Introducing Hamburg
Water, water everywhere – Germany’s biggest port has always been outward-looking. Its dynamism, multiculturalism and hedonistic red-light district, the Reeperbahn, all arise from its maritime history. Joining the Hanseatic League trading bloc in the Middle Ages, this long-standing duty-free port has been enthusiastically doing business with the world ever since. In the 1960s, it nurtured the talent of the Beatles. In the 21st century, it’s also a media capital and the wealthiest city in Germany.
Still overshadowed internationally by Berlin and Munich, domestically Hamburg is known as a natural achiever. Rarely prone to the self-doubt that’s wracked the rest of Germany since reunification, this thriving ‘harbourpolis’ has seen its container ports growing like topsy thanks to new Eastern European business. ‘Boomtown Hamburg’, Stern magazine declared in 2006 – with a beautiful cover of the night-time harbour lights twinkling.
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The canals and buildings of the Speicherstadt: the world's largest continuous warehouse complex. The red brick buildings with ornate green gables store goods in a free port zone.
- Andrea Schulte-Peevers
- Lonely Planet photographer
