"Hamburg" Hamburg by seagoingJLW

We were in Hamburg during the coldest spring in 500 years, 1996. The wind was strong. It gusted continuously. But the people were warm and friendly. Most of the younger ones spoke English fluently.

See my travelogue on the Port of Hamburg.

History

The initial settlement was founded along the banks of the Alster River in the 8th century. Then Hammaburg was established there in 950.

In the year 1189 the Emperor Barbarossa gave Hamburg the privilege of imposing custom duties on the Elbe River. Thus did Hamburg become a Free City of the Empire. Hamburg became the most significant harbor of the Hanseatic League.

Hamburg was occupied by Napoleon's troops from 1808 to 1814.

A third of the city was destroyed in 1832 by a great fire.

With the increase in shipping and global trade during the second half of the 19th century, Hamburg further expanded its harbor and storage capacities. the first step they took was to erect the Speicherstadt (1881-1888), a harbor storage city district. The free port was established in 1888. The construction in 1895 of the Baltic-North Sea Canal improved the attractiveness of the harbor.

By 1900, the city population totaled 1,000,000.

With the Greater Hamburg Law of 1937, Hamburg's city limits were set as they are today.

Large areas of Hamburg were destroyed by the bombardments of 1943.

In 1962 there was a great flood which left vast parts of Hamburg under water.

Miscellaneaous Information

Hamburg is the second largest city in Germany with a population of 1.7 million. The metropolitan region consists of 3.5 million. It is also one of the sixteen states of the federation. Thus, Hamburg is both a city and a state.

Hamburg is seven times the size of Paris and two and a half times the size of London. It has an exceptionally high standard of living and housing. There are 2,302 bridges in the city and 14% of the city is made up of green and recreation areas.

• Pros:Interesting metropolitan city
• Cons:Cold and Windy
• In a nutshell:Go when the weather is warm.