Hamburg, officially Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, is the second largest city in Germany and the sixth largest city in the European Union. It is also the thirteenth largest German state. The port of Hamburg is the second largest port in Europe (after the Port of Rotterdam) and tenth largest worldwide. Hamburg's official name, Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, reflects Hamburg's history as a member of the medieval Hanseatic League, as a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire, and that Hamburg is a city-state and one of the sixteen States of Germany. Before the 1871 Unification of Germany, Hamburg was a fully sovereign state of its own. Prior to the constitutional changes in 1919, the stringent civic republic was ruled by a class of hereditary grand burghers or Hanseaten. Hamburg is a major transport hub in Northern Germany and is one of the most affluent cities in Europe. It has become a media and industrial centre, with plants and facilities belonging to Airbus, Blohm + Voss and Aurubis. The radio and television broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk and publishers such as Gruner + Jahr and Spiegel-Verlag are pillars of the important media industry in Hamburg. Hamburg has been an important financial centre for centuries, and is the seat of the world's second oldest bank, Berenberg Bank. In total, there are more than 120,000 enterprises. The city is a major tourist destination for both domestic and overseas visitors; Hamburg ranked 17th in the world for livability in 2012,and, in 2010, the city ranked 10th in the world. Hamburg is located on the southern point of the Jutland Peninsula, directly between Continental Europe to its south and Scandinavia to its north. The North Sea is west and the Baltic Sea is northeast of Hamburg. Hamburg is located on the River Elbe at its confluence with the Alster and Bille. The city centre is situated around the Binnenalster ("Inner Alster") and Außenalster ("Outer Alster") both of which were originally formed by damming up the River Alster to create lakes. The island of Neuwerk and two small neighbouring islands Scharhörn and Nigehörn, located in the Hamburg Wadden Sea National Park, are also part of Hamburg. The neighbourhoods of Neuenfelde, Cranz, Francop and Finkenwerder are part of the Altes Land region (old land), the biggest contiguous fruit-producing region in Central Europe. The neighbourhood of Neugraben-Fischbek has Hamburg's highest elevation, the Hasselbrack at 116.2 metres (381 ft) AMSL. Hamburg has architecturally significant buildings in a wide range of styles and only a few skyscrapers. Churches are important landmarks, such as St. Nicholas's church, which for a short time in the 19th century was the world's tallest building. The skyline of Hamburg features the tall spires of the most important churches (Hauptkirchen) St. Michael's Church (nicknamed "Michel"), St. Peter's Church, St. James's (St. Jacobi) and St. Catherine's Church covered with copper plates, and of course the Heinrich-Hertz-Turm, the radio and television tower (no longer publicly accessible). The many streams, rivers and canals in Hamburg are crossed by over 2300 bridges, more than London, Amsterdam and Venice put together.Hamburg has more bridges inside its city limits than any other city in the world and more canals than Amsterdam and Venice combined. The Köhlbrandbrücke, Freihafen Elbbrücken, and Lombardsbrücke and Kennedybrücke dividing Binnenalster from Aussenalster are important roadways. The town hall is a richly decorated Neo-Renaissance building finished in 1897. The tower is 112 metres (367 ft) high. Its façade, 111 m (364 ft) long, depicts the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire, since Hamburg was, as a Free Imperial City, only under the sovereignty of the emperor. The Chilehaus, a brick stone office building built in 1922 and designed by architect Fritz Höger, is shaped like an ocean liner. Europe's largest inner-city development (as of 2008), the HafenCity, will house about 10,000 inhabitants and 15,000 workers. The plan includes designs by Rem Koolhaas and Renzo Piano. The Elbe Philharmonic Hall (Elbphilharmonie), expected to be completed by 2015, will house concerts in a building on top of an old warehouse, designed by the Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron. The many parks of Hamburg are distributed over the whole city, which makes Hamburg a very verdant city. The biggest parks are the Stadtpark, the Ohlsdorf Cemetery and Planten un Blomen. The Stadtpark, Hamburg's "Central Park", has a great lawn and a huge water tower, which houses one of Europe's biggest planetaria. The park and its buildings were designed by Fritz Schumacher in the 1910s.

• published: 09 Jul 2011
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