The city hall is built in the neo-renaissance style and is an impressive sight in the centre of the city.
It is in large contrast to the down-to-earth and reserved Hanseatic character. The city hall represents the confidence and power of Hamburg’s former traders.

The old city hall burned down in 1842 and was rebuilt in 1886-1897 directly next to the stock exchange.

The construction was especially complex due to a swampy underground and had to be built on top of 4.000 oak posts. On the other hand the direct connection to the stock exchange simplified business and government dealings. The city hall is still headquarters of the senate and the city parliament.

The inside of the building features several styles: renaissance, baroque and classic. There are 647 rooms: a large ballroom with paintings of Hugo Vogel, the room of the First Mayor of Hamburg with the visitors’ book, the room of the federal state government with its glassy roof and the emperor’s hall with its eye-catching ceiling painting are the most impressing ones.

The inner courtyard is worth a visit as well. In the summer you can attend open air concerts and listen to classical music.

The beautiful Alster, separated by a bridge into the Binnen- (inner) and Außen-(outer) alster, is the heart of the hanseatic city. The Außenalster is a Mecca for every water harbour fan. The artificial lake is about 160 hectares big but only 2 metres deep and especially on sunny days you will find many sailors, paddlers and rowers. The Binnenalster is known for its picturesque promenade with numerous impressive buildings and the fountain in the middle of the lake.

The Außenalster as well as the Binnenalster are the perfect places to relax drinking an original Hamburg Alsterwasser (beer with Sprite) in one of the surrounding cafés and restaurants. A stroll along the Außenalster is a must for every visit to Hamburg.

A tipp for you after you have enjoyed your special Alsterwasser: Explore the Alster on a real Alstersteamboat. Cast off and ship ahoy!


A further must is a tour with a real Alster steamer. One can discover the numerous canals as well as the Alsters numerous bridges Hamburg has more bridges than Venice to offer. Starting point is Jungfernstieg daily. The travel time varies according to tour between one and three hours. So there is for example the short one-hour Alster excursion past Uhlenhorst, Winterhude, Eppendorf, Harvestehude and Rotherbaum. Alternatively the Alster cruise, that starts of at Jungfernstieg to the Winterhuder Checkpoint and lasts almost two hours.

In the summer there is even more tours especially romantic adventures beginning around 8pm.

The tower of the "Michaeliskirche", the citizens call it just "Michel", with its height of 132 meters and its characteristic "helmet" mints the townscape of Hamburg.

The town's landmark is one of the greatest buildings in the baroque style in Northern Germany.
The hall of the evangelic church fits up to 2500 people and serves mostly for big religious worships and oratorios.
From March to September visitors can enjoy organ concerts in the church.

To reach the 82 m high tower platform, you can either take the 453 stairs or the elevator. Once arrived, a spectacular view over the harbour, the river Elbe, the city center and the Alster is your reward.

The tower clock is the biggest in Germany with a 24 meter perimeter of the dial and each digit over 1 meter high.

The Jungfernstieg at the Alster is the shopping and promenade street of Hamburg for a long time. In the past unsold daughters (“Jungfern”) where brought here by their family.

People from Hamburg love the shopping culture at this historic place. Big shopping houses such as the known Alsterhaus (Alster house), beautiful passages like the one of the “Hamburger Hof” and exclusive boutiques that invite officially.

Hamburgs former mayor Ole von Beust started an international contest on March 2002 looking for ideas to recreate the Jungfernstieg. Due to this and resultant widening construction the choice of restaurants is now much greater than before. The traditional cinema “Streits” also has a cozy lounge and shows selected current movies.

There is also the Alster jetty and soon U4 U-bahn stop directly at the Jungfernstieg with numerous boats. It is one place to sip coffee before starting your maritime adventure trip through the Hanseatic city Hamburg!

he Hamburg harbour, more than 800 years old, is not only the most important harbour in Germany, but also one of the biggest in the world.

It is a harbour of superlatives, a distribution point for paper, pharmaceutical materials, carpets, coffee, tea, raw chocolate, oil, coal, wheat, fertilizer and much more. It is the gate to the markets in Scandinavia, Middle and East of Europe and the rest of the world.

