City profile

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Welcome to Hamburg!

 

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City profile

 

The Free and Hanse town Hamburg is the second largest town of Germany (1,7 Mio. inhabitants) and at the same time it is one state of the Federal Republic. It lies in the Northern German lowlands at the lower reaches of the Elbe. Hamburg consists of 104 parts that are summarised in seven districts.

The overall area of the city state extends to appr. 755 km² whereof 60 km² consist of water. The extension of the city area reaches 40 km in North-Southern direction as well as in East-Western direction. Striking points in Hamburg are the Harburg mountains in the South with a maximum height of 116 m above sea level, the Elbe in the centre that flows through Hamburg from East to West, and the airport Fuhlsbüttel in the North. In the Western part of Hamburg the motorway A7 cuts Hamburg from South to North, the A1 runs from South to North at the Eastern border of Hamburg. And above all the centre of Hamburg is characterized by the Außen- and Binnenalster with its extension of 1,6 km².

 Hamburg’s climate is influenced by the nearness to the North and the Baltic Sea as well as to Scandinavia. There is always a light breeze to provide us with fresh air and to let hot days become endurable. The famous “Schmuddelwetter” of Hamburg with several days‘ drizzle and uncomfortable cold winds can only be met quite seldom, if we believe in the statistics. The yearly amount of precipitation of 760 mm does in any case not count to the highest amounts in comparison to many other areas in Germany. The average air temperature is 0,9 degrees Celsius in January, 8,1 in April, 17,6 in July and 10,4 degrees in October. With an average duration of sunshine of 1522 hours yearly (34 % of the possible duration of sunshine) the Hamburg inhabitants are not really spoiled.

Hamburg is one of the oldest republics in Europe and is more than 1200 years old. The city is one of the biggest centres for trading, service and for the ship industry. In connection with the opening of the borders to the East Hamburg has got into the centre of the markets as a connecting link between the states of Europe. Hamburg takes the leading position in the sectors transhipments, media, science and research. In 1998 Hamburg was the largest diplomatic centre of the world with 99 consulates.

Hamburg provides a very high quality of life. Several parks, avenues and always present waterways make it a green metropolis. The North and the Baltic Sea in a distance of only one hour by car, the Lüneburger Heide and the state Mecklenburg with its numerous lakes belong to the most attractive holiday regions of Germany.

Leisure time in Hamburg

 

Hamburg owns a world famous cultural and art scene, a fantastic variety of first class restaurants and shopping possibilities as well as a night life without closing times. The Mönckebergstraße invites to do shopping, a pedestrian area that runs from the main station to the place of the city hall. The Jungfernstieg is also very famous with the side-streets with a lot of exclusive shops. Here one shopping arcade follows the other. Hamburg owns the most shopping arcades in Europe. South-Western of the Alster it is no problem to enjoy shopping in ten arcades with dry feet even if the weather is bad. You can also do nice shopping in Eppendorf. Eppendorfer Landstraße and Eppendorfer Baum offer a shopping adventure in an architectonically nice environment. On Tuesdays and on Fridays it is also possible to stroll over the weekly market on the Isestreet, one of the most beautiful weekly markets in Hamburg.

To describe the pub scene would go beyond the scope of this description. There are a lot of restaurant and scene guides, we recommend especially the Restaurantreport 2007 as it bases on remarks of guests who judged a visited restaurant. Also culture and art can offer a lot. In addition to musicals, the Deutsche Schauspielhaus or the Deichtorhallen there are many entertainments for every taste. The Reeperbahn is not only famous for its women of easy virtue. Various very good restaurantes and night clubs like the Schmidts Tivoli or the Thalia theatre are also worth a visit.