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Germany City Travel Guide: Hamburg

Hamburg

• Located in northern Germany on the River Elbe
• Germany's second city
• Population 1.7m (UN estimate, 2005)
• Foreign Consulates: 90
• Nearby historic towns of Stade and Lüneburg
• Modern city with historic links
• Germany's major port
• A city shaped by water
• Where 'The Beatles' made it
• Red Light nightlife in St Pauli & The Reeperbahn

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The Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg is in north Germany on the River Elbe near the North Sea. It's Germany's second city and is the major port and an important business center with more millionaires in residence than any other city in the country.

Hamburg is defined by water with the wide majestic River Elbe and the port best explored by tour boat from Landungsbrücken, in St. Pauli or catch the enormous brick warehouses and the museums of the Speicherstadt and the new HafenCity docklands development nearby. Interesting museums in Speicherstadt include the Dialog in Dunkeln - a museum creating the experience of being unable to see in urban, rural and jungle landscapes, The Hamburg Dungeon, the Spicherstadtmuseum, the Deutsches Zollmuseum - the German Customs Museum, for model train buffs, don't miss the fascinating and well-presented Miniatur Wunderland - the largest H0 model railroad layout in the world (miniatur-wunderland.com) and one for a rainy day the Spicy's Gewüzmuseum - the Spice & Herb Museum.

During World War II the city was extensively bombed and 55,000 people lost their lives, but Hamburg has rebounded and boasts some of the most expensive real estate in Germany, particularly in upmarket Blankenese - a former fishing village and home of sea captains, now an area of quaint cobbled streets, restaurants and guesthouses among the fine residences on the banks of the Elbe - or the areas surrounding the Binnenalster and Außenalster Lakes in the center and north of the city. To get to Blankenese take the S-Bahn to Blankenese Station.

With ties to England since the 13th Century, Hamburg held the BRITFEST festival in 2001. It highlighted the links between the city and England in commerce and culture including the Beatles' visit in 1962 to the Star Club on the Reeperbahn and their popular return to the Ernst-Merck-Halle in 1966 on the "Bravo-Blitz-Tour", though riots followed this concert as well as that of the Rolling Stones.

The Alfred C. Toepfer Foundation has awarded prizes to British artists, authors and architects since 1937. The winners have included Graham Greene, Harold Pinter, John Schlesinger, Doris Lessing, Sir Alec Guinness and Samuel Mendes.

Today Hamburg is a modern city with a strong cultural heritage: opera, theatre, film and music (Mendelssohn and Brahms were born there) as well as having more salacious entertainment in the St Pauli area's Reeperbahn - packed with sex clubs, bars, striptease joints and brothels including Herbertstrasse, a short street of bordellos off-limits to minors and women. Just south of the Reeperbahn is Hamburg's Fischmarkt, which since 1703 has been the site of the city's Sunday market, where locals mix with tourists and revelers heading in for an early morning beer and breakfast after a night out in St. Pauli.

Interesting architecture resides in the form of the baroque 132 meter tall St. Michael's Church (a symbol of the city with fine views from the top of the tower), the Church of St. Jacobi dating from the 14th century and the impressive Rathaus - the city hall dating from 1897. The eccentric, Expressionist Chile Haus is also worth a visit - it was built in the shape of a ship in 1924 for a merchant trading with Chile and the ground floor now houses some fashionable bars and restaurants.

Altona to the west has a slightly different feel to the rest of Hamburg as it was part of Denmark from 1640-1867 - the area is now a laid-back village with several fine restaurants and bars.

The city area is 750 square kilometers.

More than 90 consulates are located in Hamburg.

The historic towns of Stade and Lüneburg are only half an hour from Hamburg.

Hamburg has grown into a major publishing center: Stern, Der Spiegel and Die Zeit are all printed here.

