Hamburg

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Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg
Flag	Coat of arms
Details Details
Location
Coordinates	53°35′00″N 9°59′00″E / 53.583333, 9.983333Coordinates: 53°35′00″N 9°59′00″E / 53.583333, 9.983333
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Administration
Country	Germany
NUTS Region	DE6
First Mayor	Ole von Beust (CDU)
Governing parties	CDU / Alliance '90/The Greens
Votes in Bundesrat	3 (of 69)
Basic statistics
Area	755 km² (292 sq mi)
Population	1,769,117 (10/2007)[1]
- Density	2,343 /km² (6,069 /sq mi)
Other information
GDP/ Nominal	€ 86,153 billion (2006)
Postal codes	20001–21149, 22001–22769
Area codes	040
Licence plate code	HH
ISO region	DE-HH
Website	hamburg.de

Hamburg (German language: pronounced [ˈhambʊɐk], local pronunciation [ˈhambʊɐç] Low German/Low Saxon: Hamborg [ˈhaˑmbɔːχ], English: /ˈhæmbɜɹg/) is the second-largest city in Germany (after Berlin) and along with Hamburg Harbour, its central port, Hamburg is also the second-largest port in Europe (after Rotterdam), ninth-largest port in the world, and the most populous city in the European Union which is not a national capital. The city contains an approximate 1.8 million Hamburgers, the demonym for the city's inhabitants.

Hamburg's proper name is the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (German: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg). It makes reference to Hamburg's membership in the medieval Hanseatic League and also to the fact that Hamburg is a city-state and one of the sixteen Federal States of Germany.

Contents 1 History 2 Geography 2.1 Climate 3 Cityscape 4 Culture and contemporary life 4.1 Entertainment and performing arts 4.2 Tourism 4.2.1 Regular events 4.3 Cuisine 4.4 Sports 4.5 Language 5 Government 6 Economy 7 Demographics 7.1 Religion 8 Infrastructure 8.1 Health systems 8.2 Transport 9 Education 10 Sister cities 11 People from Hamburg 12 References 13 External links

[edit] History

The city takes its name from the first permanent building on the site, a castle ordered to be built by Emperor Charlemagne in 808 AD. The castle was built on rocky ground in a marsh between the Alster and the Elbe as a defense against Slavic incursion. The castle was named Hammaburg, where "burg" means "castle". The "Hamma" element remains uncertain. Old High German includes both a hamma, "angle" and a hamme, "pastureland". The angle might refer to a spit of land or to the curvature of a river. However, the language spoken might not have been Old High German, as Low Saxon was spoken there later. Other theories hold that the castle was named for a surrounding Hamma forest, or for the village of Hamm, later incorporated into the city. Hamm as a place name occurs a number of times in Germany, but its meaning is equally uncertain. It could be related to "heim" and Hamburg could have been placed in the territory of the ancient Chamavi. However, a derivation of "home city" is perhaps too direct, as the city was named after the castle. Another theory is that Hamburg comes from ham which is Old Saxon for shore.

In 834 Hamburg was designated the seat of a bishopric, whose first bishop, Ansgar, became known as the Apostle of the North. In 845 a fleet of 600 Viking ships came up the River Elbe and destroyed Hamburg, at that time a town of around 500 inhabitants. Two years later, Hamburg was united with Bremen as the bishopric of Hamburg-Bremen.

In 983, the town was destroyed by King Mstivoj of the Obodrites. In 1030, the city was burned down by King Mieszko II Lambert of Poland. After further raids in 1066 and 1072 the bishop permanently moved to Bremen. Hamburg had several great fires, notably in 1284 and 1842.

The charter in 1189 by Frederick I "Barbarossa" granted Hamburg the status of an Imperial Free City and tax-free access up the Lower Elbe into the North Sea. This charter, along with Hamburg's proximity to the main trade routes of the North Sea and Baltic Sea, quickly made it a major port in Northern Europe. Its trade alliance with Lübeck in 1241 marks the origin and core of the powerful Hanseatic League of trading cities.

In 1529 the city embraced Lutheranism, and Hamburg subsequently received Protestant refugees from the Netherlands and France. Hamburg was at times under Danish sovereignty while remaining part of the Holy Roman Empire as an Imperial Free City.

Briefly annexed by Napoleon I (1810–14), Hamburg suffered severely during his last campaign in Germany but managed to raise two forces to fight against him, the Hamburg Citizen Militia and Hanseatic Legion. The city was besieged for over a year by Allied forces (mostly Russian, Swedish and German). Russian forces under General Bennigsen finally freed the city in 1814. During the first half of the 19th century a patron goddess with Hamburg's Latin name Hammonia emerged, mostly in romantic and poetic references, and although she has no mythology to call her own, Hammonia became the symbol of the city's spirit during this time.

In 1842, about a quarter of the inner city was destroyed in the "Great Fire". This fire started on the night of the 4 May 1842 and was extinguished on 8 May. It destroyed three churches, the town hall, and countless other buildings. It killed 51 people, and left an estimated 20,000 homeless. Reconstruction took more than 40 years.

Hamburg experienced its fastest growth during the second half of the 19th century, when its population more than quadrupled to 800,000 as the growth of the city's Atlantic trade helped make it Europe's third-largest port.

With Albert Ballin as its director the Hamburg-America Line became the world's largest transatlantic shipping company at the turn of the century, and Hamburg was also home to shipping companies to South America, Africa, India and East Asia. Hamburg became a cosmopolitan metropolis based on worldwide trade. Hamburg was the port for most Germans and Eastern Europeans to leave for the New World and became home to trading communities from all over the world (like a small Chinatown in Altona, Hamburg).

