The north German port city is Germany's second largest city. It's a Hanseatic beauty with amazing contrasts. Elegant and rough, green and urban - always startling and unexpected.
Ten reasons to love Hamburg
Everything in sight
Hamburg is redefining itself with its HafenCity, Europe's biggest urban regeneration project. When fully developed in 2025, it is to be home to 10,000 people. From the ViewPoint in the Baakenhafen, you can observe the development in a 360-degree panorama. The design of the orange steel tower was inspired by the dock cranes and was conceived to offer the panoramic view of a nautical periscope.
Ten reasons to love Hamburg
Music at its best
Hamburg has a new landmark. Like the gigantic bow of a ship, the Elbe Philharmonic Hall sails into the skyline. Built on top of a former red brick warehouse for cocoa, the glass construction rises 110 meters (360 feet) into the sky. The concert house opened in January 2017.
Ten reasons to love Hamburg
Going with the flow
Boats sail night and day on the Elbe River to the harbor. Their fog horns and the sound of the seagulls create the soundtrack to any early morning run on the pale sand of the shore. The port of Hamburg is 70 nautical miles away from the open sea. Plans to widen the river are to be implemented in order to better serve the massive new cruise ships.
Ten reasons to love Hamburg
Swan song
In Hamburg, the messengers of spring are the city's very own swans - hundreds of them. Overseeing their return after the winter is the city council's swan office called Schwanenwesen — the only authority in the world that employs a "swan father." By taking ownership of the white birds, normally an exclusive privilege of royals, Hamburg proved its independence as a free Hanseatic city.
Ten reasons to love Hamburg
A lot of storage room
In 1888, German Emperor Wilhelm II opened the "Speicherstadt" (the city of warehouses). Hamburg had already established itself as a free port, where storage and transfer of goods was duty free. As a result, it became one of the biggest storage districts in the world. The Speicherstadt, with its abiding aroma of tea, coffee and spices, was granted World Heritage status by UNESCO in 2015.
Ten reasons to love Hamburg
Going underground
The Old Elbe Tunnel was the first river tunnel in continental Europe. It reduces travel time from the city to the shipyards on the southern shores of the river. Since 1911, lifts have taken pedestrians, cars and cyclists down to the bottom, where two 426-meter-long (1,398-foot) tunnels run under the Elbe. For pedestrians and cyclists, it costs nothing to use it — other than overcoming their fear.
Ten reasons to love Hamburg
Well connected
The people of Hamburg no longer count how many bridges there are, but statistics say 2,500 — more than Venice, Amsterdam or London. After a fire in 1842, many wooden bridges needed replacing. Bridges made of steel and cast iron were added as the harbor grew. They cross the Elbe and Alster and their tributaries, as well as the loading canals, known locally as "Fleet" in the warehouse district.
Ten reasons to love Hamburg
Tower tango
These days, office blocks do the dancing on the Reeperbahn - adding a kink to the façade of two office towers. The architect designed them as a couple dancing tango, a tribute to the red light district where they are located. There is a restaurant and a bar on the top floor and the roof terrace offers a fabulous view of the harbor, especially at night.
Ten reasons to love Hamburg
'Big Freedom'
Sailors have spent entire wages in just one night in the Große Freiheit, a side street to the famous Reeperbahn. The St. Pauli district is filled with bars, clubs and a variety of fun and games. Artists and musicians discovered the charm of the seedy area in the 1960s. For the Beatles, playing at the legendary Star-Club became a warm-up exercise for their subsequent global success.
Ten reasons to love Hamburg
Come back soon
There is so much to do and see in Hamburg that it is hard to fit it all into one visit. Museums and galleries, churches, concerts, musicals and theater performances: the choice is overwhelming. You can shop or relax by the Alster lake. The harbor and its famous fish market every Sunday is a must. Hamburg is always ready to welcome you back with its traditional greeting: "Moin, Moin!"
Author: Ille Simon
Hamburg is a city-state. A rainy, stiff breeze often blows over the city, but true Hamburg natives and their guests don't let it get them down. From musical theaters and museums to the Sankt Pauli red light district, there's always something to see in the Hanseatic city.
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Travel tips for Hamburg
Hamburg, metropolis on the waterfront
The old Hanseatic city is connected to the North Sea via the Elbe, and the reputation of the maritime metropole precedes it. A dense network of waterways characterizes the cityscape. Whether you're sailing right in the city center on the Inner-Alster-Lakes, Hamburg's blue center, or chilling out on the Elbe beach, Hamburg should be discovered from the water, Check-in presenter Lukas Stege recommends. He went to check out before the coronavirus pandemic.
The Elbphilharmonie, the Hafen City and Speicherstadt — these are just three of the highlights that tourists should see in Hamburg. Here are the city's must-sees on a special guided tour from a drone's perspective.
Since early 2017, concerts have been taking place in the newest landmark in the Hamburg's harbor area. Very quickly, the Elbphilharmonie — designed by Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron — established itself into the league of international tourist attractions.
