I was fortunate enough to visit twice Hamburg this summer but until these visits the city had never been on my radar. Both visits were an unexpected bonus to my Norwegian adventures. Hamburg is a historic and cultural delight. And as some of you know from the comments on my November Square, now I have visited I am already pondering a return to Germany’s second largest city.

View from my balcony

I had had no idea what Hamburg had to offer, I’d been so busy in the lead up to our cruise I’d not done any research. Fortunately my sibling and my sister-in-law were much more prepared. They’d discovered free guided walking tours but as we left the ship we learnt a major cycle race had altered the usual drop off point. We realised it would probably also affect the tours. So their thinking caps were put back on, and great data roaming accessed. The brilliant pair found us an alternative and self guided walking tour which began away from the cycle race alongside Hamburg’s main waterway – the river Elbe.

It wasn’t long before we found ourselves in Hamburg’s historic docks – the Speicherstadt warehouse district – now a UNESCO world heritage site. Who knew that warehouses could be so wonderful.

Speicherstadt, which means ‘City of Warehouses’ was constructed between 1883 and 1927, and it stands on timber-pile foundations. The district was built as a free zone, which means it was exempt from import sales taxes and customs. It retained this status until 2013. We obviously didn’t explore every corner of the world’s largest contiguous complex of warehouses, but we did manage to explore quite a bit of its 300,000 square metres. We couldn’t easily tell which of the warehouses were completely original and which had been rebuilt following World War Two when much of Hamburg was destroyed by allied bombing in 1943.

The building that looks like a castle was created at the beginning of the 20th century. Back then, it was the only part in the warehouse district that could be used as residential property. A rule designed to prevent contraband trade in the port. These days it is a cafe, somewhere to visit perhaps if I do return for a third time along with all the museums in this area.

If you are wondering about the incredible glass building on top of one of the warehouses, that’s the Elbphilharmonie, a concert hall designed by Herzog & de Meuron. Not only is the building an extraordinary design on the outside there are amazing sights inside. I took this shot halfway up the escalator which takes you from ground level to the top of the warehouse. It is the world’s first curved escalator that travels 80 metres and climbs over 21 metres.

The views from the outside terrace are pretty fabulous too. Can you spot Queen Mary 2?

From here we headed across the Elbe and into the city where we stumbled across where Hamburg began before enjoying views of one of the other rivers – the Alster. But that’s a post for another day! So let’s finish instead with another view of the Elbe, this time from one of its bridges.

32 thoughts

  1. Pingback: More Walking Adventures in Hamburg – The life of B

  2. My parents spent a few days in Hamburg several years ago and really enjoyed it. A highlight for them was a huge model railway with incredible details. I remember Mum telling me about it when they got home so it must have been memorable.

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  5. Looks like Hamburg was a good find. Those warehouses are amazing. Must be quite the sight. I like the concert hall too, and I love the red balloon in the top photo!

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    1. well spotted on the balloon – such a treat to see when I went out into the balcony.

      Hopefully you will enjoy the other areas we explored – post coming in a couple of days

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  7. Many thanks for this eye-opening look at Hamburg, Becky. It’s a Queen Mary 2 favourite port, isn’t it. When we did the crossing from Southampton to NY, it had started from Hamburg. Lots of Germany based US army officers and wives aboard, going on home leave. The world of that ship and its voyages is like an alternative universe.

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    1. Yes it is one of their main ports, and you are so right about it being an alternative universe. You really step into a different world when you board, especially on the transatlantic crossings.

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  11. Rivers and bridges are always an enticing option, Becky, and thank you for finding me the perfect cafe. Maybe a good place for Christmas markets too, though you’ll have that in Bath xx

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  12. Hamburg was an unexpected delightful surprise, also on a cruise. By chance we arrived justcas the new concert hall was being opened. I also expect your ship.was able to use the new cruise terminal which construction had just commenced. That escalator is certainly something.else. Yep, Hamburg was real surprise, not what we expected

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    1. I know seems incredible, but it is wood. They are over 150 years old now, so they must have done something right with the construction

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