In 1903, the world's first^[2] organized club for social and family nudism, Freilichtpark (Free-Light Park) was opened in Hamburg by Paul Zimmermann. It was located on a lake formed by the Alster River in the southern part of the city, adjoining a bathing beach.

After World War I Germany lost her colonies and Hamburg lost many of its trade routes. In 1938 the city boundaries were extended with the Groß-Hamburg-Gesetz (Greater Hamburg Act) to incorporate Wandsbek, Harburg, Wilhelmsburg and Altona.

During World War II Hamburg suffered a series of devastating air raids which killed 42,000 German civilians (see Bombing of Hamburg in World War II). Through this, and the new zoning guidelines of the 1960s, the inner city lost much of its architectural past. From 1938 until 1945 a concentration camp was established in the Neuengamme quarter of Hamburg, some of the buildings have been preserved and serves as a memorial today.

The Iron Curtain — only 50 kilometres (30 mi) east of Hamburg — separated the city from most of its hinterland and further reduced Hamburg's global trade. On February 16, 1962 a severe storm caused the Elbe to rise to an all-time high, inundating one fifth of Hamburg and killing more than 300 people.

After German reunification in 1990, and the accession of some Eastern European and Baltic States into the EU in 2004, Hamburg Harbour and Hamburg have ambitions for regaining their positions as the region's largest deep-sea port for container shipping and its major commercial and trading centre.

[edit] Geography

Hamburg is located on the southern point of the Jutland Peninsula, directly between Continental Europe to its south, Scandinavia to its north, the North Sea to its west, and the Baltic Sea to its east. Hamburg is located in the position where the River Elbe meets with the rivers Alster and Bille. The central city area is situated around the Binnenalster ("Inner Alster") and the Außenalster ("Outer Alster") both of which are originally the river Alster but retained as lakes. The island of Neuwerk and two other islands in the North Sea are also part of Hamburg, forming the Hamburg Wadden Sea National Park.

In the quarter Neugraben-Fischbek is the highest rise of Hamburg, the Hasselbrack is 116.2 meters AMSL^[3]

[edit] Climate

The warmest months in Hamburg are June, July, and August, with mean temperatures of 19.9 to 22.2 °C (67.8 to 72.0 °F). The coldest are December, January, and February, with mean temperatures of -1.4 to 0.0 °C (29.5 to 32 °F).^[4]

Weather averages for Hamburg
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Average high °C (°F)	2 (36)	3 (38)	7 (45)	12 (53)	17 (62)	20 (68)	21 (70)	21 (70)	18 (64)	13 (55)	7 (45)	4 (39)
Average low °C (°F)	-2 (28)	-2 (28)	0 (32)	3 (37)	7 (45)	10 (50)	12 (54)	12 (53)	9 (48)	6 (43)	2 (36)	-1 (30)
Precipitation mm (inches)	61 (2.4)	40.6 (1.6)	55.9 (2.2)	50.8 (2.0)	55.9 (2.2)	73.7 (2.9)	81.3 (3.2)	71.1 (2.8)	71.1 (2.8)	63.5 (2.5)	71.1 (2.8)	71.1 (2.8)
Source: [5] August 6, 2008

[edit] Cityscape

Quarter Neustadt

The Speicherstadt at night.

Hamburg has architecturally significant buildings in a wide range of styles. There are only a few skyscrapers. Churches like St. Nikolai's church, the world tallest building in the 19th century, are important landmarks. The skyline of Hamburg features the high spires of the principal churches (Hauptkirchen) Saint Michael's Church (nicknamed “Michel"), Saint Peter's Church, Saint Jacob's Church and Saint Catherine's Church covered with green copper plates.

The many canals in Hamburg are crossed by over 2500 bridges, more than Amsterdam and Venice combined. Hamburg has more bridges inside its city limits than any other city or town on Earth. The Köhlbrandbrücke, Freihafen Elbbrücken, and Lombardsbrücke and Kennedybrücke dividing Binnenalster from Aussenalster are important traffic buildings. Tunnels are also connecting the northern and southern parts of the city, the old Elbe Tunnel (Alter Elbtunnel) is now a major tourist sight, and the Elbe Tunnel (Elbtunnel) is the crossing of a motorway. ^[6]

The townhall is a richly decorated Neo-Renaissance building finished in 1896. With its tower of 112 metres (370 ft) it is Europe's highest townhall. On its facade it shows the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire since Hamburg was, as a Free Imperial City, only under the sovereignty of the emperor. ^[7] The brick stone office building Chilehaus from 1922 spectacularly is shaped like an ocean liner, designed by architect Fritz Höger.

To be completed around 2015 Europe's largest inner city development, the quarter HafenCity, will house about 10,000 inhabitants and 15,000 workers. Its ambitious planning and architecture (amongst others designs by Rem Kolhaas and Renzo Piano will be realized) are slowly coming into shape. By the end of 2010 the Elbphilharmonie – by many considered Germany's most exciting new structure^{[citation needed]} – is scheduled to house its first concerts in a spectacular building designed by the Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron on top of an old warehouse.

The many parks of Hamburg are distributed over the whole city, which makes Hamburg a very green city. The biggest parks are the Stadtpark, the Ohlsdorf Cemetery and Planten un Blomen. The Stadtpark, Hamburg's "Central Park", has a great lawn and a huge watertower which houses one of Europe's biggest Planetariums. The park and its buildings were also designed by Fritz Schumacher in the 1910s.

