Hamburg - Nightsky’s trip to Germany

[Nightsky]

It wasn't even planned that I should go to Hamburg. I was visiting Frankfurt and because of the volcano on Iceland that stopped most of the flights in Europe, I couldn't go home to Sweden by plane. I had to take the train and ferry home, and I decided to stop for one day in Hamburg, a very good idea since I have only passed through the city without seeing much of it.

Hamburg used to have a reputation of being a bit rough on the edges here in Sweden because of the redlight district around Reeperbahn in the district St Pauli, and because of its many industries in the outskirts, but that is definately not true. Hamburg is a very clean and wealthy city with a partly historical core, and note even Reeperbahn itself is especially rough anymore, it is now a hip area with many pubs and "normal" tourists visiting. I didn't have time to go there myself, since I just had one day to visit Hamburg and it was getting dark when I was ready to go there (and I had to concentrate on finding train tickets home, a hard task because of the Icelandic volcano chaos). However, there are many drug addicts visible on the streets, especially around the main railway station.

Hamburg is Germany's second largest city and was the country's largest city until the unification of East and West Germany. It is the 7th largest city in the EU. Hamburg is located between the river Elbe, the small lake Binnenalster where the historical heart of the city is and the larger nearby lake Aussenalster. It is also famous for its many canals. And it has more bridges then Amsterdam and Venice together! The port of Hamburg is huge, it is the 3rd largest in Europe and the 9th largest in the world.


ALTSTADT - THE OLD TOWN AND CITY CENTER


Steinstrasse towards St Jacobi and St Petri churches.


St Jacobi Kirche was destroyed during World War II, but was rebuilt in 1963 with a modern spire. It has its origins as a chapel from 1255.




Mönckebergstrasse, looking towards St Petri Kirche, that I planned to climb.






Elbphilarmonie Kulturcafé, nowadays known as Starbucks!
















St Petri Kirche (St Peter's Church) from 1878 is the landmark of Mönckebergstrasse. It is 133m tall to the spire. It was built by Pope Leo the 10th. The current Gothic
church was built on top of several ruined churches from the past.


St Petri Kirche is the city's tallest remaining church (St Nikolai is taller but it is partly ruined). Between 2005 and 2007 huge H&M clothing store posters hung on 2 sides!




St Petri's steeple. 542 steps to climb and no elevator! Look at the aerial photos I took from there in the skyline section of World Travel Images.


The interior of St Petri.


The bells of St Petri, seen from inside the steeple while walking on narrow stairs towards the top.

[Nightsky]

RATHAUSMARKT:


Rathausmarkt (City Hall Market) is the square in front of the City Hall, just next to the lake Binnenalster. The famous Jungernstieg with its arcade is also here.
The Rathaus is from 1898 and has 647 rooms, 6 rooms more than Buckingham Palace, on a building area of 5 400 m2.


Rathausmarkt is also a major bus hub and a subway hub underground.


It has a whole underground system with stores, restaurant and U-bahn stations underneath it, one of Europe's largest of its kind.






An old tower and Fernsehturm (TV tower) seen from Rathausmarkt. Note the bike taxi.


The tower of the City Hall (Rathaus) is 112m tall.








Rathausmarkt towards St Petri and St Jacobi churches.




Rathausmarkt, St Petri kirche and the Highflyer balloon in the background.


This is where the Alsterfleet canal divides Altstadt from Neustadt, just across Rathausmarkt. Alsterfleet flows out to Binnenalster on the other side of the bridge.
On the Neustadt side is Alsterarkaden, the white building with an arcade supported by columns.


Alsterfleet with Alsterarkaden at sunset.


A local beer and curry sausage at Rathausmarkt at sunset.

[Nightsky]

NEUSTADT - THE NEW TOWN AND CITY CENTER

Neustadt (New Town) is the part of the city center that is situated northwest of Rathausmarkt. It is similar to Altstadt in its character, a mix of old and
modern. Jungfernstieg, Colonnaden, Neuer Wall and Alsterarkaden are really exclusive addresses on this side.


Alsterarkaden is a nice arcade with exclusive shops and cafés. It is inspired by Venice. Alsterarkaden was built after the great fire in 1842.














Neuer Wall is a street, parallel to Alsterfleet canal, next to Rathausmarkt, with many exclusive brand stores. Some examples:
















Binnenalster lake seen from Jungfernstieg.




Alsterhaus, Hamburg's premier department store, is located in a jugend building. It is located at the famous Jungfernstieg.’


Jungfernstieg is the exclusive street that goes parallel with the lake Binnenalster. Hamburger Hof is a grand building that hosts shopping arcade and hotel.












Colonnaden (The Colonnade), an exclusive pedestrian street that goes from Jungfernstieg to Planten und Blumen, with an arcade supported by pillars.


















Stephansplatz.


Odd sculptures in Dammtorpark.




Casino Esplanade at Stephansplatz, next to the entrance to the park Planten und Blumen.

For more photos from my Hamburg trip:

http://www.worldtravelimages.net/Hamburg.html

[Nightsky]

Sorry I haven't have time to update but there are much more to show.

[Nightsky]

ALTSTADT/OLD TOWN - SOUTH PART:

This is about the south part of Altstadt (the Old Town). This is where the famous Chilehaus is and the ruins of St. Nikolai kirche. It is close to the popular harbour district. This is the most modern part of Altstadt, some buildings are very modern despite being the "old town". Hamburg's financial district is situated here.


The busy Ost-West-strasse seen from above with the ruins of St Nikolai to the left. It goes right through the financial district.






St. Nikolai Kirche (St Nicholas Church) is a Gothic Revival church that has been in ruins since the WWII bombings.


