Hamburg, Germany Part 2: Sight-Seeing
On Friday morning I awoke earlier than I expected to and embarked on the day’s journey. Meggan, one of the American ex-pats I had met at the concert, had the day off from work and offered to show me around for a few hours, so I was to meet her at the train station (Hoptbahnhof) at noon. After shelling out for cabs to expedite my travel the night before, I resolved to walk as much as possible for the rest of the trip. The university area was only about a couple miles from the station and took around half an hour to walk to, so no big deal. I left around 10am, giving me some extra time to meander around before the meeting time.
Along my way I noticed a lot of things that I would have never expected to see in Germany, many of them evidence of rampant Americanization.
Proof that every major city has a street named after Martin Luther King:
In case you were wondering, Germany doesn’t have a West Coast:
JFK said he was a Berliner, right? Not Hamburgean (or Hamburgleran, or whatever)?:
Nothing like real American BBQ in a European city known for its seafood:
The most distressing sight of all and potential sign of the apocalypse:
Then there was this at the airport, which I’d seen in a magazine, but was pretty cool in person:
So anyway, I met up with Meggan and she showed me some of the touristy highlights of the city. It was pretty overcast (as you can see below), but I guess that’s pretty common (as is wind and rain), and the temperatures weren’t too bad (low-mid 40s).
We went through the shopping district to the Rathaus or city hall which is a nice-looking building.
From there we walked over to the lake (pigeon ladies know no geographic boundaries) for lunch.
We ate a cafe/restaurant called “Alex” offering a view of the lake. I had a really good schnitzel with hollandaise sauce for a very reasonable price.
Following the meal, we went through Alt Hamburg (the old town) including the Kramer widow houses which were built for widows in the 17th century but have now been rehabbed and are home to arts and craft shops. From there, we made our way down to the harbor, along the way passing these offices that remind me a lot of the architecture for the Steger Student Life Center at UC.
The harbor was a pretty neat area, with several little shops and restaurants lining the walkways.
And of course, when you see a giant rudder along the waterfront, you pretty much have to climb it.
Next, we headed past the St Nikolai Memorial, site of a church (the 4th largest in the world) that was bombed out during the war with the steeple still remaining. It was a haunting, yet strangely arresting locale.
One of several statues on the grounds
This statue, titled “The Ordeal” reflects on the legacy of the concentration camps. Is accompanied by this quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer: “No man in the whole world can change the truth. One can only look for the truth, find it and serve it. The truth is in all places.”
Next we headed to the Hamburger Kunsthalle, the city’s art museum. There were some interesting pieces, but on the whole, I was a little disappointed, especially after the number of excellent works at Zurich’s. After stopping for coffee, Meggan had to leave for a meeting, so we parted ways. It was cool to have a tour guide who spoke my language and probably saved me a lot of time for not having to refer to maps or get lost. I headed back to the train station to grab a burrito at the food court (hooray Mexican!) before beginning my trek home.
Since it was only around 7pm at this point and I’d been on my feet the whole day, I figured I’d go see a movie. Fortunately a theater fairly close to where I was staying shows some original language films so I took in Dreamgirls since it was one of the few I hadn’t seen and was vaguely interested in. I enjoyed the movie and found the performances very enjoyable, though I have to say that it probably wouldn’t make it into my top 10 of 2006.
On Saturday I got up early to go for a run along the lake. The city has really great bike routes and running trails and it was a good place to go. After returning and showering, I had breakfast with a couple of the friars and then embarked on more sight-seeing.
I headed down towards the Reeperbahn, the world’s second most famous red-light district after Amsterdam.
While I wouldn’t necessarily call it family-friendly, it’s pretty main-stream and not too seedy. Kind of like if they’t cleaned up Times Square but left the strip clubs and porn shops. It’s also slightly strange, because amongst all this stuff you have the theater where Mama Mia! is being performed and a large outdoor stage that I assume hosts concerts in the summer. The juxtaposition between “traditional” businesses and less-reputible ones was amusing (see photo), though it was slightly depressing when you think about how many women must be employed in these establishments to keep them afloat, and how many patrons they all must have as well.
