Hamburg is the second largest city in Germany and with Hamburg Harbour, its principal port, Hamburg is also the second largest port city in the European Union. A large part of the port is a fenced-in duty-free area.
Hamburg's official name is Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (German Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg, Low German Free un Hansestadt Hamborg) refers to Hamburg's membership in the medieval Hanseatic League and the fact that Hamburg is a City State and one of the sixteen Federal States of Germany.
Hamburg is situated on the southern tip of Jutland Peninsula, geographically centered between Continental Europe and Scandinavia and between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. The city of Hamburg lies at the junction of the river Elbe with the rivers Alster and Bille and the city cen
ter is beautifully set around Lake Binnenalster and Lake Außenalster.
Hamburg is an international trade city and the commercial and cultural center of Northern Germany.
Hamburg takes its name from the first permanent building on the site, a fort ordered to be built by Emperor Charlemagne in 808 AD. The fort was built on some rocky ground in a marsh between the Alster and the Elbe as a defence against Slavic incursion. The fort was named Hamma Burg, where "burg" means "fort."
The "Hamma" element remains uncertain. Old High German includes both a hamma, "angle" and a hamme, "pastureland." The angle might refer to a spit of land or to the curvature of a river. However, the language spoken might not have been Old High German, as Plattdüütsch was spoken there later. Other theories are that the fort was named for a surrounding Hamma forest, or for the village of Hamm, later incorporated into the city. Hamm as a place name occurs a number of times in Germany, but its meaning is equally uncertain. It could be related to "heim" and Hamburg could have been placed in the territory of the ancient Chamavi. However, a derivation of "home city" is perhaps too direct, as the city was named after the castle.
In 834 Hamburg was designated the seat of a bishopric, whose first bishop, Ansgar, became known as the Apostle of the North. In 845 a fleet of 600 Viking ships came up the River Elbe and destroyed Hamburg, at that time a town of around 500 inhabitants. Two years later, Hamburg was united with Bremen as the bishopric of Hamburg-Bremen.
In 1030 the city was burned down by King Mieszko II Lambert of Poland. After further raids in 1066 and 1072 the bishop permanently moved to Bremen.
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 trade helped make it Europe's third-largest port.
After German reunification in 1990, and the accession of some Eastern European and Baltic States into the EU in 2004, Hamburg Harbour and Hamburg have ambitions for regaining their positions as the region's largest deep-sea port for container shipping and its major commercial and trading center.
Museums :
Altona Museum and North German State Museum
Art Gallery (Kunsthalle Hamburg)
Brahmsmuseum
Bucerius Kunst Forum
Hamburg Museum for Archaeology and the History of Harburg
Neuengamme concentration camp memorial
Speicherstadt Museum
Museum of Labour
Museum fur Volkerkunde
Hamburg is best visited in spring or summer. 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) and the harbour promenade (Landungsbrücken). Sightseeing busses connect these points of interest. Of course, a visit in one of the world's largest harbours would definitely be incomplete without having taken one of the harbour and/or canal boat tours (Große Hafenrundfahrt, Fleetfahrt) which start from the Landungsbrücken. Many visitors take a walk in the evening around the area of Reeperbahn, considered Europe's second largest red light district and home of many theatres, bars and night clubs.
However, as already indicated, most people visit Hamburg because of a specific interest, notably one of the musicals, a sports event or an exhibition. This article is licensed under the [GNU Free Documentation License]. It uses material from Wikipedia
Hamburg Image : smart-travel-germany.com
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Hamburg is the second largest city in Germany and with Hamburg Harbour, its principal port, Hamburg is also the second largest port city in the European Union. A large part of the port is a fenced-in duty-free area.