‘The gateway to the world’ might be a bold claim, but Germany’s second-largest city and biggest port has never been shy. Hamburg has engaged in business with the world ever since it joined the Hanseatic League trading bloc back in the Middle Ages. Today this ‘harbourpolis’ is the nation’s premier media hub and among its wealthiest cities. It's also the site of Europe's largest urban-renewal project, the HafenCity, which is efficiently transforming the old docklands into a bold new city quarter. Hamburg’s maritime spirit infuses the entire city, from architecture to menus to the cry of gulls, you always know you're near the water. The city has given rise to vibrant neighbourhoods awash with multicultural eateries, as well as the gloriously seedy Reeperbahn party and red-light district.
RathausHISTORIC BUILDING
Hamburg’s baroque Rathaus is one of Europe’s most opulent, renowned for the Emperor’s Hall and the Great Hall, with its spectacular coffered ceiling. The 40-minute tours take in only a fraction of this beehive of 647 rooms.
North of here, you can wander through the Alsterarkaden, the Renaissance-style arcades sheltering shops and cafes alongside a canal or 'fleet'.
Hamburger KunsthalleMUSEUM
One of Germany's most prestigious art collections, the Kunsthalle displays works from the Middle Ages to today in two buildings. In the original brick one from 1869 you can admire old masters (Rembrandt, Ruisdael), 19th-century Romantics (Friedrich, Runge) and classical modernist works (Beckmann, Munch). A stark white concrete cube – the Galerie der Gegenwart – showcases mostly German artists working since the 1960s, including Neo Rauch, Jenny Holzer, Candida Höfer and Reinhard Mucha.
ChilehausHISTORIC BUILDING
Looking like a giant ocean liner in dry dock, the brown-brick Chilehaus is a leading example of German expressionist architecture. It was designed by Fritz Höger in 1924 for a merchant who derived his wealth from trading with Chile.
St Michaelis KircheCHURCH
‘Der Michel’, as it is affectionately called, is one of Hamburg’s most recognisable landmarks and northern Germany’s largest Protestant baroque church. Ascending the tower (by steps or lift) rewards visitors with great panoramas across the city and canals. The crypt has an engaging multimedia exhibit on the city's history.
SpeicherstadtNEIGHBOURHOOD
The seven-storey red-brick warehouses lining the Speicherstadt archipelago are a famous Hamburg symbol and the largest continuous warehouse complex in the world, recognised by Unesco as a World Heritage Site. Its distinctive architecture is best appreciated on a leisurely wander or a ride on a flat tour boat (called Barkasse). Many buildings contain shops, cafes and small museums.
Miniatur WunderlandMUSEUM
Even the worst cynics are quickly transformed into fans of this vast miniature world. When you see an A380 plane swoop out of the sky and land at the fully functional model of Hamburg's airport you can't help but gasp and say some variation of OMG! In busy times, prepurchase your ticket online to skip the queues.
HafenCityNEIGHBOURHOOD
HafenCity is a vast new city quarter taking shape east of the harbour. When fully completed, it's expected to be home to 12,000 people and offer work space for 40,000. It's a showcase of modern architecture with the biggest eyecatcher being the Elbphilharmonie, a vast concert hall jutting into the harbour atop a protected tea-and-cocoa warehouse. After many delays, it's expected to open in 2017. For the low-down, visit the HafenCity InfoCenter, which also runs free guided tours.
FischmarktMARKET
Here's the perfect excuse to stay up all Saturday night. Every Sunday in the wee hours, some 70,000 locals and visitors descend upon the famous Fischmarkt in St Pauli. The market has been running since 1703, and its undisputed stars are the boisterous Marktschreier (market criers) who hawk their wares at full volume. Live bands also entertainingly crank out cover versions of ancient German pop songs in the adjoining Fischauktionshalle (Fish Auction Hall).
Auswanderermuseum BallinStadtMUSEUM
Sort of a bookend for New York's Ellis Island, Hamburg's excellent emigration museum in the original halls looks at the conditions that drove about 5 million people to leave Germany for the US and South America in search of better lives from 1850 until the 1930s. Multilingual displays address the hardships endured before and during the voyage and upon arrival in the New World. Although about 4km east of the city centre, Ballinstadt is easily reached by S-Bahn line S3.
Internationales Maritimes MuseumMUSEUM
Hamburg's maritime past – and future – is fully explored in this excellent private museum that sprawls over 10 floors of a revamped brick shipping warehouse. Considered the world’s largest private collection of maritime treasures, it includes a mind-numbing 26,000 model ships, 50,000 construction plans, 5000 illustrations, 2000 films, 1.5 million photographs and much more.
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