Hamburg

1
Hamburg

• Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg

2
Geography

• Hamburg is the second largest city in Germany
• The most populous non-capital city in the EU
• Has a population of about 1.8 Million inhabitants

• Coat of arms of Hamburg

3
History

• The city takes its name from the first permanent
  building on the site, a castle.The castle was
  named Hammaburg, where burg means castle.
• In 1529, the city embraced Lutheranism, and
  Hamburg subsequently received protestant refugees
  from the Netherlands and France
• Hamburg had several great fires, the most notable
  ones in 1284 and 1842. In 1842, about a quarter
  of the inner city was destroyed in the "Great
  Fire". This fire started on the night of the 4
  May 1842 and was extinguished on May 8. It
  destroyed three churches, the town hall, and many
  other buildings, killed 51 people, and left an
  estimated 20,000 homeless. Reconstruction took
  more than 40 years.
• During World War II Hamburg suffered a series of
  air raids, which killed 42,000 civilians.
• The charter, along with Hamburg's proximity to
  the main trade routes of the North Sea and Baltic
  Sea, quickly made it a major port in Northern
  Europe. Its trade alliance with Lübeck in 1241
  marks the origin and core of the powerful
  Hanseatic League of trading cities.

4
Industry/ Economy

• Major transportation hub in northern Germany
• Media and industrial center
• In total there are more than 120,000 enterprises.
  Other important industries are media businesses
  with over 70,000 employees. (Axel Springer AG,
  Der Spiegel, Die Zeit, Gruner Jahn)
• Hamburg's license plate prefix is HH (Hansestadt
  Hamburg, English Hanseatic city of Hamburg)
• Electricity for Hamburg and Northern Germany is
  provided by Vattenfall Europe, who also own some
  nuclear plants around Hamburg (all of which are
  sheduled to be taken out of service)

5
Culture

• Hamburg offers more than 40 theatres, 60 museums
  and 100 music venues and clubs
• The state-owned Deutsches Schauspielhaus, the
  Thalia Theater, and the Kampnagel are well-known
  theatres in Germany and abroad. The English
  Theatre near U2 Mundsburg station was established
  in 1976 and is the oldest professional english
  speaking theatre in Germany having exclusively
  English native speaking actors in its staff.
• Art Gallery and Gallery of Contemporary Arts is
  located near central station. In 2008 the
  Internationales Maritimes Museum Hamburg opened
  in the HafenCity quarter. Miniatur Wunderland
  (Miniature Wonderland) shows various model trains
  in action and in a fascinating artificial
  landscape.
• The Hamburg State Opera is one of the leading
  German opera houses. Its orchestra is the
  Philharmoniker Hamburg.

6
Theaters

• Since the German premiere of Cats in 1985 there
  are always a number of musicals being played in
  the city. Among them have been Phantom of the
  Opera, The Lion King or Dirty Dancing (before
  there was Dance of the Vampires). This density,
  which is the highest in Germany, is partly due to
  Germany's major musical production company Stage
  Entertainment being located in Hamburg. One of
  the musical theatres is a large tent in the
  harbour, guests either arrive by boat or through
  the historic Old Elbe Tunnel.

7
Twin towns sister cities
Overall, Hamburg is partnered with 8 cities all
around the world.

• Chicago, United States, since 1994
• Dresden, Germany (then East Germany), since 1987
• León, Nicaragua, since 1989
• Marseille, France, since 1958
• Osaka, Japan, since 1989
• Prague, Czech Republic, since 1990
• St. Petersburg, Russia, then Soviet Union, since
  1957
• Shanghai, People's Republic of China, since 1986