 | Hamburg Profile |
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| Defined throughout its history by its position as a European trading power, Hamburg has never been endowed by the grandiose architectural adornments found in many other major cities. Instead, the city's imposing, if not regal, homes, ornate baroque churches and impressive commercial buildings were lived in, worshiped in and worked in by generations of energetic merchants and trade dynasty families. Make money, not war was natural for a city designated as an independent free-trade state and a member of the powerful North European Hanseatic League. | | Hamburg owes its very existence to its harbor. Occupying 40 square acres, the harbor is positioned on the Elbe River - a scant 60 miles from the North Sea. The second largest port in Europe, Hamburg's non-stop maritime hustle-and-bustle provides for a fascinating sight from the harbor's landing, St. Pauli Landungsbrucken. The inland, inner-city shores boast two very colorful neighborhoods: St. Pauli, with its entertainingly bawdy Reeperbahn and fabulous Fish/Flea Market and Altona, a once powerful port city unto itself. | | Water defines the rest of the city as well: Hamburg's twin lakes, today named the Binnenalster and Aussenalster, are a startlingly beautiful sight for a city center. These two immense but gentle lakes are surrounded by lively shopping streets, enclosed malls, luxury hotels and historic sites. Their waters are seldom empty of the small, jaunty sailboats that lend a vacation ambience to this otherwise bustling city. | |
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