Since its days as a member of the German Hanseatic League of trading cities, Hamburg has been a major port of northern Europe. (Library of Congress)
The largest port city in Germany, founded in 825 C.E.
In 825, the castle of Hammaburg was constructed between the Alster and Elbe Rivers. After the Archbishop Ansgar began using the castle as a base from which to convert the barbarian Germanic tribes, the importance of the city increased, but it was not until the founding of Lübeck on the coast of the Baltic Sea that Hamburg emerged as an important port city. In 1189, Emperor Frederick I (Barbarossa) issued a charter to the merchants of Hamburg to build a new town beside the former city and extended the right of toll exemptions from the Elbe River to the North Sea, navigational privileges, and special trading rights. Hamburg developed into Germany’s largest port city after the founding of the Hanseatic League in Lübeck in 1321. After the decline of the Hanseatic League, the city of Hamburg was declared a free imperial city (1510), established its own stock exchange (1558), founded the Bank of Hamburg (1619), and devised a protective convoy system for its ships (1662). During the Napoleonic Wars, Hamburg fell under French control.
Since its days as a member of the German Hanseatic League of trading cities, Hamburg has been a major port of northern Europe. (Library of Congress)
In 1819, the city once again became a free and independent town. Shipping began from Hamburg to Australia and across the Atlantic Ocean during the mid-1800s. By 1912, the city had become the most important port in Europe, and second only to London and New York in the world. Just before World War I, the harbor area was expanded with the construction of the oil harbor, the Walterhofer harbor, the park harbor, the Maakwerder harbor, and the Ruegenberger harbor. During both world wars, the city sustained heavy losses. After World War II, more than 50 percent of the city’s facilities and 80 percent of the harbor had been destroyed and would not be rebuilt for another twenty years or more.
During the period of the Hanseatic League, the city of Hamburg was a transshipment site for products such as grain, cloth, fur, herring, spices, timber, and metals. Its primary export was beer. By the nineteenth century, Hamburg had also become a storage area for products shipped into Europe such as coffee, cocoa, spices, and carpets. After the reconstruction of the harbors and facilities following World War II, Hamburg attracted many foreign firms. By the beginning of the twenty-first century, more than 185 Chinese and 135 Japanese firms had established offices in the city. Today more than 3,000 import-export companies operate in Germany’s second-largest city. Each year more than 12,000 ships depart from the harbor to all points around the world. Hamburg continues to be a banking center for northern Europe as well as one of the country’s largest insurance centers. Besides the port, Hamburg is also home to many service industries, famous entertainment districts, and opera houses. Although more than 3 million people live in the city, more than 40 percent of the land is reserved for nature parks or landscape reserves.
Cynthia Clark Northrup
See also: German Empires; Hanseatic League.
Raff, Diether. A History of Germany: From the Medieval Empire to the Present, trans. Bruce Little. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1988.
Tuck, Eleanor L. The History of Germany. Westport: Green-wood, 1999.