This was really close to the same area the concert had been on Thursday and here’s what that sidestreet, Große Freheit, looks like at night:
I continued my walk through the St Pauli area of town (not affiliated with the beer, which comes from a different part of the country) and happened upon the Bismark Memorial looming through the trees. It’s a statue honoring Otto von Bismarck, the first chancellor of the german empire.
The skies were actually much clearer Saturday, with even some sun breaking through as I neared St Michaelis Church, which is basically the symbol of Hamburg.
Outside was a statue of Martin Luther which reminds me a lot of a hobbit.
And above the main doors is a stunning depiction of Michael’s triumph over the devil:
I continued on, towards the train station again, and wandered around some of the bridges and canals—apparently Hamburg has more of them than Venice.
I also happened upon the Port Authority which has some pretty neat buildings.
I neared the shopping district and browsed around some of the stores, finding a scarf for 2 Euro and a tie for 3. Hooray for deals! Then I grabbed a sausage at one of the many nearby stands and made my way to the Museum für Kunst and Gewerbe (or Art and Design).
Unfortunately, I didn’t take any pictures at the museum because they charged 4 Euro for a “photopass”—not that bad, but I opted to buy a poster instead. Regardless, the museum was amazing. In addition to traditional art, they have collections of musical instruments (including an amazing amount of early harpsichords and pianos), porcelain, posters, a wing devoted to Art Noveau, a room devoted to Bauhaus and the New Style (with a collection of chairs just slightly more impressive than Gordon’s house), a room on the Deutscher Werkbund, a hall of contemporary industrial design, and more. It was pretty much like my sophomore History of Modern Design course come to brilliant life. Even with construction on the building causing a few of the areas to be closed (including to my chagrin Photography, Islamic art, and Italian Design), I loved the place. The special exhibitions were equally exciting, including a spectacular collection of photographs from Thomas Hoepker. The following prints were all included (these are taken from the website of his studio, Magnum Photos).
After spending several hours taking everything in, I headed outside (where clouds and rain had reclaimed the skies) and began the journey back to my room to pack up for the flight.
I took a shuttle bus to the airport and made my flight without any problems, returning to Geneva around 9:15 in the evening. For only a 2-day trip I think I got to see quite a bit and had an amazing time. You never know what to expect when venturing into the unknown, but thanks to the kindness of strangers I enjoyed everything about the city and my time there.
Along my way I noticed a lot of things that I would have never expected to see in Germany, many of them evidence of rampant Americanization.
Proof that every major city has a street named after Martin Luther King:
In case you were wondering, Germany doesn’t have a West Coast:
JFK said he was a Berliner, right? Not Hamburgean (or Hamburgleran, or whatever)?:
Nothing like real American BBQ in a European city known for its seafood:
The most distressing sight of all and potential sign of the apocalypse:
Then there was this at the airport, which I’d seen in a magazine, but was pretty cool in person:
So anyway, I met up with Meggan and she showed me some of the touristy highlights of the city. It was pretty overcast (as you can see below), but I guess that’s pretty common (as is wind and rain), and the temperatures weren’t too bad (low-mid 40s).
We went through the shopping district to the Rathaus or city hall which is a nice-looking building.
From there we walked over to the lake (pigeon ladies know no geographic boundaries) for lunch.
We ate a cafe/restaurant called “Alex” offering a view of the lake. I had a really good schnitzel with hollandaise sauce for a very reasonable price.
Following the meal, we went through Alt Hamburg (the old town) including the Kramer widow houses which were built for widows in the 17th century but have now been rehabbed and are home to arts and craft shops. From there, we made our way down to the harbor, along the way passing these offices that remind me a lot of the architecture for the Steger Student Life Center at UC.
The harbor was a pretty neat area, with several little shops and restaurants lining the walkways.
And of course, when you see a giant rudder along the waterfront, you pretty much have to climb it.
Next, we headed past the St Nikolai Memorial, site of a church (the 4th largest in the world) that was bombed out during the war with the steeple still remaining. It was a haunting, yet strangely arresting locale.
One of several statues on the grounds
This statue, titled “The Ordeal” reflects on the legacy of the concentration camps. Is accompanied by this quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer: “No man in the whole world can change the truth. One can only look for the truth, find it and serve it. The truth is in all places.”