[edit] Culture and contemporary life

[edit] Entertainment and performing arts

Hamburg offers more than 40 theatres, 60 museums and 100 music venues and clubs. In 2005 more than 18 million people visited performances like concerts, exhibitions, theatres, cinemas, museums or any other tenderer of cultural achievement. More than 8,552 taxable companies, the average size were 3.16 employees, were engaged in culture like music, performing arts and literature. There are 5 companies in the creative sector per thousand residents (Berlin 3, London 37). ^[8]

The state owned Hamburger Schauspielhaus, the Thalia Theater or the Kampnagel are well known theatres in Germany and abroad. ^[9] The Hamburg State Opera is one of the leading German opera houses. Its orchestra is the Philharmoniker Hamburg. Hamburg's other orchestra is the North German Radio Symphony Orchestra. The main concert venue is the Laeiszhalle Musikhalle Hamburg, pending the completion of the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg. The Laeiszhalle is the home of the Hamburger Symphoniker. Hamburg was one city to take part in the Complaints Choir project.

Since the German premiere of Cats in 1985 there are always a number of musicals being played in the city. Among them have been Phantom of the Opera, The Lion King or Dirty Dancing (before there was Dance of the Vampires). This density, which is the highest in Germany, is partly due to Germany's major musical production company Stage Entertainment being located in Hamburg. One of the musical theatres is a large tent in the harbour, guests either arrive by boat or through the historic Old Elbe Tunnel.

Music in Hamburg diversifies from classical music to hip hop, heavy metal, and psychedelic trance music.

Hamburg and vicinity is a popular place of residence for famous contemporary classical composers. Hungarian composer György Ligeti (1923–2006) also known for his music in films by Stanley Kubrick lived in Hamburg for 30 years and taught at the local music academy. He was succeeded at the academy by the Russian-German composer Alfred Schnittke (1934–1998) who died in Hamburg.

It is home to German hip hop acts, such as Fünf Sterne deluxe, Samy Deluxe, Beginner and Fettes Brot. There is also a quite big alternative and punk scene which gathers around the Rote Flora, an squatted former theatre located in the quarter Sternschanze. Hamburg is also famous for an original kind of German alternative music called Hamburger Schule ("Hamburg School"), a term used for bands like Tocotronic, Blumfeld, and Tomte.

Hamburg was one of the major centres of the heavy metal music world in the 1980s. Many bands such as Helloween, Running Wild and Grave Digger started their careers in Hamburg. The influences of these bands and other bands from the area were critical to establishing the subgenre of Power metal.

Hamburg is also one of the most important global centres for psychedelic trance music. It is home to record labels such as Spirit Zone, Mushroom Magazine, the world's best known and longest running psy-trance magazine, as well as parties and club nights.

[edit] Tourism

Warehouse district 1890

Warehouse district

Freedom of the Sea behind the Landungsbrücken

See also: List of museums and cultural institutions in Hamburg

Tourists play a significant role in the city's economy. In 2007 Hamburg attracted more than 3.985.105 visitors (+3.7% to 2006) with 7.402.423 overnight accommodations (+3.1%). More than 700,000 people from abroad were visting for an average duration of stay of 2.1 days. ^[10] More than 175,000 full-time employees and a revenue of €9.3 billion make the tourism industry a major economic factor in the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. Hamburg has one of the fastet growing tourism industry in Germany. From 2001 to 2007 the overnight stays in the city grew about 55.2% (Berlin +52.7%, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania +33%) ^[11]

A typical Hamburg visit includes a tour of the city hall and the grand church St. Michaelis (called the Michel), and visiting the old warehouse district (Speicherstadt) and the harbour promenade (Landungsbrücken). Sightseeing buses connect these points of interest. Of course, a visit in one of the world's largest harbours would be incomplete without having taken one of the harbour and/or canal boat tours (Große Hafenrundfahrt, Fleetfahrt) which start from the Landungsbrücken. Major destinations include also museums such as the Art Gallery and Gallery of Contemporary Arts. In 2008 the Internationales Maritimes Museum Hamburg opened in the HafenCity quarter.

Many visitors take a walk in the evening around the area of Reeperbahn in the quarter St. Pauli, considered Europe's largest red light district and home of strip clubs, bars and nightclubs. The singer and actor Hans Albers is strongly associated with St. Pauli, providing in the 1940s the neighbourhood's unofficial anthem, "Auf der Reeperbahn Nachts um Halb Eins." The song explains in a polite way how a sailor enjoys his last day with a trollop before going aboard. It was in the Reeperbahn that The Beatles began their career with a 48-night residency at the Indra Club, and then another 58 nights at the Kaiserkeller, in 1960, the Top Ten Club (1961), and the Star-Club (1962). Others prefer the laidback neighbourhood Schanze with its street cafés or a barbecue on one of the beaches along the river Elbe. Hamburg's famous zoo, the Tierpark Hagenbeck, was founded in 1907 by Carl Hagenbeck as the first zoo with moated, barless enclosures. A friend of Hagenbeck's, the illustrator Heinrich Leutemann made some illustrations here.

People may visit Hamburg because of a specific interest, notably one of the musicals, a sports event, a congress or fair. In 2005 the average visitor spent two nights in Hamburg. The majority of visitors come from Germany (80%); most foreigners are European, especially from the United Kingdom and Switzerland, and the largest group from outside Europe comes from the U.S..