Hamburg is setting an urban development benchmark. Since 2003, a completely new district called Hafencity has been developed. Empty warehouses and hardly used port basins are being transformed into modern residential quarters. Hamburg is growing and redefining urban living spaces. With elegance, audacity and foresight.
Hamburg is an ever-changing city
Überseequartier district
The HafenCity is divided into several districts. One of them being the Überseequartier - or overseas quarter as it would be called in English. It is to become the commercial heart of the HafenCity, creating over 6,000 jobs, with restaurants, hotels, shops and leisure activities including a large cinema. The northern part is pretty much completed but the southern part is still under construction.
Hamburg is an ever-changing city
Cruise Center HafenCity
Part of the Überseequartier district is the Cruise Center HafenCity, Hamburg's gateway to the world. Here big cruise ships dock and trade fairs are held in the terminal buildings. The building dating from 2004 was only only a temporary solution and will be replaced by a significantly bigger construction with a hotel in 2022, as Hamburg reacts to the booming sea cruise market.
Hamburg is an ever-changing city
Elbphilharmonie concert hall
Construction work for the concert hall took nearly 10 years. Hamburg's new landmark, carried by over 1,700 reinforced concrete piles, majestically rises up into the sky. An old warehouse was gutted, re-designed and had a futuristic glass covered extension added. The Elbphilharmonie is Hamburg's foremost prestigious building project.
Hamburg is an ever-changing city
HafenCity
The Elbphilharmonie is part of Hamburg's newly developed HafenCity, Europe's largest urban regeneration projects. Since 2001, on an area of some 157 hectares, up to 7,000 apartments, promenades, squares, shops and offices have been created. The western part (green) is completed, the central part (blue) is still under construction and in the eastern part (red), building work is just beginning.
Hamburg is an ever-changing city
Marco-Polo-Tower
Another architectural masterpiece in the HafenCity is the Marco-Polo-Tower, an eye-catching feature on the waterfront next to the Elbphilharmonie concert hall. The 55-meter-high extravagant apartment tower can be seen from afar. The 17 floors have been differently sculpted to give it the appearance that they are being turned on their axis. Construction of the tower was completed in 2010.
Hamburg is an ever-changing city
Opening of the Spree Harbor
For years, a customs fence prohibited direct access to the Spree harbor. In 2013, the free port agreement was lifted and the fence removed. The International Building Exhibition Hamburg, responsible for developing and regenerating the harbor area, had new foot and bicycle paths constructed. A stroll there allows you to see the biggest collection of house boats in Hamburg.
Hamburg is an ever-changing city
City coastline
By now, Hamburg has a 10-kilometer (6.3-mile) stretch of "city coastline" with promenades along the waterfront. They begin at the Deichtorhallen art center, lead past the HafenCity to the landing bridges and beyond the Elbmeile restaurant and shopping area next to the fish market, all the way to Övelgönne.
Hamburg is an ever-changing city
Cultural landscape
Hamburg doesn't just focus on urban development. Some 1.6 billion euros are to be invested in cultural buildings by 2020. An outstanding example is the Elbphilharmonie. Others include the modernization of the Deichtorhallen art center and two newly constructed musical theater venues. The Bucerius Art Forum (pictured) is currently being extended and a harbor museum is also planned.
Hamburg is an ever-changing city
Wilhelmsburg district
For years, the Elbe river islands were dominated by dreary high-rises and decaying factory buildings. Wilhelmsburg was seen as a troubled district. The International Building Exhibition Hamburg has also been active here: hotels and new apartments were constructed, old buildings redeveloped. Today the multi-cultural district is popular especially with young families and students.
Hamburg is an ever-changing city
Mitte Altona area
A new district is also emerging in the Mitte Altona area. The Hamburg-Altona railway terminus is to be shut down and the rail tracks removed. The current local train station Diebteich is to be turned into a major rail station. Thousands of apartments are to be built on the area that will become available as there is a permanent demand for accommodation in popular Hamburg.
Author: Elisabeth Yorck von Wartenburg
Hamburg's Speicherstadt
Hamburg's Speicherstadt is the largest historical warehouse complex in the world. Together with the adjoining Kontorviertel it is a living monument to the long trading tradition of the Hanseatic city. A guided tour through this "city in the water" is a unique experience.
Speicherstadt and Kontorhaus District with Chilehaus, Hamburg
Hamburg Fish Market
Despite the early opening time (officially 5 in the morning), there's always something happening at Hamburg's traditional fish market. Whether it's a basket of fruit, fresh eel or tropical flowers, everyone finds something at the riverside — and in the market hall, there's dancing into the wee hours of the morning.
This cable-stayed bridge in front of Hamburg's skyline is only something for those who have no fear of heights. 50 meters over the southern arm of the Elbe, the distinctive structure spans the port. Built in 1974, it soon became a city landmark. How long it will remain standing is unclear: because the new tall container ships no longer fit underneath, it is to be replaced by 2030 at the latest.
In the Miniatur-Wunderland in Hamburg's former warehouse district 1040 locomotives pull some 10,000 carriages over more than 15 kilometers of tracks, lined by thousands of houses, 269,000 figurines, 9250 vehicles and an incredible 13,000 tiny trees.
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