Germany - By EMArg

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Hamburg: City Overview











City: Hamburg
State: Hamburg
Set: City Overview




Hamburg is the second-largest city in Germany after Berlin. The city's metropolitan region is home to more than five million people. Hamburg is also Europe's third-largest port. Major regional broadcaster NDR, the printing and publishing firm Gruner + Jahr and the newspapers Der Spiegel and Die Zeit are based in the city. It's the seat of Germany's oldest stock exchange and the world's oldest merchant bank, Berenberg Bank. Media, commercial, logistical, and industrial firms with significant locations in the city include multinationals Airbus, Beiersdorf, and Unilever. Hamburg is a major European science, research, and education hub, with several universities and institutions. Among its most notable cultural venues are the Elbphilharmonie and Laeiszhalle concert halls. It gave birth to movements like Hamburger Schule and paved the way for bands including The Beatles. Hamburg is also known for several theatres and a variety of musical shows. St. Pauli's Reeperbahn is among the best-known European entertainment districts.

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[mthq]

I need to get to Hamburg one day. Your photo of the buildings lining up along both sides of the river is amazing.

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Yes, that area of Hamburg is probably the most photogenic place of Germany, appart from the castles.

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Neuschwanstein Castle











City: Füssen
State: Bavaria
Set: Neuschwanstein Castle



The Neuschwanstein Castle is a 19th-century Romanesque Revival palace on a rugged hill above the village of Hohenschwangau near Füssen in southwest Bavaria, Germany. The palace was commissioned by Ludwig II of Bavaria as a retreat and in honour of Richard Wagner. Ludwig paid for the palace out of his personal fortune and by means of extensive borrowing, rather than Bavarian public funds. It was intended as a home for the king, until he died in 1886. It was open to the public shortly after his death. Since then more than 61 million people have visited Neuschwanstein Castle. More than 1.3 million people visit annually, with as many as 6,000 per day in the summer. Due to its secluded location, the palace survived the destruction of two World Wars. Until 1944, it served as a depot for Nazi plunder that was taken from France by the Reichsleiter Rosenberg Institute for the Occupied Territories (Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg für die besetzten Gebiete), a suborganisation of the Nazi Party. The castle was used to catalogue the works of arts. (After World War II 39 photo albums were found in the palace documenting the scale of the art seizures. The albums are now stored in the United States National Archives). In April 1945, the SS considered blowing up the palace to prevent the building itself and the artwork it contained from falling to the enemy. The plan was not realised by the SS-Gruppenführer who had been assigned the task, however, and at the end of the war the palace was surrendered undamaged to representatives of the Allied forces. Thereafter the Bavarian archives used some of the rooms as a provisional store for salvaged archivalia, as the premises in Munich had been bombed.

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Frankfurt: City Overview











City: Frankfurt
State: Hesse
Set: City Overview



Frankfurt was a city state, the Free City of Frankfurt, for nearly five centuries, and was one of the most important cities of the Holy Roman Empire, as a site of imperial coronations; it lost its sovereignty upon the collapse of the empire in 1806 and then permanently in 1866, when it was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia. It has been part of the federal state of Hesse since 1945. Frankfurt is culturally, ethnically, and religiously diverse, with half of its population, and a majority of young people, having a migration background. A quarter of the population consists of foreign nationals, including many expatriates. It's an alpha world city and a global hub for commerce, culture, education, tourism and transportation. It is the site of many global and European corporate headquarters. Frankfurt Airport is among the world's busiest. Frankfurt is the major financial centre of the European continent, with the headquarters of the European Central Bank, Deutsche Bundesbank, Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Deutsche Bank, DZ Bank, KfW, Commerzbank, several cloud and fintech startups and other institutes. Automotive, technology and research, services, consulting, media and creative industries complement the economic base. Frankfurt's DE-CIX is the world's largest internet exchange point. Messe Frankfurt is one of the world's largest trade fairs. Major fairs include the Frankfurt Motor Show, the world's largest motor show, the Music Fair, and the Frankfurt Book Fair, the world's largest book fair.

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Frankfurt: Central Station











City: Frankfurt
State: Hesse
Set: Central Station



Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof is one of the biggest railway stations of Europe. Because of its location in the middle of Germany and usage as a transport hub for long and short distance travelling, Deutsche Bahn refers to it as the most important station in Germany. The appearance of the station is divided into perron (track hall) and vestibule (reception hall). Dominant in those parts built in 1888 are Neo-Renaissance features, the outer two halls, added in 1924 follow the style of neoclassicism. The eastern façade of the vestibule features a large clock with two symbolic statues for day and night. Above the clock, the word Hauptbahnhof and the Deutsche Bahn logo are situated. The roof of the front hall carries a monumental statue of Atlas supporting the World on his shoulders, in this case assisted by two allegorical figures representing Iron and Steam. As for long-distance traffic, the station profits greatly from its location in the heart of Europe; 13 of the 24 ICE lines call at the station, as well as 2 of the 3 ICE Sprinter lines. To ease the strain on the Hauptbahnhof, some ICE lines now call at Frankfurt Airport station and at Frankfurt (Main) Süd instead of Hauptbhanhof. There are also long-distance night trains from Frankfurt, e.g. to Copenhagen, Berlin, Prague, Amsterdam, Zurich, Paris and Rome.

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And the arrival at the station, from the ICE train:


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Frankfurt: South Station (Südbahnhof)











City: Frankfurt
State: Hesse
Set: South Station (Südbahnhof )



Frankfurt Südbahnhof is one of three railway stations for long-distance train services within the city. Unlike Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof it is not a terminus but a through station, and has nine tracks with five platforms. It is a stopping station for some long-distance routes (ICE, IC) and for regional traffic (Regional-Express and RegionalBahn). It is also one of the major rapid-transit railway hubs in the city with S-Bahn and U-Bahn services.

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