[edit] Regular events

Some events held every year:

• Sports (Note that a registration, usually months in advance, is needed for public races.)
  • Hamburg Marathon [1] — marathon, open to the public: April
  • Tennis Masters Series Am Rothenbaum [2]: May
  • HSH Nordbank Run, [3] open to the public. Race through the HafenCity: May
  • Hamburg Masters [4] — Hockey 4 Nations Trophy: August
  • Dragon boat race, open to the public: August
  • Cyclassics [5] — UCI-ProTour bike race, open to the public: August
  • Hamburg City Man Triathlon [6] — triathlon, open to the public: August
• Film festivals
  • Filmfest Hamburg [7]: September
  • Fantasy Filmfest [8]: April
  • Kurzfilmfestival — International Short Film Festival [9]: June
  • Lateinamerika-Filmtage — Latin-America Days [10]: December
  • Spanische Filmtage — Spanish Days [11]: July
  • Lesbian & Gay Film Festival Hamburg [12]: October
• Arts and exhibitions
  • International Fireworks Festival: August
  • Kirschblütenfest — Grand fireworks and Japanese culture: May
  • Lange Nacht der Museen — one ticket, 40 of Hamburg's museums open until midnight: May
  • PHP Unconference — Yearly two-day PHP Conference [13]: April
  • Theme nights (jungle, romantic, Asian) at Hagenbeck's zoo [14]: Saturdays in summer
• Music
  • Fleetinselfest — Music and international artists open air [15]: July
  • Schlagermove — German 1960s / 1970s music parade [16]: July
  • Reeperbahn Festival — huge indoor music festival in many clubs of the Red-Light-District in St. Pauli, mostly rock, alternative and indie-music: September [17]
• Fun / Street festivals
  • Alstervergnügen [18] — Alster fair: first weekend of September
  • Christopher Street Day (Gay Pride Parade) [19]: June
  • Hamburger Dom [20] — considered the largest funfair in northern Germany: three times a year
  • Hafengeburtstag [21] — Hamburg's harbour birthday: May
  • Motorradgottesdienst — Biker's divine service in Hamburg's largest church St. Michaelis: June

[edit] Cuisine

Hamburg is the birthplace of the Hamburger. This is not a myth. The beef patties a German immigrant from Hamburg sold in the 1850s in New York allegedly were named after the butcher and then became a generic term.^{[citation needed]}

Original Hamburg dishes are Bohnen, Birnen und Speck (Low Saxon Bohn, Peern un Speck, green runner beans cooked with pears and bacon),^[12] Aalsuppe (Low Saxon Oolsupp, often mistaken to be German for “eel soup“ (Aal/Ool translated ‘eel’), however the name probably comes from the Low Saxon allns [ʔaˑlns], meaning “all”, “everything and the kitchen sink”, not necessarily eel. Today eel is often included to meet the expectations of unsuspecting diners.),^[13] Bratkartoffeln (Low Saxon Brootkartüffeln, pan-fried potato slices), Finkenwerder Scholle (Low Saxon Finkwarder Scholl, pan-fried plaice), Pannfisch (pan-fried fish),^[14] Rote Grütze (Low Saxon Rode Grütt, related to Danish rødgrød, a type of summer pudding made mostly from berries and usually served with cream, like Danish rødgrød med fløde) ^[15] and Labskaus (a mixture of corned beef, mashed potatoes and beetroot, a cousin of the Norwegian lapskaus and Liverpool's lobscouse, all offshoots off an old-time one-pot meal that used to be the main component of the common sailor's humdrum diet on the high seas). ^[16]

Munich is the birthplace of Radler, comming to Hamburg this drink was called Alsterwasser (a reference to the city's river Alster with two lake-like bodies in the city centre thanks to damming), both a type of shandy, a concoction of equal parts of beer and carbonated lemonade (Zitronenlimonade), the lemonade being added to the beer. ^[17] Hamburg is also home to a curious regional dessert pastry called Franzbrötchen. Looking rather like a flattened croissant, the Franzbrötchen is somewhat similar in preparation but includes a cinnamon and sugar filling, often with raisins or brown sugar streusel. The name may also reflect to the roll's croissant-like appearance -- franz appears to be a shortening of französisch, meaning "French", which would make a Franzbrötchen a “French roll.” Being a Hamburg regional food, the Franzbrötchen becomes quite scarce outside the borders of the city; as near as Lunenburg (Lüneburg) it can only be found as a Hamburger and is not to be had in Bremen at all.

Ordinary bread rolls tend to be oval-shaped and of the French bread variety. The local name is Rundstück (“round piece” rather than mainstream German Brötchen, diminutive form of Brot “bread”) ^[18], a relative of Denmark's rundstykke. In fact, while by no means identical, the cuisines of Hamburg and Denmark, especially of Copenhagen have a lot in common. This also includes a predilection for open-faced sandwiches of all sorts, especially topped with cold-smoked or pickled fish. The American hamburger seems to have developed from Hamburg's Frikadelle (or Frikandelle): a pan-fried patty (usually larger and thicker than the American counterpart) made from a mixture of ground beef, soaked stale bread, egg, chopped onion, salt and pepper, usually served with potatoes and vegetables like any other piece of meat, not usually on a bun. (Many Hamburgers consider their Frikadelle and the American hamburger different, virtually unrelated.”)

[edit] Sports

Hamburg is considered Germany's capital of sport since no other city is home to more first league teams and international sports events.

Hamburger SV, one of the most successful teams in Germany, is a football team in the Bundesliga. HSV is a six time German champion, a three time German cup winner and triumphed in the European cup in 1977 and 1983 and has played in the group stages of the Champions League twice; in 2000/2001 and in 2006/2007. They play at the HSH Nordbank Arena (average attendance in the 06/07 season was 56 100).

