trains on the lines Hamburg-Bremen, Hannover and...

trains may be used with a HVV public transport ticket, too. Except at the three bigger stations in the centre of Hamburg, such as Hamburg central station

Hamburg Hauptbahnhof

is the Hauptbahnhof for the German city of Hamburg. It was opened in 1906 to replace 4 terminal stations. Hamburg Hauptbahnhof is operated by DB Station&Service...

, Hamburg Dammtor station, or Hamburg-Altona station, the regional trains hardly stop inside the area of the city. The tram

Tram

A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...

network was shut down in 1978.

Bus
Gaps in the rail network are filled by more than 600 bus routes, plied by single-deck, two-, three- and four-axle diesel buses. Hamburg has no trams or trolley-buses, but has hydrogen-fueled buses operating pilot services. The buses run frequently during working hours, with some buses on some routes arriving as often as every 2 minutes. In suburban areas and on special weekday night lines the intervals can be 30 minutes or longer.

Ferries
There are six ferry lines along the river Elbe, operated by the HADAG
HADAG Seetouristik und Fährdienst
The HADAG Seetouristik und Fährdienst AG is a local public transport company in Hamburg, Germany. It owns and operates the ferries across the Elbe river, overseen by the Hamburger Verkehrsverbund...

company. While mainly used by Hamburg citizens and dock workers, they can also be used for sightseeing tours.

Aviation
The international airport at Hamburg Fuhlsbüttel, official name "Hamburg Airport

Hamburg Airport

" (IATA

International Air Transport Association

The International Air Transport Association is an international industry trade group of airlines headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where the International Civil Aviation Organization is also headquartered. The executive offices are at the Geneva Airport in SwitzerlandIATA's mission is to...

: HAM, ICAO

International Civil Aviation Organization

The International Civil Aviation Organization , pronounced , , is a specialized agency of the United Nations. It codifies the principles and techniques of international air navigation and fosters the planning and development of international air transport to ensure safe and orderly growth...

: EDDH) is the fifth biggest airport in Germany and the oldest airport in Germany, having been established in 1912. It is about 5 miles from the city centre. About 60 airlines provide service to 125 destination airports, including some long distance destinations like New York, Dubai, Toronto and Tehran. Lufthansa

Lufthansa

Deutsche Lufthansa AG is the flag carrier of Germany and the largest airline in Europe in terms of overall passengers carried. The name of the company is derived from Luft , and Hansa .The airline is the world's fourth-largest airline in terms of overall passengers carried, operating...

is the hub carrier, with the most flights, followed by Air Berlin

Air Berlin

Air Berlin PLC & Co. Luftverkehrs KG is Germany's second largest airline, after Lufthansa, and Europe's sixth largest airline in terms of passengers....

. Lufthansa

Lufthansa

operates one of its biggest maintenance facilities

Lufthansa Technik

Lufthansa Technik AG is the leading manufacturer-independent provider of maintenance, repair and overhaul services for aircraft, engines and components. The Lufthansa Technik Group consists of 32 companies with more than 25.500 employees...

at the Hamburg airport.

The second airport in Hamburg is Hamburg-Finkenwerder (IATA

International Air Transport Association

: XFW, ICAO

International Civil Aviation Organization

: EDHI). It is about 10 km from the city centre and is a nonpublic airport for the Airbus plant. It is the second biggest Airbus plant, after Toulouse, and the third biggest aviation manufacturing plant after Seattle and Toulouse. The Finkenwerder plant houses the final assembly lines for A318, A319, A321 and A380

Airbus A380

The Airbus A380 is a double-deck, wide-body, four-engine jet airliner manufactured by the European corporation Airbus, a subsidiary of EADS. It is the largest passenger airliner in the world. Due to its size, many airports had to modify and improve facilities to accommodate it...

aircraft.

Utilities

Electricity for Hamburg and Northern Germany is provided by Vattenfall Europe
Vattenfall
Vattenfall is a Swedish power company. The name Vattenfall is Swedish for waterfall, and is an abbreviation of its original name, Royal Waterfall Board...

, formerly the state-owned Hamburgische Electricitäts-Werke. Vattenfall Europe operates three nuclear power plants near Hamburg: Brokdorf Nuclear Power Plant

Brokdorf Nuclear Power Plant

Brokdorf Nuclear Power Plant is close to the municipality of Brokdorf in Steinburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It started in October 1986 by a first-of-its-kind joint venture between PreussenElektra and Hamburgische Electricitäts-Werke...

, Brunsbüttel Nuclear Power Plant

Brunsbüttel Nuclear Power Plant

Brunsbüttel Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power plant in Brunsbüttel near Hamburg, Germany. It is owned 67% by Vattenfall and 33% by E.ON. It started operation in 1976 and has a gross power production of 806 MW. As part of the nuclear power phase-out, it was taken out of service in 2007....

and Krümmel Nuclear Power Plant

Krümmel Nuclear Power Plant

Krümmel Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power plant in Geesthacht near Hamburg, Germany. It was taken into operation in 1983 and is owned 50% by Vattenfall via Vattenfall Europe Nuclear Energy GmbH and 50% by E.ON, and operated by the Swedish Vattenfall...

