Our Visit to Hamburg, Germany

We took a vacation to Germany this past summer and were introduced to the city of Hamburg by our son and his family. It is a fascinating German city. We explored both the old city center and surrounding suburbs by taking several walking tours. We also traveled by bus, train and ferry. Here are some of the images that I captured while on our adventures. The city is surrounded by water — there are more bridges in Hamburg than Venice or Amsterdam. Here is the Hamburg City Hall or Rathaus, located in the older part of the city of the Altstade quarter, at the Rathausmark Square. 

The Rathaus  was constructed from 1886 to 1897 and the city hall still houses its original governmental functions with the office of the First Mayor of Hamburg.

The ornate setting in the center of the building houses revolving exhibits which change several times a year. This exhibit pertained to the German Maritime Search and Rescue Service or “Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Rettung Schiffbrüchiger – DGzRS.”  The service headquarters is located in Bremen, Germany, and is responsible for search and rescue missions in the North Sea and Baltic Seas. It has 54 stations and is is entirely financed by membership fees, private donations and legacies. It has approximately 2000 engagements each year. 

A beautiful fountain sets In a center court yard of the City Hall.

with surrounding statues.

Here is one of the rescue ships which is now harbored in the Elbe River.

And close up.

We were fortunate to take an extensive tour of the center of the city led by our son’s German family, crossing under the Elbe River by way of a tunnel which goes underneath the Elbe River.

The Old Elbe Tunnel or St. Pauli Elbe Tunnel was opened in 1911 as a pedestrian and vehicle tunnel. The two tunnels were a technical marvel and they were built under pressure using huge drills. It allowed thousands of workers to cross back and forth between the central city and the docks of the south side..

At the tunnel entrance was a couple taking wedding photos.

Here is the The Elbphilharmonie, where the Hamburg symphony gives concerts. It is the tallest inhabited building in Hamburg and tourists can view the scenes of the city from a balcony midway up. The concert hall, one of the most acoustically advanced in the world, is in the HafenCity quarter of Hamburg, Germany, on the Grasbrook peninsula of the Elbe River. The building also houses a hotel, apartments, restaurants and three concert halls.

Here is the view of the Elbe River harbor from the balcony of the Elbphilharmonie.

And a view of the many steeples in the city.

And a view of the harbor from the balcony.

Parking is a premium; fortunately these small autos can find a spot.

This is the building which houses “Der Spiegel.” This is Europe’s biggest and Germany’s most influential weekly magazine. Der Stern is published weekly with approximately 1,000,000 copies.

And another photo of the Elbphilharmonie.

And another wedding couple.

Hamburg seems to be surrounded by rivers. We enjoyed watching the rowers silently make their way along the many rivers which flowed throughout the city..

We have many more photos of this interesting city. you can check out the gallery as well as future posts.