We walked the Promenade Deck after brunch and took a few pics …
We’re being refueled on Port side and restocked on the Starboard side.
Dozens of tour-boats plying the harbor on the 1st day of the Bavarian holiday Oktoberfest! 🍺 Today’s specialties will, no doubt, be German foods.
About 60% of the harbor was reduced to rubble by the end of WWII.
I can well imagine Hamburg in the old days with wooden tall ships.
Our tour (bus) group was pretty good today. Much of Hamburg is a mix of 12th Century and 1960’s construction. WWII reduced Germany to rubble in several cities but none worse than the Port of Hamburg.
A few random photos …
The uptown shopping district was pricey … we only had 30 minutes!
This 12th Century building survived the bombing whereas the buildings either side were reduced to rubble. Most of the dock workers were killed, their homes destroyed and never rebuilt. In the years following, the widows of the dock workers were left penniless and eventually the government was forced to help them. So the widows were allowed to live out their lives in that very building.
This alleyway was their “garden” area. 😳 Our guide said Germany was destroyed until the 1960’s when immigrants from Turkey and Italy poured in to work.
St. Michael’s church, is one of Hamburg‘s five Lutheran churches, and one of the most famous known for its Baroque Hanseatic features.
It was quite beautiful, but we didn’t have much time to visit.
From a river to 2 lakes, this area shaped the face of central Hamburg. It’s called the outer Alstet and the inner Alster. This area was dugout and a lake created in the 12th century. Originally one lake, it was divided into two by the addition of a bridge. There were many sailboats and paddle boards out on this sunny Saturday.
Oktoberfest began today! Our guide explained that Oktoberfest is really a Bavarian traditional holiday. The Germans only adopted it after the Americans began to celebrate it, and it was featured in so many films.
The Philharmonic opera house is built on top of an old canal-front warehouse. The raised walkway that you see in the photo is common along waterfront areas as the river Elbe backs up and floods the harbour area during times of a north wind at high tide. All the store fronts and the harbor area have waterproof front doors! Hamburgers 80 km down the river from the north Sea, and yet the water backs up with a north wind.
This 12th Century relic was not repaired and left to remind the people of the devastation of war. Oddly enough, the front of the building is intact, but the back of it was blown off.
The port area has its seedy parts as most do. The wealthy citizens prefer to live in the older traditional neighborhoods. Those that moved into Germany in the 1960’s tended to settle in the newer areas. This is where the quality ethnic restaurants are located.
With the miles of canals and reasonably mild climate, you’d think the waterfront areas would look like Ft. Lauderdale or Venice. 🤷♀️
Ta ta Hamburg … we’re glad to have visited.
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