Hamburg Tourist Offices

Hamburg Tourismus GmbH,
Steinstrasse 7
20095 Hamburg
Tel. 040/300 51 300
Fax. 040/300 51 333
e-mail: info@hamburg-tourismus.de

Hauptbahnhof (Main Station Office)
Main Exit Kirchenallee
Open daily from 7am-10pm (shorter hours Oct-Mar)
Tel. 3005 1200

St. Pauli Landungsbrücken
between bridges 4 & 5
Open daily from 10am-5.30pm (shorter hours Oct-Mar)

Getting to Hamburg

Air

The airport is 20 minutes from Hamburg city centre. No direct rail service, but bus 110 will take you to Ohlsdorf Station and suburban trains into the city. There are direct airport buses (E5) to the airport from the Hauptbahnhof every 20 minutes, though the service is not included in any of the city's transport passes.

Bus/Road

Hamburg is well served with autobahns (motorways) from Denmark, Berlin, Dortmund, Hannover and Cologne and points south.

Ferry

Ferries from Harwich in the UK arrive at Cuxhaven in Lower Saxony and then its a 2-hour journey into Hamburg by bus or train.

Getting Around

Hamburg is well served by U-Bahn (subway) and S-Bahn (suburban rail) links, which run throughout the night on Friday and Saturday nights. On other days there is an all-night bus network from the main bus station near the Rathaus. There are a variety of one-day and multiple-day travel passes available. The off-peak 9-hour pass is 5 euros. In total Hamburg has 6 S-Bahn lines and 3 U-Bahn lines. Hamburg Transport Association (HVV) runs the public transport and it has a special page for World Cup visitors: www.hvv.com
The HVV also provides a very pleasant ferry service on the Elbe.

Car Hire

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Accommodation

Featured Hotel

A & O Hotel - centrally located 2 Star Hotel
Hammer Landstr. 170
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Hamburg Accommodation Hotline: (0)40 / 300 51-300 365 days a year from 08.00 to 20.00.

Youth Hostels + Cheap Accommodation:
Alfred-Wegener-Weg 5
20459 Hamburg
Tel.: +49/ 40/ 31 34 88
Fax: +49/ 40/ 31 54 07

Schanzenviertel
Max-Brauer-Allee 277
Tel.: +49/ 40/ 43 18 23 10
Fax : +49/ 40/ 43 18 23 11

YMCA
CVJM Youth Hostel / Junges Hotel (YMCA)
Kurt-Schumacher-Allee 14
Tel.: +49/ 40/ 41 92 30

Schanzenstern Altona
Kleine Rainstr. 24-26
22765 Hamburg
Tel.: +49/ 40 / 39 91 91 91
Fax: +49/ 40/ 39 91 91 92
E-Mail: info@schanzenstern-altona.de

YoHo the young hotel
Moorkamp 5
20357 Hamburg
Tel.: +49/ 40/ 28 41 91-0

Zimmervermietung Krantz
Detlev-Bremer-Strasse 44
20359 Hamburg
Tel: +49/ 40/315112
Fax: +49/ 40/31796900

Eating

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O Pescador
Portuguese style fish restaurant up from the waterfront in Landungsbrücken
Ditmar Koel Strasse 17
20459 Hamburg
Tel: 040 319 30 00

Drinking

The Reeperbahn and St. Pauli have an assortment of British and Irish pubs and there are interesting bars and restaurants located throughout the city. The areas near the Rathaus and Altona are recommended.

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Beer Tours of Germany from Bier Mania!

Internet Cafes

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Local football teams

Hamburg can lay claim to be the home of German football with SC Germania Hamburg the first German club dating from 1887. Today Hamburg SV and St. Pauli are the city's two teams. Hamburg SV are another sleeping giant of the Bundesliga, with their glory years in the late 70s (with Kevin Keegan in the side) and early 80s culminating in a European Cup win in 1983. The 50,000 capacity Hamburg Stadium (HSH Nordbank Arena) hosted World Cup 2006 games in the city and was constructed on the site of SV Hamburg's old Volksparkstadion ground. The Nordtribune home stand is standing. To get there take a train to the terminus of either the S3 or S21 lines. There is a shuttle bus between the two stations. The stadium will host the 2010 UEFA Cup final.

St. Pauli's home - Millentor - near the docks and Reeperbahn red light area attracts a support base of anarchic "Happy Fans" who pride themselves on their anti-racist and good-natured, beery stance. The team has recently fallen out of the top flights of the Bundesliga and now plays in the regional third division. To get there take the U3 Line to St Pauli Station.

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