June 28^th, 2012

Day 40: Hamburg, Germany

This morning we woke up with enough time to grab a quick breakfast of bagels and coffee before meeting in the lobby of the hostel at 10:30 to be picked up for the Sandeman’s free tour. A few tour guides met us at the Generator and then walked us over to the main meeting place near the Town Hall.

The tour today had several common themes: fires (as per usual), reconstructions, and WWII. I didn’t realize until I was on this tour today that most of Germany will not be as old as some of the other cities I’ve seen so far. Old, historic buildings were destroyed during the course of Germany’s history, and many aren’t much older than 70 or 80 years.

Our first stop was the Town Hall, where regular town/area business still occurs on a daily basis. A very large, very ornate building that dominates the main square. Also, a building that has more rooms than Buckingham Palace!

The Town Hall

The courtyard just inside the Town Hall

As we continued on with the tour, we went to many famous buildings in the history that centered around trade, commerce, and regulation of the port of Hamburg, one of the most important in the global trading spectrum. Many buildings are inspired by the nautical spirit, including this one building that was built to resemble the shape of a boat- Chilehaus!

Chilehaus

We also visited several churches throughout the city, one of which houses the oldest piece of artwork in Germany that dates back to the 1300’s-  old brass door knockers! They were salvaged from the building after it burned down and remain famous for their age.

St. Peter's church. Was once used as stables for Napoleon's horses!

Oldest piece of artwork in Germany

One of my favorite parts of the tour, I think, was when we went to visit the Church of St. Nicholas. It’s more of a shell of the church, really, since it was destroyed in WWII. They have done very little restoration work on the building though, and it now serves as a monument to remember the tragedies of war. There were also several smaller monuments inside, one of which depicts a man sitting on a pile of bricks. This sculpture is meant to symbolize the deaths of over 50,000 people who lost their lives in the nearby concentration camp and is partially made from original stones from the camp grounds.

The shell of the tower

Explanation of the statue

Destruction left by bombings

Here are some other photos from the tour stops:

The canal where the great fire started

The office building where Zyklon B was chosen as the primary chemical in the murders of Jews at Concentration Camps during WWII. The sign is quoting the company saying "Don't worry about destroying the worst of the worst; let them destroy themselves"

We ended the tour in the Speicherstadt district- the warehouse district. This is a section right along the coast where warehouses for shipping were all centralized. Major shipping activity has since moved to a different part of the harbor, but the district remains and is currently under construction to be developed into a new residential and entertainment space!

After the tour was over, Stephen and I wandered to one of the tallest points in the city- the tower in St. Michaelis church. We walked up all of the steps to get to the top and enjoyed a picture perfect panorama of the city.

Deciding it was about time for lunch, we made our way back to the Town Hall square and walked through the various food stands that were set up. Not being able to pronounce or understand any of the menus made for a difficult decision. Eventually I ended up accidentally ordering a pile of marinated mushrooms in a dark gravy of sorts with some sauerkraut. I say accidental because I tried to ask what it was and got a plate of it in return. I’m pretty sure Stephen tried to order the same thing from a different stall, but got something completely different than mine. Oh well- It was delicious, regardless, so it all worked out!

Satisfied with our meals, we made our way back to the hostel to do some planning for Amsterdam. Once that was sorted (difficult, for the rescord), we got ready to watch the match, which started at 8:45. We had a few drinks with a boisterous crowd that had gathered in the hostel bar in support of Germany. After the Italians emerged victorious against Germany, we gathered up a small group and went over to the Reeperbahn district. We found a really busy bar/club and spent some time there before we walked home.

Overall a great (though late) night!

Favorite part of the day: Getting a chance to see (and experience) Hamburg’s nightlife!