. All are scheduled to be taken out of service. There are also the coal-fired Wedel

Wedel Power Station

Wedel Power Station is a coal-fired power station in Wedel, Germany. Its two 151 metres tall chimneys, where built by HEW between 1961 and 1965. It consists of 2 units with an output power of 200 MW.Until 1987, it was used only for the power supply of Hamburg...

and Moorburg Power Stations, and the fuel-cell power plant in the HafenCity quarter. VERA Klärschlammverbrennung uses the biosolids of the Hamburg wastewater treatment plant; the Pumpspeicherwerk Geesthacht is a pump storage power plant and a biomass power station is Müllverwertung Borsigstraße.

Sport

Hamburg is sometimes called Germany's capital of sport since no other city has more first-league teams and international sports events.

Hamburger SV

Hamburger SV

Hamburger Sport-Verein, usually referred to as HSV in Germany and Hamburg in international parlance, is a German multi-sport club based in Hamburg, its largest branch being its football department...

, one of the most successful teams in Germany, is a football team in the Bundesliga

Fußball-Bundesliga

The Fußball-Bundesliga is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of Germany's football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is contested by 18 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 2. Bundesliga...

. The HSV is the oldest team of the Bundesliga, playing in the league since its beginning in 1963. HSV is a six-time German champion, a three-time German cup winner and triumphed in the European Cup in 1983, and has played in the group stages of the Champions League

UEFA Champions League

The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

twice: in 2000/2001 and in 2006/2007. They play at the Imtech Arena (average attendance in the 06/07 season was 56,100). In addition, FC St. Pauli

FC St. Pauli

Fußball-Club St. Pauli is a German sports club based in the St. Pauli quarter of Hamburg. The football section is part of a larger club that also has Rugby Fußball-Club St. Pauli is a German sports club based in the St. Pauli quarter of Hamburg. The football section is part of a larger club that...

was a second division

2. Fußball-Bundesliga

- Changes in division set-up :* Number of clubs: currently 18. From 1974 to 1981 there were two conferences, each of 20 teams. In 1981–91 it had 20...

football club that came in second place in the 2009/2010 season

2009–10 Fußball-Bundesliga

The 2009–10 Fußball-Bundesliga was the 47th season of the Fußball-Bundesliga, Germany's premier football league. The season commenced on 7 August 2009 with the traditional season opening match involving the defending champions VfL Wolfsburg and VfB Stuttgart. The last games were played on 8 May 2010...

and qualified to play alongside Hamburger SV

Hamburger SV

Hamburger Sport-Verein, usually referred to as HSV in Germany and Hamburg in international parlance, is a German multi-sport club based in Hamburg, its largest branch being its football department...

in the first division

Fußball-Bundesliga

for the first time since the 2001-02 season. St. Pauli's home games take place at the Millerntor-Stadion

Millerntor-Stadion

The Millerntor-Stadion is a multi-purpose stadium in Hamburg St. Pauli, Germany. It is mainly used for football matches and is the home stadium of FC St. Pauli. It is on the Heiligengeistfeld, near the Reeperbahn, the red light district of Hamburg. The stadium had a capacity of 32 000 when it...

.

The Hamburg Freezers

Hamburg Freezers

The Hamburg Freezers are a member of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga that play their games in Hamburg, Germany. Originally known as the Munich Barons from 1999 until 2002, team owner Philip Anschutz relocated the franchise to Hamburg for financial reasons on 3 June 2002, and renamed the team the...

represent Hamburg in the DEL, the premier ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

league in Germany. HSV Handball represents Hamburg in the German handball league

Bundesliga (handball)

The Handball-Bundesliga is the top German professional handball league. The league has been sponsored by Toyota since 2007 and therefore the league is called the Toyota Handball-Bundesliga...

. In 2007, HSV Handball won the European Cupwinners Cup. Both teams play in the O2 World Hamburg.

Hamburg is the nation's field hockey

Field hockey

Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...

capital and dominates the men's as well as the women's Bundesliga. Hamburg host's many top team's such as Uhlenhorster Hockey Club, Harvesterhuder Hockey Club and Club An Der Alster.

The Hamburg Warriors are one of Germany's top lacrosse clubs. The club has grown immensely in the last several years and includes at least one youth team, three men's, and two women's teams. The team participates in the Deutsch Lacrosse Verein. The Hamburg Warriors are part of the Harvestehuder Tennis- und Hockey-Club e.V (HTHC).

There are also the Hamburg Dockers, an Australian rules football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

club. The FC St. Pauli team dominates women's rugby in Germany. Other first-league teams include VT Aurubis Hamburg (Volleyball), Hamburger Polo Club, and Hamburg Blue Devils

Hamburg Blue Devils

The Hamburg Blue Devils are an American football team in Hamburg, Germany. The Blue Devils are one of the most successful American football clubs in Germany, having won four German Bowls as well as three Eurobowls...

(American Football). There are also several minority sports clubs, including four cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

clubs.

