Hi Everyone
Today we are still docked in Hamburg, we decided not leave the ship as we wouldn't have enough time to walk into town. Instead of telling you what I ate on the ship, I've dug out some old photos of Hamburg to show you the rest of the city and sites.
Elbphilharmonie Hamburg
Fun fact - the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg weighs roughly 200,000 tons which is equal to approximately 2.5 of the Queen Mary cruise ship.
In my previous post I said that Elbphilharmonie Hamburg has the most beautiful views off it's plaza, you can see the plaza in the photo above and you'll also notice that the windows are shaped like a tuning fork. The Grand Hall doesn't start at ground level it actually starts at an altitude of 51 metres making it the highest location than any other concert hall in the world. Also, the longest organ pipe is as big as a 10 metre diving platform and the smallest pipe in no bigger than 11mm. The building has a total of 4000 rooms but only 500 belong to the concert hall and some of the other rooms are part of The Westin hotel which sits above the hall.
The first escalator is known as The Tube and it is the world’s longest curved escalator and is used to get to the Plaza, the viewing platform. The escalator is around 82 metres long, takes about 2.5 minutes to travel on and takes people up to the height of 37 metres.
Once you're at the top of the escalator, you get to see the 360 degree views of Hamburg and they are absolutely breathtaking. It costs 3 euros to gain access to the Plaza, you have to prebook tickets as they control the amount of number of people on the Plaza. On one side of the Plaza there are views of the port area and on the other is looking at the Warehouse District.
Speicherstadt (Warehouse District)
This area is situated right next to the Elbphilharmonie Concert Hall, you could even say that it's situated in the warehouse district. Hamburg's Warehouse District is one of the most impressive warehouse districts in the world where the buildings stand on timber-pile foundations and it's a must see area of Hamburg. This site is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The warehouses were built directly into the Elbe waterway, allowing for waterside access and easy ship unloading and loading. Waterways between the buildings act as canals. It's a clever system that they have built, it's pretty ingenius. The warehouse's facades are Neo-Gothic and feature red brick with towers, alcoves, and ornaments.
Hamburger Rathaus (Hamburg City Hall)
The old city hall was destroyed in 1842, and the new city hall didn't open until 1897. The new city hall was built to show Hamburg's immense wealth and prosperity and this is where the seat of Hamburg's parliament, mayor, and senate. Heads of State. The building's facade has 20 statues of emperors dotted around which is a cool aspect of the city hall. We didn't spend too much time at the city hall but you can tell there's a lot to see even just from the outside.
St. Peter's Church
There are several churches in Hamburg and St. Peter's Church is one of them. St. Peter's Church was heavily damaged in the Great Fire of 1842 but it was rebuilt, hence why it looks very clean and I would say even has a slight modern feel, the 132 metre tall tower wasn't completed until 1878. You can also climb up the tower but it'll take 544 steps to get to the viewing platform within the church which is the highest viewing platform in the city. The inside of the church was very dull, the windows didn't let in a lot of light and it gave the church its gothic feel.
St Micheal's Church
This is another church located in Hamburg and it is the most important baroque church in northern Germany. Baroque is a term in regards to architecture and is used to describe a style that is extravagent by using the gold colour. This is the most famous church in Hamburg and is another landmark of the city. It's safe to say that, in my opinion, this is the most beautiful church I have visited so far, the beautiful white and gold contrast as well as the beautiful organ situated at the entrance.
Church of St. Nicolas
Once again, another church, but the last church of this blog (Hamburg has 5 churches in total) and this church was one of the first buildings to burn in Hamburg's 1842 Great Fire. After the fire, the church was rebuilt in Neo-Gothic style and from the years of 1874 to 1876, the rebuilt 147-metre tower was the tallest building in the world. This building was affected by the WWII bombs which weakened this church's structure so instead of trying to strengthen the structure they decided to demolish the church, hence why the church doesn't look much like a church. The only parts of the church that remains is the crypt and the tower.
Hamburg Hauptbahnhof
Hamburg Hauptbahnhof, is the name of Hamburg's central railway station, but it has an impressive hall which has eateries and shops, it's also a quick walk from the city centre. When we visited we were so impressed with how much there was to see in this train station. It wasn't like London Paddington where it was mainly the train lines with a few quick food shops, it had all sorts of eateries on both ends of the station. It was a very noisy place to look around as you can imagine. Hamburg's main station is the most frequented passenger railway station in Germany. According to Google, around 720 local and national trains roll in and out of Hamburg's main traffic hub and to this present day this station is Germany's largest unsupported station hall.
We are now sailing from Hamburg, Germany to Amsterdam, Netherlands which we will be exploring the city, as we are not docked far from the centre.
Until next time, stay tuned.