The Hamburg Freezers represent Hamburg in the DEL, the highest ice hockey league in Germany. The HSV Handball represents Hamburg in the German handball league. In 2007 HSV Handball won the European Cupwinners Cup. Both teams play in the ultra-modern Color Line Arena. Additionally FC St. Pauli is a second division football club. They play at the Millerntor-Stadion.

Hamburg is the nation's field hockey capital and dominates the men's as well as the women's Bundesliga. There are also several minority sports clubs, Hamburg has four cricket clubs and also the lacrosse team Hamburg Warriors at the Harvestehuder Tennis- und Hockey-Club e.V. (HTHC). ^[19] Hamburg is also home to the Hamburg Dockers, an Australian rules football club. ^[20] The FC St.Pauli dominates women's Rugby in Germany. Other first league teams include NA Hamburg (Volleyball), Hamburger Polo Club, Blue Devils (American Football). ^[21]

The Centre Court of the Tennis Am Rothenbaum venue with a capacity of 13000 people is the fifth largest in the world. In 2008 the German Tennis Federation and the ATP were divided about the status of the Hamburg Masters tournament as event of the ATP Masters Series. ^[22][23]

Hamburg also hosts Germany's most prestigious equestrian events at Reitstadion Klein Flottbek (Deutsches Derby in jumping and dressage) and Horner Rennbahn (Deutsches Derby flat racing). ^[24] The Hamburg Marathon is the biggest marathon in Germany after Berlin. In 2008 23,230 participants were registered. ^[25] Worldcups in cycling, the UCI ProTour competition Vattenfall Cyclassics, and the triathlon ITU worldcup Hamburg City Man are also held in Hamburg ^[26] .

The HSH Nordbank Arena (formerly the AOL Arena and originally Volksparkstadion) was used a site for the 2006 World Cup. In 2010 the UEFA will hold the final of the UEFA Cup in the arena.^[27]

[edit] Language

This section is missing citations or needs footnotes. Using inline citations helps guard against copyright violations and factual inaccuracies. (August 2008)

As elsewhere in Northern Germany, the original language of Hamburg is Low Saxon, usually referred to as Hamborger Platt (German Hamburger Platt) or Hamborgsch. It is still in use, albeit by a minority and rarely in public, probably due to a hostile climate between World War II and the early 1980s. Since large-scale Germanisation beginning in earnest with in the 18th century, various Low German-coloured dialects have developed (contact-varieties of German on Low Saxon substrates). Originally, there was a range of such Missingsch varieties, best known being the low-prestige ones of the working classes and the somewhat more “posh” bourgeois Hanseatendeutsch. All of these are now moribund due to the influences of “proper” German propagated by education and media. However, the former importance of Low German is indicated by several songs, such as the famous sea shanty Hamborger Veermaster, written in the 19th century when Low German was used more frequently.

In addition, immigration brought dialects from all over the German-speaking world used to Hamburg, also a large number of foreign language communities. Hamburg has a sizeable population of Sinti and Roma (“Gypsy”) people, some of them sedentary (mostly Sinti) and some of them nomadic or semi-nomadic (mostly Roma), camp grounds being set aside by the state and municipal governments. Hamburg is thus one of the few locations in the world in which both Sinti and Romany are spoken, and it is also one of the major headquarters of international Roma organisations.

[edit] Government

Main article: Government of Hamburg

The city of Hamburg is one of 16 German states, therefore the First Mayor of Hamburg's office corresponds more to the role of a minister-president than to the one of a "normal" city mayor. In Hamburg, the government as a German state government is responsible for public education, correctional institutions and public safety, but also as a municipality for libraries, recreational facilities, sanitation, water supply and welfare services.

The First Mayor of Hamburg is Ole von Beust, ^[28] who governs in Germany's first state-wide "black-green" coalition, consisting of the conservative CDU and the alternative Green Party.

[edit] Economy

The gross domestic product (GDP) in Hamburg is total €88.9 billion. ^[29] The city has the highest GDP in Germany, €50,000 per capita, and has the highest employment rate, with 88 percent of the working-age population. The city is home to over 120,000 enterprises. ^[30] In 2007, the average income of employees were €30,937. ^[29]

The most significant economic unit for Hamburg is the Port of Hamburg, which ranks 2^nd only to Rotterdam in Europe and 9^th worldwide with transshipments of 9.8 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) of cargo and 134 million tons of goods in 2007.^[31] After German reunification, Hamburg recovered the eastern portion of its hinterland, becoming by far the fastest growing port in Europe. International trade is also the reason for the large number of consulates in the city. Although situated 68 miles (110 km) up the Elbe, it is considered a sea port due to its ability to handle large ocean-going vessels. ^[32]

Hamburg, along with Seattle and Toulouse, is an important locations of the civil aerospace industry. Airbus, which has an assembly plant in Hamburg, employs over 13,000 people in the Finkenwerder quarter. ^[33]

Other important industries are media businesses with over 70,000 employees. ^[34] Four of Germany's largest publishing companies, Axel Springer AG, Gruner + Jahr, Heinrich Bauer Verlag, Der Spiegel and Die Zeit, are located in the city. About half of Germany's national newspapers and magazines are produced in Hamburg.^{[citation needed]} There are also a number of music companies (the largest being Warner Bros. Records Germany) and Internet businesses (e.g. AOL, Adobe Systems and Google Germany, and also Web 2.0 companies like Qype).

Heavy industry includes the making of steel, aluminium and Europe's largest copper plant^{[citation needed]}, and a number of shipyards such as Blohm + Voss.

