Hamburg
Hamburg is the largest port in Germany and second largest city after the capital Berlin. The town is beautifully situated on the North Sea, right where the Elbe flows into the sea waters. From the center of Hamburg, the mouth of the Elbe is 110 km away. It should be noted that Hamburg is ranked third among the largest ports on the continent, after Rotterdam and Antwerp. The city is the capital of the eponymous German state, and with its population of nearly 2 million people, it is considered to be Europe's largest city, which is not the capital of his country.
This metropolis in Germany is cut by numerous currents of rivers and canals, over which are built over 2500 bridges. The number of bridges in Hamburg surpasses even beautiful Venice, which is remarkable in this respect. Even Amsterdam and London have fewer bridges, making Hamburg champion and grants it the crown of the European city with the most bridges. In historical terms Hamburg marks a peak in the 17th century, when it became the biggest German city. The tendency for population growth of Hamburg is even now positive, as in the next ten years the number is foreseen as exceeding two million people.
The history of Hamburg starts in the 4th century BC when the first settlers arrived here. Around 810, Charlemagne built a church, aiming to convert the pagan north. A year later the castle Hamburg was built whose main purpose is to protect the church as well as the local population. In 831 Louis Pious created a diocese in Hamburg, which soon became an archbishopric. Hamburg was successively conquered by the Vikings in 845 and in 915, the Ubodri.
In the 14th century Hamburg entered into the trade "agreement" Hansa, here in 1558 opened one of the first German commercial exchanges. Hamburg remains one of the most important commercial centers of Northern Germany and after the collapse of the Hanseatic League, during the Enlightenment and industrialization, it can not stop progressing. Thanks to trade Hamburg blooms in economic terms even in the 20th century. At that time, "Hamburg - America" became the largest transatlantic Steamship Company. The city was also home to other shipping companies with routes to South America, Africa, India and East Asia.
Tours of Hamburg are quite long. You will hardly be able to in a day, even two, visit all the beautiful places in the city, the numerous lakes, see the incredible views of the harbor, and see interesting modern and historic buildings. One of the interesting places in the city is St. Pauli, which is the main street in the Red Light District.
Be sure to walk around Reeperbahn, which can be defined as "the sweetest mile in the world". This street is number one in Hamburg with regard to entertainment and pleasure. Crowded during the day, at night it is illuminated by numerous advertising screens and neon lights, which remain among the crowd of hundreds, even thousands of people in search of exciting nightlife. There are dozens of gambling halls, adult stores, and even the services of many "ladies of the night".
Among the cultural attractions of Hamburg are the six towers, who dominate the panorama of the city - five of the main churches, and the sixth to the municipality. The church of St. Michael, or "Michel", as it is known in Hamburg , is the emblem of the city. Another remarkable temple is the church "St. Nicholas", which was destroyed during the Second World War. Today it does not perform services, it is a war memorial monument. With a height of 147, 3 m. It was the tallest building in the world in the period 1874-1877.
The 279, 8 m high TV tower in Hamburg - Heinrich Hertz is the tallest building in the city. In Hamburg there are nearly 50 museums. The most famous of them is the Hamburg History museum, which owns the largest collection of objects related to urban history in Germany. Quite interesting is the Museum of Arts and Crafts, which is one of the leading museums for applied arts in the world. Hamburg also has a museum of spices. Tours of other museums in Hamburg go to extremes - from the Concentration camp museum to the museum of erotic art.