Due to the closeness of the North Sea it can be reached by huge container ships as well as the biggest passenger ships in the world such as the „Queen Mary 2“.

The „Landungsbrücken“ are important landing stages for ferries and excursion boats. It is almost 700 m long and was originally built for large jetties. Even today you will find impressive luxury liners now and then.

Floating on the water the 'Landungsbrücken' react flexibly towards the tide that occurs twice a day changing from high tide to low tide or vice versa.
The tower on the east side shows the water level that can vary in a range of 3 metres. Moreover the clock in the tower starts a bell every 30 minutes.

Nowadays „Landungsbrücken“ is a famous tourist attraction. You can find Souvenir shops, restaurants, the entrance to the old tunnel under the river Elbe and the ships “Rickmer Rickmers” and “Cap San Diego” that are museums nowadays. Furthermore small boats and inland waters touring ships stop here to take transharbour visitors off to famous musicals and sights in the heart of the harbour.

After 4 years of construction the tunnel was opened in 1911. It was necessary due to the rising volume of traffic. Back then it was a technical innovation, nowadays it is one of the most important monuments in Hamburg.

The tunnel consists of 2 tiled tubes each in a different direction and 426,5 meters in length. The entrance is at the Landungsbrücken.
Four large lifts transfer people and vehicles almost 24 meters down beneath the road and sidewalk. The other end of the tunnel tubes are south of the Elbe in the district “Steinwerder” Wihelmsburg.

There also the tunnel users are brought to daylight by lifts. Of course you can use the tunnel both ways. Especially at the ends of the tunnel there are magnificent domes as well as a great hall for pedestrians at the east entrance.

Tipp: Walk through the tunnel to “Steinwerder” and enjoy a great view of Hamburg harbour.

The warehouse-quarter known as

The Hafen City

is the biggest connected warehouse complex in the world. It was once for storing any kinds of goods such as coffee, tea, chocolate, spices, tobacco, rum, carpets, nuts, silk and much more.

The houses are built of especially thick walls to keep the goods inside as cold as possible. Partly the goods are also repacked, cleaned and refined or just processed.
Since 2001 the warehouse-quarter is illuminated at night – which even improves the magnificently looking district. Especially when lit up, the gothic architecture of the old red brick houses appear in a fascinating beauty. The new Elbphilharmony is also a spectacular sight in this area. A boat trip at night along the waterway passing numerous bridges is an extraordinary experience – not just for lovers.

In the warehouse-quarter you also find several attractions such as The Model Train Miniature Museum, The Hamburg Dungeon, The U-boat Museum U-434 and The Exhibition “Dialog im Dunkeln” (dialogue in the dark) to name a few. The monument conservation ensures that the beautiful warehouse-quarter has preserved its own charm.

The streets „Mönckebergstraße“ and „Spitalerstraße“ are known to almost every woman in and near Hamburg. You can buy shoes and everything that makes the shopping heart beat faster. Most shops in the city are open until 8 pm – even on Saturdays!
While shopping in the city you can also take a break in a nice café or visit one of the tourist attractions.

The Reeperbahn is the name of a street in St.Pauli and stands synonymous for the notorious red-light dictrict of Hamburg. The expression "Reep" denotes a special type of marine rope that was manufactured here.

The fast expansion of the harbour in the past decades led to the opening of numerous places of entertainment for sailors. Bars, brothels, strip bars and discos turned the street into a popular place of amusement for the lonely.

Nowadays 'the Kiez' recognized worldwide as an entertainment area for tourists and local citizens alike.

Strolling along the Reeperbahn at night you see a huge variety of people, although today you will meet few sailors. If you do there are still some "old-fashioned-sailor-bars" worth a visit. These so called "Haifischbars" (shark bars) and they still have this special ambience called "Seefahrerromantik" (seafarer romantic).

The Reeperbahn also offers numerous theaters with famous plays, such as "Mamma Mia" and has a special relationship to "The Beatles". Some say that the worldwide success of The Beatles started in Hamburg. Fact is: that they did some grandiose performances in the "Star Club" and to honour the band the "Beatles Platz" was opened in 2006.