[edit] Demographics

On December 31, 2006 there were 1,754,182 registered people living in Hamburg (up from 1,652,363 in 1990) in an area of 755.3 km² (291.6 sq mi). The population density was 2,322 /km² (6,010 /sq mi).^[35] The metropolitan area of the Hamburg region (Hamburg Metropolitan Region) is home to about 4.3 million in an area of 19,000 km² (7,300 sq mi). ^[36]

There were 856,132 males and 898,050 females in Hamburg. For every 1,000 males there were 1,049 females. In 2006 there were 16,089 births in Hamburg, of which 33.1% were given by unmarried women, 6,921 marriages and 4,583 divorces. In the city the population was spread out with 15.7% under the age of 18, and 18.8% were 65 years of age or older. ^[35] 257,060 resident aliens were living in Hamburg (14.8% of the population). The largest group are Turkic people with 58,154 (22.6% of the resident aliens), followed by 20,743 Poles. 4,046 people were from the United Kingdom and 4,369 were from the United States. ^[35]

In 1999 there were 910,304 households, out of which 18.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 47.9% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 1.9. ^[37]

[edit] Religion

31.7 % of the population belong to the Lutheran North Elbian Evangelical Church, 10.2 % to the Roman Catholic Church.^[38] Due to the fact that there are more than 70,000 people from Islamic influenced countries, like Turkey and Afghanistan, living in Hamburg, ^[35] the rest includes mainly Muslims, members of smaller Christian Churches and those without any affiliation, but also Buddhists, Sikhs, Hindus and others. Hamburg is seat of one of the three bishops of the Lutheran North Elbian Evangelical Church and seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hamburg, there are also several mosques like the Islamic Centre Hamburg and a growing Jewish communitiy. ^[39]

[edit] Infrastructure

[edit] Health systems

Hamburg is home to 54 hospitals. The University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf with about 1300 beds is a large medical school. There are also smaller private hospitals with 40 beds. On December 31, 2007 there were about 12,600 hospital beds in Hamburg proper. ^[40] In 2006 1,061 day-care centers for children, 3,841 physicians in private practice and 462 pharmacies were counted in Hamburg. ^[37]

[edit] Transport

The port of Hamburg on the river Elbe.

Landungsbrücken in 1900.

Neue and Freihafen-Elbbrücke.

Hamburg is a major transportation hub in Germany. Hamburg is connected to four Autobahnen (motorways) and is the most important railway junction on the route to Scandinavia.

As in most larger German cities, public transport is organised by a fare-collection joint venture between transportation companies. Tickets sold by one member company in this Hamburger Verkehrsverbund (Hamburg traffic group) (HVV) are valid on all other HVV companies' services. Nine mass transit routes across the city are the backbone of Hamburg public transport. The U-Bahn comprises three lines and the S-Bahn system, six lines with 67 stations. U-Bahn is short for Untergrundbahn (underground railway). Approximately 41 km (25 mi) of 101 km (63 mi) of the U-Bahn is underground; most of the U-Bahn tracks are on embankments or viaducts or at ground level. Older residents still speak of the system as the Hochbahn ("elevated railway"), also due to the fact that the operating company is the Hamburger Hochbahn. A light rail system, the AKN railway, connects to satellite towns in Schleswig-Holstein.

Gaps in the mass-transit network are filled by bus routes, plied by single-deck, two-, three- and four-axle diesel buses. Hamburg has no trams or trolley-buses, but has hydrogen-fueled buses operating pilot services. A 24-hour bus network operates as frequently as every 2 minutes on busy routes (30 minutes in suburban areas). There are six ferry lines along the river Elbe, operated by the HADAG company. While mainly used by Hamburg citizens and dock workers, they can also be used for sightseeing tours. The tram network was shut down in 1978.

Regional trains of Germany's major railway company Deutsche Bahn AG and the regional metronom trains may be used with a HVV public transport ticket, too. Except at the three bigger stations in the centre of Hamburg, like Hamburg central station, Hamburg Dammtor station, or Hamburg-Altona station, the regional trains hardly stop inside the area of the city.

Hamburg Airport is the oldest airport in Germany still in operation. There is also the smaller Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport, used only as a company airport for Airbus. Some airlines market Lübeck Airport in Lübeck as serving Hamburg.

Hamburg's licence plate prefix is "HH" (Hansestadt Hamburg, English: Hanseatic City of Hamburg), rather than just the single-letter normally used for large cities. The prefix "H" is used in Hanover instead.

[edit] Education

See also: List of universities, colleges, and research institutions in Hamburg and Education in Germany

The school system is managed by the Ministry of Schools and Vocational Training (Behörde für Schule und Berufsbildung). In 2006 about 160,000 pupils were taught in 245 primary schools, 195 secondary schools. ^[41] There are 33 public libraries in Hamburg proper. ^[42]

17 universities are located in Hamburg. There are about 70,000 university students, including 9,000 resident aliens. Six universities are public, like the largest, the University of Hamburg with the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, the University of Music and Theatre, the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences and the Hamburg University of Technology. Seven universities are private, like the Bucerius Law School. The city has also smaller private colleges and universities, including many religious and special-purpose institutions, such as the University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg (Helmut Schmidt Universität). ^[43]

[edit] Sister cities

Hamburg is twinned with eight cities. In 1994 Chicago become the newest sister city of Hamburg.^[44] There are several other partnerships with cities, in 2007 Hamburg and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania signed a Memorandum of Understanding to develop a cooperation.^[45]

