No trip to Hamburg would be complete without taking a cruise
on the Elbe River. Like Venice, Hamburg is a city of islands, and the best way
to see them is from the water.
Take the S-Bahn to Landungsbrüken, the St. Pauli Piers. This
is a 700 m (almost half-a-mile) long floating pier that is home to many
ferries, water taxis and several companies that offer tours along the
Elbe. All of the companies offer both
one and two-hour tours. I strongly recommend the two-hour tour, and I will
explain why later on. Before you buy you ticket check carefully as to the
language of the tour. Many of the tours are only in German, and even from the companies
that offer it tours in other languages on some boats. I ended up on a German
only tour. While I missed information about what I was seeing, I also avoided
having to suffer the “guide humor” that seemed to be plentiful, judging from my
fellow travelers.
The tour starts with a trip down the canals, through the Speicherstadt
neighborhood.
The name translates as “City of Warehouses.” Speicherstadt is
a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is the largest district made of warehouses,
whose buildings are supported by wooden piles, in the world. It was built as a
tariff free zone, where goods could be brought into Germany without being
taxed, a situation that dates back to Hamburg’s status as a Free Imperial City
under the Holy Roman Empire. The buildings were constructed in the 1880’s in a
neo-gothic style, with red brick facades, and supported by oak log piles. They
extend down to the water level to allow the transfer of cargo that were brought
in by barges from the ships docked nearby.
Speicherstadt is part of the larger Hafencity area. Grasbrook Island, which makes up
most of Hafencity, was an area of piers and shipping from the 1800’s through
World
War II. During the post war era, as shipping changed to mainly container
cargo, the piers in Hafencity were no longer needed. In 2001 the city of
Hamburg began a major urban redevelopment project. They tore down the docks and
warehouses on Grasbrook Island. In their place, modern apartment and office
buildings are going up. The center piece is the Elbphiloharmonie, instead of
tearing down a warehouse, they built a new structure above it creating a
concert hall and apartments that comprise the tallest occupied building in
Hamburg.
The Lighthouse |
The Elbphiloharmonie |
After exploring the canals, the tour than heads out onto the
Elbe. Sailing west, we pass the Fischmarkt Hamburg-Altona. The fish market
began here in the early 1700’s in what was then the town of Altona. Over the
years Altona was incorporated into Hamburg, and in the 1880’s a permanent structure
was built for the market. While the daily sale and auction of fish has to a
nearby modern building, Every Sunday they return to this spot for a public sale
that has now grown to include vendors of fruit, prepared food and other goods.
The Fischmarkt |
The St. Pauli Piers |
The tour continues west on the Elbe, sailing past several
museums, theaters and even a beach, all along the north shore of the river. We
have now arrived at the difference between the longer and shorter tours. If you
take the one-hour tour, the boat will turn around here and return to the St.
Pauli Piers. Here the two-hour tour turns south down a canal. While the tour
guide has been focusing on the sights along the north shore of the Elbe, the
south shore has been ignored. You might think that is because there is
nothing much to see there just the industrial Port of
Hamburg. But now, that is where our tour is heading. As the boat leaves the
Elbe behind, we are quickly surrounded by the giants of the sea. The container
ships being loaded and unloaded tower over our vessel, as we zip between them,
like a minnow among the whales. You can see the cranes, whose operators seem to
defy physics, smoothly moving containers. We pass through a lock into another
canal, where there are more freighters, along with repair docks. As we leave
this canal we pass the floating dry dock, where boats have been lifted out of
the water to undergo maintenance and repairs. Once again, the size of these
ships is amazing.
After our tour, we walk past the west end of the pier, to a
freestanding round building. It looks kind of inconsequential, but it within is
the entrance to one of Hamburg’s most interesting engineering feats – the St.
Pauli Elbtunel. This pedestrian and auto tunnel under the river was built in
1911. It is 24 m (75 ft) below the surface and comprises 2 tubes that connect
downtown Hamburg to the shipyards on the south side of the river. What makes
this tunnel unique, is that access is by elevator. Four large lifts at each end
carry cars, bikers and pedestrians down to the tunnel, and back up again. Each
tube also has two walkways making it one of the few tunnels that I have seen
where people can walk along next to the cars passing through.
Getting There:
The St. Pauli Pier is at the Landungsbrücken stop on the S1,
S2 and S3 subways. There are many tour companies, their ticket booths are along
the levee next to the river. Most of the two-hour tours cost about €20.
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