The Centre Court of the Tennis Am Rothenbaum

Am Rothenbaum

Am Rothenbaum is the site of the main tennis court of the Hamburg Masters tournament, played in the Rotherbaum quarter of Hamburg, Germany.Tennis has been played in Rotherbaum since 1927...

venue, with a capacity of 13,200 people, is the largest in Germany.

Hamburg also hosts equestrian

Equestrianism

Equestrianism more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding refers to the skill of riding, driving, or vaulting with horses...

events at Reitstadion Klein Flottbek (Deutsches Derby in jumping and dressage) and Horner Rennbahn
Horner Rennbahn
-External links:*...

(Deutsches Derby

Deutsches Derby

flat racing

Flat racing

Flat racing is a form of Thoroughbred horse racing which is run over a level track at a predetermined distance. It differs from steeplechase racing which is run over hurdles...

). The Hamburg Marathon is the biggest marathon

Marathon

The marathon is a long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres , that is usually run as a road race...

in Germany after Berlin's. In 2008 23,230 participants were registered. World Cup events in cycling, the UCI ProTour competition Vattenfall Cyclassics

Vattenfall Cyclassics

, and the triathlon

Triathlon

A triathlon is a multi-sport event involving the completion of three continuous and sequential endurance events. While many variations of the sport exist, triathlon, in its most popular form, involves swimming, cycling, and running in immediate succession over various distances...

ITU

International Triathlon Union

The International Triathlon Union or ITU is the international governing body for the multi-sport disciplines of triathlon, duathlon, aquathlon and other nonstandard variations...

World Cup event Hamburg City Man are also held in here.

The Imtech Arena (formerly the AOL Arena or HSH Nordbank Arena and originally Volksparkstadion) was used as a site for the 2006 World Cup

2006 FIFA World Cup

The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six...

. In 2010 UEFA held the final of the UEFA Europa League in the arena.

Education

The school system is managed by the Ministry of Schools and Vocational Training (Behörde für Schule und Berufsbildung). The system had approximately 160,000 pupils in 245 primary schools

Primary education

A primary school is an institution in which children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as primary or elementary education. Primary school is the preferred term in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth Nations, and in most publications of the United Nations Educational,...

and 195 secondary schools

Secondary education

Secondary education is the stage of education following primary education. Secondary education includes the final stage of compulsory education and in many countries it is entirely compulsory. The next stage of education is usually college or university...

in 2006. There are 33 public libraries in Hamburg proper.

Seventeen universities are located in Hamburg, with about 70,000 university students in total, including 9,000 resident aliens. Six universities are public, including the largest, the University of Hamburg

University of Hamburg

(Universitaet Hamburg) with the University Medical Centre of Hamburg-Eppendorf, the University of Music and Theatre

Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg

, the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences

Hamburg University of Applied Sciences

The Hamburg University of Applied Sciences is an institution of higher education and applied research located in Hamburg, Germany. Formerly known as Fachhochschule Hamburg the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences was founded in 1970...

and the Hamburg University of Technology. Seven universities are private, like the Bucerius Law School

Bucerius Law School

Bucerius Law School is a small, non-state university affiliated private law school located in Hamburg, Germany. The school is the first private law school in Germany and is often ranked as the best law school in the country. It admits 100 bachelor students per year, who achieve very high results in...

. The city has also smaller private colleges and universities, including many religious and special-purpose institutions, such as the Helmut Schmidt University

Helmut Schmidt University

The Helmut Schmidt University , located in Hamburg, Germany, is a German educational establishment that was founded in 1973 at the initiative of the then-Federal Minister of Defence, Helmut Schmidt. Teaching first started in Autumn of 1973...

(formerly the University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg).

Twin towns—Sister cities

Hamburg has nine twin towns and sister cities around the world. Dar es Salaam

Dar es Salaam

Dar es Salaam , formerly Mzizima, is the largest city in Tanzania. It is also the country's richest city and a regionally important economic centre. Dar es Salaam is actually an administrative province within Tanzania, and consists of three local government areas or administrative districts: ...

, Tanzania

Tanzania

The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...

became the newest sister city in 2010.

St. Petersburg

Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...

, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, (then Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

), since 1957 Marseille

Marseille

Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...

, France

France

, since 1958 Shanghai

Shanghai

Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...

, People's Republic of China

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

, since 1986 Dresden

Dresden

Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

(then East Germany), since 1987 León

León, Nicaragua

León is a department in northwestern Nicaragua . It is also the second largest city in Nicaragua, after Managua. It was founded by the Spaniards as Santiago de los Caballeros de León and rivals Granada, Nicaragua, in the number of historic Spanish colonial homes and churches...

, Nicaragua

Nicaragua

Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...

, since 1989

Osaka

is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, since 1989 Prague

Prague

Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

, Czech Republic

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

, since 1990 Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, since 1994 Dar es Salaam

Dar es Salaam

, Tanzania

Tanzania

, since 2010

People from Hamburg

Literature

Hamburg guide for residents and visitors. Hamburg Führer Verlag GmbH, Hamburg, published 12 times p. a.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

History

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Utilities

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Twin towns—Sister cities

People from Hamburg

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See also

External links