"The Forgotten Hamburg" a Hamburg Travel Page by Kushelkitten

Welcome to Hamburg!
I have lived in Hansestadt Hamburg since 1998 and it is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. Often when people think of Hamburg they think of Altona, Altstadt, Blankenese, or other neighbourhoods north of the Elbe. Unfortunatly the section south of the Elbe, Hamburg-Harburg is often missed by travelers.

Hamburg-Harburg is a great multicultural area, almost a city in itself and in the past it was. About 350 years ago it was known as Horburg. Now its sort of an insider secret with great restaurants, the Harburg Harbour, Aussenmühlen Teich, the Helms Museum and much more. Its a perfect place to realx and get away from the hustle and bustle of the main part of the city.

"But its so far away," is a reason people give for not giving Harburg a try. Actually it looks futher away from downtown hamburg than it actually its. From the Hauptbahnhof its a short 12-15 minute S-bahn trip. If you drive if you take the A-1 or the Wilhelmsburger Reichstraße once your cross the Elbbrücke its about 11minutes if the traffic is flowing. If you drive using the A-7 it might take a bit longer depending on the Elbtunnel traffic.

"There is so much crime" is another thing that one hears about Harburg. I saw a chart the other day that showed Harburg has roughtly the same amout of crime as Wintehude, a VERY nice area in Hamburg. Its all relative.

"Its industrial" It is in places but most of Harburg is cut off from the industry by the B73. If you want to see it you can head over to the Hafen area where Shell and BP have huge tanks. The Phoenix rubber plant is the only industry I can think of on the "good" side of the B-73 and most of that has since been turned into an upscale shopping mall.

Currently Harburg is in a state of urban renewal, a combination of the new with the old. While it is becoming more attractive I hope it doesnt lose what makes it so special to begin with.

Most of my tips on this page will be about Hamburg-Harburg; however if I come across a place in Hamburg that I truly enjoy and think other travelers will as well I will post it. As a testament to this I have a couple restaurant tips for the Hamburg University Viertel / Rothenbaum area alreay.