• Chicago, United States, since 1994
• Dresden, Germany (then East Germany), since 1987
• León, Nicaragua, since 1989
• Marseille, France, since 1958
• Osaka, Japan, since 1989
• Prague, Czech Republic, since 1990
• St. Petersburg, Russia, then Soviet Union, since 1957
• Shanghai, People's Republic of China, since 1986

[edit] People from Hamburg

In Hamburg it's hard to find a native Hamburger. A hurried and superficial search turns up only crayfish, people from Pinneberg, and those from Bergedorf. One accompanies the contented little kippers of a striving society; mackerels from Stade, sole from Finkenwerder, herrings from Cuxhaven swim in expectant throngs through the streets of my city and lobsters patrol the stock exchange with open claws. ... The first so-called unguarded glance always lands on the bottom of the sea and falls into twilight of the aquarium. Heinrich Heine must have had the same experience when he tried, with his cultivated scorn and gifted melancholy, to find the people of Hamburg.

– Siegfried Lenz, in Leute von Hamburg (People from Hamburg) ISBN 9783423115384. ^[46]

See also: Category:People from Hamburg

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Find more about Hamburg on Wikipedia's sister projects:
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• Official website
• Hamburg at the Open Directory Project
• Hamburg city panoramas
• Virtual tour

v • d • e Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg Cityscape · Culture · Coat of arms · Demographic · Economy · Education · Flag · Geography · Government · History · Sports · Transport See also: Hamburg Metropolitan Region

v • d • e Boroughs and quarters of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg Boroughs Altona · Bergedorf · Eimsbüttel · Hamburg-Mitte · Hamburg-Nord · Harburg · Wandsbek Quarters Allermöhe · Alsterdorf · Altengamme · Altenwerder · Altona-Altstadt · Altona-Nord · Bahrenfeld · Barmbek-Nord · Barmbek-Süd · Bergedorf · Bergstedt · Billbrook · Billwerder · Billstedt · Blankenese · Borgfelde · Bramfeld · Cranz · Curslack · Dulsberg · Duvenstedt · Eidelstedt · Eilbek · Eimsbüttel · Eißendorf · Eppendorf · Farmsen-Berne · Finkenwerder · Francop · Fuhlsbüttel · Groß Borstel · Groß Flottbek · Gut Moor · HafenCity · Hamburg-Altstadt · Hamm-Mitte · Hamm-Nord · Hamm-Süd · Hammerbrook · Harburg · Harvestehude · Hausbruch · Heimfeld · Hoheluft-Ost · Hoheluft-West · Hohenfelde · Horn · Hummelsbüttel · Iserbrook · Jenfeld · Kirchwerder · Kleiner Grasbrook · Langenbek · Langenhorn · Lemsahl-Mellingstedt · Lohbrügge · Lokstedt · Lurup · Marienthal · Marmstorf · Moorburg · Moorfleet · Neuenfelde · Neuengamme · Neugraben-Fischbek · Neuland · Neustadt · Neuwerk · Niendorf · Nienstedten · Ochsenwerder · Ohlsdorf · Osdorf · Othmarschen · Ottensen · Poppenbüttel · Rahlstedt · Reitbrook · Rissen · Rönneburg · Rothenburgsort · Rotherbaum · Sasel · Schnelsen · Sinstorf · Spadenland · St. Georg · St. Pauli · Steilshoop · Steinwerder · Stellingen · Sternschanze · Sülldorf · Tatenberg · Tonndorf · Uhlenhorst · Veddel · Volksdorf · Wandsbek · Waltershof · Wellingsbüttel · Wilhelmsburg · Wilstorf · Winterhude · Wohldorf-Ohlstedt

v • d • e States of the Federal Republic of Germany States Baden-Württemberg · Bavaria · Brandenburg · Hesse · Lower Saxony · Mecklenburg-Vorpommern · North Rhine-Westphalia · Rhineland-Palatinate · Saarland · Saxony · Saxony-Anhalt · Schleswig-Holstein · Thuringia City-states Berlin · Bremen · Hamburg Former states Baden · Württemberg-Baden · Württemberg-Hohenzollern

v • d • e Members of the Hanseatic League by circle Chief cities shown in small caps; Free Imperial Cities of the Holy Roman Empire shown in italics Wendish and Pomeranian Lübeck · Hamburg · Kiel · Lüneburg · Rostock · Stade · Stargard · Stettin · Stralsund · Wismar Saxony, Thuringia, Brandenburg Brunswick · Magdeburg · Berlin · Brandenburg · Bremen · Erfurt · Frankfurt · Goslar · Halle Poland, Prussia, Livonia, Sweden Danzig (Gdańsk) · Breslau (Wrocław) · Dorpat (Tartu) · Fellin (Viljandi) · Elbing (Elbląg) · Königsberg (Kaliningrad) · Cracow · Pernau (Pärnu) · Reval (Tallinn) · Riga · Stockholm · Thorn (Toruń) · Visby Rhine, Westphalia, Netherlands Dortmund · Bochum · Breckerfeld · Cologne · Deventer · Duisburg · Groningen · Haltern · Hamm · Harderwijk · Hattem · Hasselt · Kampen · Münster · Oldenzaal · Osnabrück · Recklinghausen · Roermond · Soest · Unna · Werl · Zutphen · Zwolle Principal Kontore Bryggen (Bergen) · Hanzekantoor (Brugg (Bruges)) · Steelyard (London) · Peterhof (Novgorod) Subsidiary Kontore Antwerp · Berwick · Boston · Damme · Edinburgh · Hull · Ipswich · King's Lynn · Kaunas · Newcastle · Polotsk · Pskov · Yarmouth · York

