Apart from the day on my birthday reminiscing and revisiting all the old haunts, as I described in my last post, we also did the usual tourist things and went on two walking tours to see the main sights of Hamburg. The weather was still very cold and, despite wearing five layers of clothing under our coats, we were still shivering, as we stopped at various points to listen to the tour guide. I knew a lot of the sights from having lived there, but of course Kay and her fiance had never been there before, so it was all new to them and there were one or two surprises for me too.
We started off at the Rathaus or City Hall which is a magnificent building in the heart of Hamburg. It was also the site of the main Christmas market, so we ended up there quite a lot during the few days we were there and because it was not far from our hotel.
Inside is even more impressive.
Not many people know that Hamburg, although known for its docks, has a massive lake in the centre of the city known as the Alster. It is so big, that ferries operate to take commuters from one end to the other. It is cut in two by a road bridge so the smaller bit of it is known as the inner Alster (Binnenalster) and the larger part known as the Outer Alster (Aussenalster). I always found it amusing that a shandy (half beer and half lemonade) is known there as Alsterwasser (Alster water). The smaller Binnenalster is close to the Rathaus, making the whole area very attractive and home to many 5-star hotels and embassies.
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| In winter this huge lake freezes over and people go skating on it. You can already make out the ice forming and it's not mid-winter yet. |
The walk took us past two famous Hamburg churches - St Michael and St Nicholas - the latter having been left a ruin since it was bombed.
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| St Michael |
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St Nicholas
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We then moved on to the Dockland area. There are many sights to see in that area. The newest (and one I had not seen before) was the Elbphilharmonie, a concert hall finished in January 2017 to a cost of 870 million euros. The glass construction resembles a hoisted sail, water wave, iceberg or quartz crystal resting on top of an old brick warehouse. Inside is quite impressive and you can get on a long escalator to the top with amazing 360-degree views of the dockland and city.
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| The escalator to the viewing platform at the top |
The views of the docks are magnificent. Germany does not have much coastline and Hamburg (although not exactly on the coast but downstream on the very long river Elbe) is the main shipping port for the entire country. In the past, it built U-boats and navy destroyers, as well as being a major import/export hub. We were told it is now a favourite place for Russian oligarchs to have their yachts built - for the same price as the cost of the Elbphilharmonie mentioned above!
The area houses a lot of warehouses which, like many in the UK, have been turned into expensive flats and shops.
The walk ended up in the area where I had not spent my student life - The Reeperbahn. It is Hamburg's infamous night club and red-light area close to the docks. (I had visited it once with a gang of students on a rowdy night out but never seen it during the day.) It is still a red-light area but women visitors are not allowed in certain streets or the ladies of the night will throw vile things at them. It is also home to where the Beatles first started out and this has been acknowledged in various monuments and street names.
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| Beatles monument |
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| Poster still in the club where the Beatles used to play |
Can you believe, I took over 300 photos of my nine days in Germany and these are but a few. There was so much to see and so much to reminisce in. I leave you with a couple of pictures of the Christmas market to get you in the mood for Christmas.
mulled wine and hot eggnog
4 comments:
Sounds like a wonderful trip and good bonding with Kay and soon to be husband. Thanks for the pi s
I love your Hamburg reports. I studied in Hamburg and it is one of my favourite cities. I never did a tour though so I never saw inside the town hall!
I have just read through the posts on your Germany visit. I think I mentioned before, my mother was born in Hamburg. She came to the UK after the war and married my dad, then I was born. I have been to Hamburg twice, and Berlin once, a long time ago. Reading these refreshed my memory. I remember the names of places that my mother told me about. I remember my first journey up the River Elbe. It felt like I was going home, even though I had never been there before. Thank you. ilona
Until I read this blogpost and the one before it, I knew almost nothing about Hamburg. Thanks for taking me there. A great set of pictures too. To be twenty years old and far from home - it is clear that Hamburg left a big impression upon you and so it is marvellous that you have reconnected with the city.
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