The Easter weekend and we were wandering what we might do. The tourist information recommends taking the U3 as it is mostly above ground, and it will give a good overview of the city. So, this is what we did. I found out later that most Hamburgers (yes they call themselves Hamburgers) live in the suburbs and in fact only two of three thousand people live in the centre. As with any city the suburbs were patchy.
Our stop, Baumwall, was the stop for Hamburg’s iconic Elbphilharmonie, the music hall which is an engineering marvel and where the acoustic are so good orchestras have to make special provisions when playing there e.g. no page turning, sit quietly and absolutely no extraneous noises. The main hall is suspended on ‘dampeners’ which assist in the phenomenal acoustics. It’s free to go to the ‘Plaza’ and it caters for more than 20000 visitors per day. The escalator is an impressive 80m and climbs to 21m and because it’s designed in the shape of an arch, travellers cannot see the beginning or end. Very interesting experience. We had a drink and a bite to eat at the bar, Blick. Hamburgers are very proud of their Elphi.
As we headed back to the hotel via the harbour, we were entertained by a pair of very talented musicians on cello and keyboard. We found it very hard to leave and ended up staying for their whole set along with many others.
I really liked Hamburg and decided to do a ‘Free Tour’ which began at the Rathaus (City Hall) and finished at St Michaels Church which was just metres from where we were staying. I turned up early and met Phillip, our guide, who had lived in South Australia while studying marine biology. Later he studied in Amsterdam and then returned to Hamburg to study medicine. There was a huge group. I calculate about 200. They organised us into groups of about 25. I was the only Australian and many of those in the group were from other countries but resided in various towns around Germany. I felt very ‘monolingual’.
He told us the history of the Hansiatic and Free city dating back to the Middle Ages and explained how Hamburg was a bit different to other German cities. It feels it. The Hansiatic members created a free trade area not dissimilar to the EU. The emphasis was on trade and freedom of movement with the tradespeople being essential to the good order of community and a generally distain for the divine rights of royalty. Interesting.
We walked for two hours through the old town and the new and gained an insight into how religion impacted the citizens and how pragmatism basically saved their city from complete destruction during WWII. The city is 120km inland and the water is fresh. Beer was brewed in Hamburg from the 1300s – Phillip, our guide was also a tour guide for the craft beers of Hamburg. Like Venice, Hamburg’s buildings are often built on foundations of ancient oak trees. The oak forests also contributed to early shipbuilding. It was a good tour and each of us gave Phillip what we thought was fair. I had €15 in cash so that is what he got.