v • d • e Free Imperial Cities of the Holy Roman Empire   As of 1792 Aachen · Aalen · Augsburg · Biberach · Bopfingen · Bremen1 · Buchau · Buchhorn · Cologne1 · Dinkelsbühl · Dortmund1 · Esslingen · Frankfurt · Friedberg · Gengenbach · Giengen · Goslar1 · Hamburg1 · Heilbronn · Isny · Kaufbeuren · Kempten · Leutkirch · Lindau · Lübeck1 · Memmingen · Mühlhausen · Mülhausen2, 3 · Nordhausen · Nördlingen · Nuremberg · Offenburg · Pfullendorf · Ravensburg · Regensburg · Reutlingen · Rothenburg · Rottweil3 · Schwäbisch Gmünd · Schwäbisch Hall · Schweinfurt · Speyer · Überlingen · Ulm · Wangen · Weil · Weißenburg · Wetzlar · Wimpfen · Windsheim · Worms · Zell Free Imperial Cities as at 1648   Cities that lost Reichsfreiheit status before 1792 or gained independence Basel3 · Berne3 · Besançon · Brakel · Cambrai · Diessenhofen · Donauwörth · Duisburg · Düren · Gelnhausen · Hagenau2 · Herford · Kolmar2 · Kaysersberg2 · Konstanz · Landau2 · Lemgo · Lucerne3 · Mainz · Metz · Munster2 · Obernai2 · Pfeddersheim · Rheinfelden · Rosheim2 · St. Gallen3 · Sarrebourg · Schaffhausen3 · Schmalkalden · Schlettstadt2 · Soest1 · Solothurn3 · Strassburg · Toul · Turckheim2 · Verden · Verdun · Warburg · Wissembourg2 · Zurich3 1 Member of the Hanseatic League.   2 Member of the Décapole.   3 Member or associate of the Swiss Confederacy.

v • d • e Lower Saxon Circle (1500–1806) of the Holy Roman Empire Ecclesiastical Bremen1 · Halberstadt1 · Hildesheim · Lübeck · Magdeburg1 · Ratzeburg (until 1701) · Schwerin1 Secular Bremen (from 1648) · Brunswick (Blankenburg (until 1731) · Calenberg2 · Celle · Grubenhagen2 · Lüneburg2 · Wolfenbüttel) · Hanover (from 1708) · Holstein (Glückstadt · Gottorp) · Mecklenburg (Güstrow (until 1695) · Schwerin · Strelitz) · Rantzau (until 1734) · Regenstein · Saxe-Lauenburg2 Cities Bremen · Goslar · Hamburg · Lübeck · Mühlhausen · Nordhausen 1 until 1648.   2 until 1708.

v • d • e States of the German Confederation (1815–66) Empires Austria Kingdoms Prussia · Bavaria · Saxony · Hanover · Württemberg Electorates Hesse Grand Duchies Baden · Hesse · Luxembourg · Mecklenburg (Schwerin · Strelitz) · Oldenburg · Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Duchies Anhalt (Bernburg1 · Dessau1 · Köthen2) · Brunswick · Holstein · Limburg · Nassau · Saxony (Altenburg3 · Coburg-Saalfeld4 · Coburg-Gotha3 · Gotha-Altenburg4 · Hildburghausen4 · Lauenburg · Meiningen) Principalities Hesse-Homburg · Hohenzollern (Hechingen5 · Sigmaringen5) · Liechtenstein · Lippe · Reuss (Elder · Junior) · Schaumburg-Lippe · Schwarzburg (Rudolstadt · Sondershausen) · Waldeck and Pyrmont City-states Bremen · Frankfurt · Hamburg · Lübeck 1 Merged with Anhalt from 1863.   2 until 1847.   3 from 1826.   4 until 1826.   5 until 1850.

v • d • e States of the North German Confederation (1866–71) Kingdoms Prussia · Saxony Grand Duchies Hesse · Mecklenburg (Schwerin · Strelitz) · Oldenburg · Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Duchies Anhalt · Brunswick · Saxony (Altenburg · Coburg and Gotha · Meiningen) Principalities Schaumburg-Lippe · Schwarzburg (Rudolstadt · Sondershausen) · Lippe · Reuss (Elder · Junior) · Waldeck-Pyrmont City-states Bremen · Hamburg · Lübeck

v • d • e States of the German Empire (1871–1918) Kingdoms Prussia · Bavaria · Saxony · Württemberg Grand Duchies Baden · Hesse · Mecklenburg (Schwerin · Strelitz) · Oldenburg · Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Duchies Anhalt · Brunswick · Saxony (Altenburg · Coburg and Gotha · Meiningen) Principalities Schaumburg-Lippe · Schwarzburg (Rudolstadt · Sondershausen) · Lippe · Reuss (Elder · Junior) · Waldeck-Pyrmont City-states Bremen · Hamburg · Lübeck Other territories Alsace-Lorraine · Colonial possessions

v • d • e States of Germany during the Weimar Republic (1919–33) States Anhalt · Baden · Bavaria · Brunswick · Hesse · Lippe · Mecklenburg-Schwerin · Mecklenburg-Strelitz · Oldenburg · Prussia · Saxony · Schaumburg-Lippe · Thuringia (from 1920) · Waldeck (until 1929) · Württemberg City-states Bremen · Hamburg · Lübeck Until 1920 Saxony Altenburg · Coburg–Gotha · Meiningen · Weimar-Eisenach Reuss Elder · Junior Schwarzburg Rudolstadt · Sondershausen Unofficial Bavarian Soviet Republic · Bottleneck · Rhenish Republic