Understand

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Hamburg is a city-state; it values its status as a "free city", being as far as possible independent of other states that existed and exist in Germany. Nevertheless, during the centuries, Hamburg has always been an international city, not only because of its position in international trade, but also in political dimensions.

Traditionally one of the most important harbours in Europe and the world, the city takes great pride in its mercantile background, which built the city's wealth in the past centuries. From 1241 on it was member of the Hanseatic League, a mediæval trade monopoly over Northern Europe. In the 19th and beginning 20th century, millions left Europe on their way to the new world through Hamburg harbour. Today, the harbour ranks second in Europe and sixth to seventh world-wide. Consequently, one of Hamburg's taglines is "The Gate to the World" (derived from the city’s coat of arms, showing an argent city wall with a gate and crowned by three towers on a field of gules). Hamburg is known to be the richest metropolitan area in the European Union (just followed by Bruxelles and London).

The harbour is the heart of the city, however, Hamburg is one of the most important media hubs in Germany, too. Half of the nation's newpapers and magazines have their roots in Hamburg. And unknown even to some locals is the fact that, with one of the Airbus aircraft assembly plants, Hamburg is a major location of the world's aerospace industry, right after Seattle (USA) and Toulouse (France).

The mercantile background reflects in the city's architecture: the only palace in Hamburg is the town hall, house of the citizen's parliament and the senate. Apart from that, the city still has large quarters with expensive houses and villas, home to merchants and captains, surrounded by lots of green. Unfortunately, large parts of the city were destroyed during the devastating air raids of World War 2, killing tens of thousands and leaving more than a million homeless.

Hamburg still keeps its tradition of being an open, yet discreet city. Citizens of Hamburg, just like most Northern Germans, sometimes appear to be quite reserved at first, but once they get to know who they are dealing with, they'll be as warm and friendly as you'd wish.

The people of Hamburg are known as "Hamburgers" (pronounce the a like you're saying "ah", and it won't sound as silly). The beef patties on a bun were named after this city, where they presumably were invented. See also "frankfurter" (Frankfurt) and "wiener" (Wien, aka Vienna).

Eat

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Budget

Geelhaus, Koppel 76 (St. Georg), 20099 Hamburg, phone. Daily 6pm-11pm, some meals until midnight; menu changes frequently, fresh food, creativity.

Lühamnns Teestube, Blankeneser Landstrasse 29, 22587 Hamburg (take the S-Bahn to Blankenese, and walk west on Blankeneser Landstraße from the station), phone 040 / Mon-Fri 9AM-11PM, Sat 9AM-6PM, Sun 10AM-11PM. Friendly local café. Light fare and local specialties, wonderful pies and baked goods. Their Cornish tea with fresh scones is worth trying. €5-15.

Murphy's Roadhouse, Saseler Markt 1 (Subway station Poppenbüttel,...