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HAMBURG
TOURIST INFORMATION
German cities I
History I
Sightseeing I
Practical I
Hotels in Hamburg
Hamburg is a major city port
120 km
inland on the Elbe
and germany's gateway to the world.
It is Germany's
principal seaport
and largest overseas trade and
transshipment centre as exemplified by the fact that some 130 Japanese
and more than 20 Chinese trading companies are represented there. The
port's industrial area encompasses shipyards, refineries and processing
plant for raw materials from abroad. In addition to these port-related
activities, the aerospace, electronics, precision engineering, optical
and chemical industries play an increasingly important role in this
city-state.
Within the city are innumerable trees, parks and
lakes, giving it an
open, green feel. The city's wealth is apparent in
the smart houses and appartments, especially around the Alster lake, and
in the smart shops in the Hanseviertel district. Hamburg's nightlife is
world-famous, and the infamous
Reeperbahn
red light district is only a
small part of this. Add to all this some superb architecture, excellent
museums, and a quality cultural scene to suit every taste, and Hamburg
is a city to spend some time in, armed with a good guide book.
Hamburg began to flourish as a commercial town in 1189, when it was
granted customs and commercial rights. One of the first members of the
Hanseatic League, it soon became the main transshipment port between the
North Sea and the Baltic Sea. In 1460, and then finally in 1510, Hamburg
was raised to the status of an imperial city - an autonomous status it
has retained to this day. However, the devastating
fire of 1842 and the
Second World War spared but few of this commercial centre's medieval
buildings.
A green industrial city. Hamburg is Germany's
second largest industrial
centre with a population of 2.8 million. Nonetheless the spacious parks
(e.g. 'Planten un Blomen') and gardens, woodlands, moors and heaths,
have retained its character as one of Germany's 'greenest cities'. As a
result of Germany's unification, the port of Hamburg, with its ramified
links with the waterway network, has regained its old hinterland. This
enhances the city-state's prospects of becoming the hub of trade,
services and communications between east and west as in former times.
Hamburg is also the banking and service centre for northern Germany. The
fact that it is the world's principal consular city after New York
underscores its international status. The Congress Centre, venue for
many international exhibitions, is one of the most modern conference
centres in Europe.
Hamburg's role as a media city is uncontested. It is home to Germany's
largest periodicals, the German Press Agency (dpa), and various
television and radio networks and studios.
Civic pride and passion for art. Hamburg has always been an
attractive
cultural city as well. It was here that Germany's first permanent opera
house was established in 1678, where Georg Friedrich Handel (1685-1759)
staged his first opera ('Almira'). One of the city's famous sons was the
composer Johannes Brahms (1833-1897). In 1767 the Deutsches
Nationaltheater was founded. It was linked with the name of Lessing and
achieved fame chiefly on account of its performances of Shakespeare. At
that time Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock (1724-1803) and Matthias Claudius
(1740-1815) were Hamburg's 'literary institutions'.
In the present century Rolf Liebermann, director of Hamburg's opera
house, and Gustaf Grundgens the actor, gave to opera and the theatre
respectively a strong international flavour with their avant-garde
productions. Today the city is also host to musical productions,
such as Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'Phantom of the Opera', for which a new
theatre 'Neue Flora' was specially built. Public generosity stemming
from civic pride, and a far-sighted buying policy, have given Hamburg's
Kunsthalle,
Museum fur Kunst und Gewerbe and Volkerkunde
museum, to name only
three, outstanding collections.
(information courtesy :
europe-today: Germany )
An overview of hotels in Hamburg.
Other German cities.
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