Hamburg

I

Introduction

Hamburg, city in north central Germany, on the Elbe and Alster rivers, near the North Sea. Its full name is the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. Hamburg is the second busiest seaport in Europe and a major commercial, industrial, and cultural centre. Since 1937 the city has been coextensive with, and the capital of, the state of Hamburg (746 sq km/288 sq mi). Population 1,734,800 (2005 estimate).

II

Economy

Hamburg is the principal seaport and a major commercial centre of Germany. In addition to vast facilities for handling ocean-going vessels, the port has both rail and inland waterway connections with much of central Europe. A large fishing fleet is based in Hamburg. The city also has great shipbuilding and repair yards, as well as industries producing refined petroleum, chemicals, machinery, copper, metal goods, and processed food. It is a major centre of printing and publishing.

III

Places of Interest

Hamburg consists of an old section on the east side of the Alster, a new section on the west side, and several suburbs. The old quarter, which contains the heart of the commercial district, is crossed by numerous canals. Among the outstanding features of the city are the many bridges spanning the canals: Hamburg has more bridges than Amsterdam and Venice combined. Other points of interest are the Köhlbrandbrücke, a long suspension bridge (1975) across an arm of the Elbe; the Inner Alster and the Outer Alster, impressive lakes created by a dam at the mouth of the Alster River; the ancient ramparts, converted into a system of gardens and promenades around the old quarter; and the Hopfenmarkt, a large public square. Historic buildings include the City Hall, an elaborate Renaissance-style structure completed in 1897, and the churches of St Peter (begun 12th century), St James (13th-15th century), St Catherine (14th-15th century), and St Michael (late 18th century), noted for its lofty spire. The composers Felix Mendelssohn and Johannes Brahms were born in Hamburg, and the poet and dramatist Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock is buried in the Altona district of the city.

The city's many cultural institutions include the Kunsthalle, a museum with an extensive collection of 19th- and 20th-century painting; a museum of craft and decorative arts; an ethnology museum with extensive collections of South Seas, African, and Siberian artefacts; a museum of local history; a modern opera house, noted for its production of contemporary operas; and several theatres. Hamburg has a large zoo and a botanical garden and is known for its St Pauli amusement quarter, which has many nightclubs along the Reeperbahn. The city is the seat of a university, with schools of medicine and marine architecture. More than 80 foreign consulates are in the city. It is a leading centre of radio and television broadcasting and film production.

IV

History

Hamburg was founded as the fortress of Hammaburg, established by Charlemagne in 808 as a defence outpost. Extending his campaign to gain converts to Christianity, Charlemagne established a church in the vicinity of the fortress in 811. The church soon became a centre of Christian civilization in Northern Europe and was subject to frequent attacks by barbarians. Hamburg became an archiepiscopal see in 834, but in 847, two years after the community was sacked by Norsemen, the seat of the archbishopric was transferred to nearby Bremen.

Despite destructive raids by the Danes and Slavs, Hamburg endured and, in 1189, received a charter from the Holy Roman Empire. The charter, an award for services rendered during the Third Crusade, granted the city important commercial privileges. Defensive alliances with Lübeck in 1241 and with Bremen in 1249 led to the formation of the Hanseatic League; Hamburg became one of the league's most powerful and wealthy cities. In 1529 Hamburg accepted the Reformation, and the city became a haven for Lutheran, Calvinist, and Jewish refugees of Europe. During the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), the commercial prosperity of the city declined drastically. A brief revival, spurred by the establishment of trade ties with the United States in 1783, was terminated by the Napoleonic Wars, during which the city was occupied (1811) by the French.

Re-established as a free city after the downfall of Napoleon, Hamburg became a member of the German Confederation in 1815. The city recovered swiftly from the effects of the French occupation and continued to expand despite a destructive fire that lasted four days in 1842 and a cholera epidemic that killed 8,600 people in 1892. A popular uprising in Hamburg in November 1918 heralded the overthrow of the German Empire, and for a short time (1918-1919) the city was constituted as a socialist republic. The towns of Altona, Harburg, and Wandsbek were incorporated into Hamburg in 1938.

As a submarine base and a centre of the German war effort during World War II, Hamburg was severely damaged by Allied air raids, and about 55,000 inhabitants were killed. It was rebuilt after the war and by the 1950s was an elegant, thriving metropolis.