Next we headed to the Hamburger Kunsthalle, the city’s art museum. There were some interesting pieces, but on the whole, I was a little disappointed, especially after the number of excellent works at Zurich’s. After stopping for coffee, Meggan had to leave for a meeting, so we parted ways. It was cool to have a tour guide who spoke my language and probably saved me a lot of time for not having to refer to maps or get lost. I headed back to the train station to grab a burrito at the food court (hooray Mexican!) before beginning my trek home.
Since it was only around 7pm at this point and I’d been on my feet the whole day, I figured I’d go see a movie. Fortunately a theater fairly close to where I was staying shows some original language films so I took in Dreamgirls since it was one of the few I hadn’t seen and was vaguely interested in. I enjoyed the movie and found the performances very enjoyable, though I have to say that it probably wouldn’t make it into my top 10 of 2006.
On Saturday I got up early to go for a run along the lake. The city has really great bike routes and running trails and it was a good place to go. After returning and showering, I had breakfast with a couple of the friars and then embarked on more sight-seeing.
I headed down towards the Reeperbahn, the world’s second most famous red-light district after Amsterdam.
While I wouldn’t necessarily call it family-friendly, it’s pretty main-stream and not too seedy. Kind of like if they’t cleaned up Times Square but left the strip clubs and porn shops. It’s also slightly strange, because amongst all this stuff you have the theater where Mama Mia! is being performed and a large outdoor stage that I assume hosts concerts in the summer. The juxtaposition between “traditional” businesses and less-reputible ones was amusing (see photo), though it was slightly depressing when you think about how many women must be employed in these establishments to keep them afloat, and how many patrons they all must have as well.
This was really close to the same area the concert had been on Thursday and here’s what that sidestreet, Große Freheit, looks like at night:
I continued my walk through the St Pauli area of town (not affiliated with the beer, which comes from a different part of the country) and happened upon the Bismark Memorial looming through the trees. It’s a statue honoring Otto von Bismarck, the first chancellor of the german empire.
The skies were actually much clearer Saturday, with even some sun breaking through as I neared St Michaelis Church, which is basically the symbol of Hamburg.
Outside was a statue of Martin Luther which reminds me a lot of a hobbit.
And above the main doors is a stunning depiction of Michael’s triumph over the devil:
I continued on, towards the train station again, and wandered around some of the bridges and canals—apparently Hamburg has more of them than Venice.
I also happened upon the Port Authority which has some pretty neat buildings.
I neared the shopping district and browsed around some of the stores, finding a scarf for 2 Euro and a tie for 3. Hooray for deals! Then I grabbed a sausage at one of the many nearby stands and made my way to the Museum für Kunst and Gewerbe (or Art and Design).
Unfortunately, I didn’t take any pictures at the museum because they charged 4 Euro for a “photopass”—not that bad, but I opted to buy a poster instead. Regardless, the museum was amazing. In addition to traditional art, they have collections of musical instruments (including an amazing amount of early harpsichords and pianos), porcelain, posters, a wing devoted to Art Noveau, a room devoted to Bauhaus and the New Style (with a collection of chairs just slightly more impressive than Gordon’s house), a room on the Deutscher Werkbund, a hall of contemporary industrial design, and more. It was pretty much like my sophomore History of Modern Design course come to brilliant life. Even with construction on the building causing a few of the areas to be closed (including to my chagrin Photography, Islamic art, and Italian Design), I loved the place. The special exhibitions were equally exciting, including a spectacular collection of photographs from Thomas Hoepker. The following prints were all included (these are taken from the website of his studio, Magnum Photos).
After spending several hours taking everything in, I headed outside (where clouds and rain had reclaimed the skies) and began the journey back to my room to pack up for the flight.
I took a shuttle bus to the airport and made my flight without any problems, returning to Geneva around 9:15 in the evening. For only a 2-day trip I think I got to see quite a bit and had an amazing time. You never know what to expect when venturing into the unknown, but thanks to the kindness of strangers I enjoyed everything about the city and my time there.
posted by Aaron at 10:54 AM
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