The church was the world's tallest building from 1874-76 and is still the tallest building in Hamburg.


It is 147m to the top of the spire. An elevator can take you to the observation deck on 75m height. However, it was closed when I was there.










A sculpture inside what was St Nikolai. Note the panorama elevator below the bells. It was possible to restore the nave after the bombings, but it was decided to
demolish it instead, that is why there is no roof!












Adolphsplatz in the financial district.


Handelskammer Hamburg is located behind the Rathaus, at Adolphsplatz.


Adolphsplatz with a modern glass highrise in the background.










A beautiful and unusual building with golden brick, gleaming in the sun!






Historic half-timbered houses at Nikolaifleet canal.


Nikolaifleet with Katharinenkirche, here under renovation.




Zentralbibliothek, the Municipal Library. Can you tell which humans are real?




Chilehaus, a famous jugend building and landmark of Hamburg. It was completed in 1924 and is remaining a ship from this angle.


Chilehaus was designed by the architect Fritz Höger. It was commissioned by the shipping magnate Henry B. Sloman, who made his fortune trading saltpeter from Chile,
hence the name Chile House.


Sprinkenhof next to Chilehaus (it has a similar architecture).


Sprinkenhof (left) seen from Zollkanal.




Galeria Kaufhof department store (middle) with the church towers in the background, seen from the busy Steintorwall.




Steinstrasse, the beginning of Altstadt.




For more photos from my Hamburg trip:

http://www.worldtravelimages.net/Hamburg.html

[SHiRO]

great pics of a great city!

Das Hamburger Rathaus is one of my favourite buildings in Europe.

[OhioGuy]

It looks so fantastic! Must be a great place to live. Thanks for posting these!

[Rusty van Reddick]

Beautiful set! I was in Hamburg May 2-8 but you seem to have captured much more than what I saw. Did you go into Planten und Blomen? It's a magnificent park.

[someone123]

What a handsome looking city. So many of these buildings are of a much higher quality than I'd expect. Some are too simple and look austere (e.g. first photo) but others have a nice balance of ornamentation and are more attractive to me than elaborate baroque buildings in some European cities.

I really like the arcades. I've lived in two northern, very wet cities and neither one has big expanses of covered outdoor space with room to walk around, space for outdoor cafés, etc. Their architecture is not very suited to their natural environment. Canals are also really cool. Again, one place I lived in had one and it's mostly now covered over and surrounded by barren industrial land.

[Nightsky]

Thanks for comments! Yes, I went to Planten un Blumen, very beautiful, I will post pics later.

[Frank 77]

I love Hamburg !!!

[elsonic]

super nice pics!! did you go a bit off the center?

I fell in love with Hamburg earlier this year. it has it all : cosmopolitan, historic, modern, trashy, design, granola, glamourous, maritime, green, punk, sophisticated, industrial, clean, trendy..

very very high quality of life up there. a big busy city where you can breathe.

i will share my photos soon if I can find a hoster that doesn't 'fog' my photos.

[Nightsky]

As I was there for only one day, I only had time to see the city center (but much of it), Planten und Blumen and Hafencity.
I saw some of the outskirts from the train. The reason I went to Hamburg was because my plane from Frankfurt to Copenhagen was cancelled, but I had planned to go to Hamburg later this summer, but decided to go there on my way to the Rostock ferry.

[Frank 77]

Originally Posted by elsonic

super nice pics!! did you go a bit off the center?

I fell in love with Hamburg earlier this year. it has it all : cosmopolitan, historic, modern, trashy, design, granola, glamourous, maritime, green, punk, sophisticated, industrial, clean, trendy..

very very high quality of life up there. a big busy city where you can breathe.

i will share my photos soon if I can find a hoster that doesn't 'fog' my photos.

elsonic , I couldn ' t say it better !

[olga]

Great pics of a very nice city! Next time, don't miss Altona, St Pauli and Karolinenviertel - IMO the best parts!

[Nightsky]

I started with the city center and the harbour and didn't have time to see more in just one day, but next time I would like to go those more "alternative" areas that you mentioned.

[KevinFromTexas]

Originally Posted by NightSky

I like these two buildings. I guess the highrise one might be considered ugly, but I like it.

[FREKI]

Great stuff mate!

[Nightsky]

Thanks. I don't think the Radisson highrise is ugly at all.

[Nightsky]

Planten un Blomen

Planten un Blomen is Hamburg's most centrally located park, located northwest of Neustadt, just west of Rotherbaum. It is a very beautiful park, has a
size of47 hectars and includes an old botanical garden as well as a beautiful Japanese garden, Europe's largest. Hamburg's tallest structure, Heinrich-
Hertz-Turm and the tallest skycraper, Radisson Hotel, are clearly visible from the park. Planten und Blomen means "plants and flowers" in Low German, the
local accent. The park is known for its water-light concerts.



Heinrich-Hertz-Turm, Hamburg's tallest structure, is 280m to the top of the antenna. It was built in 1968 and used to have a revolving rooftop restaurant, but it was
closed because of new fire regulations.


Radisson Blu Hotel (for long known as Hamburg Plaza) from 1972 is Hamburg's tallest and most wellknown skyscraper. It is 108m tall and has 32 floors. It is part of
the Hamburg Messe (fair and congress center).
















The park has a huge variety of trees, plants, flowers.


The Japanese Gardens (Japanischer Garten):




The gate to the Japanese Garden.






Tea ceremonies are held summertime in its Japanese tea house.
















An old Soviet style monument and a modern bike taxi at the entrance to Planten un Blomen. Casino Esplanade is in the background.