Hamburg Local Area History & Facts

 
  

A brief History of Germany & Hamburg

 

German Timeline

BC
  • 500 - Germanic tribes move into northern Germany.
  • 113 - Germanic tribes begin to fight against the Roman Empire.
  • 57 - Much of the region is conquered by Julius Caesar and the Roman Empire during the Gallic Wars.
AD
  • 476 - German Goth Odoacer becomes King of Italy signalling an end to the Western Roman Empire.
  • 509 - The King of the Franks, Chlothar I, took control of much of Germany.
  • 800 - Charlemagne is crowned the Holy Roman Emperor. He is considered the father of the German monarchy.
  • 843 - The Treaty of Verdun divides the Frankish empire into three separate regions including East Francia, which would later become the Kingdom of Germany.
  • 936 - Otto I is crowned King of Germany. The Holy Roman Empire is centered in Germany.
  • 1190 - The Teutonic Knights are formed.
  • 1250 - Emperor Frederick II dies and Germany becomes a number of independent territories.
  • 1358 - The Hanseatic League, a powerful group of merchant guilds, is established.
  • 1410 - The Teutonic Knights are defeated by the Polish at the Battle of Grunwald.
  • 1455 - Johannes Gutenberg first prints the Gutenberg Bible. His printing press will change the history of Europe.
  • 1517 - Martin Luther publishes his 95 Thesis which marks the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.
  • 1524 - German peasants revolt against the aristocracy.
  • 1618 - The Thirty Years' War begins. It is fought largely in Germany.
  • 1648 - The Thirty Years' War comes to an end with the Treaty of Westphalia and Treaty of Munster.
  • 1701 - Frederick I becomes the king of Prussia.
  • 1740 - Frederick the Great becomes king. He expands the German Empire and supports the sciences, arts, and industry.
  • 1756 - The Seven Years' War begins. Germany allies with Britain against France, Austria, and Russia. Germany and Britain win.
  • 1756 - Famous composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is born.
  • 1806 - The French Empire under Napoleon conquers much of Germany.
  • 1808 - Ludwig van Beethoven's Fifth Symphony is first performed.
  • 1812 - German writers the Brothers Grimm publish their first collection of folk tales.
  • 1813 - Napoleon is defeated at the Battle of Leipzig in Germany.
  • 1848 - German philosopher Karl Marx publishes The Communist Manifesto which would be the basis for Marxism and communism.
  • 1862 - Otto von Bismarck is elected Prime Minister of Prussia.
  • 1871 - Germany defeats France in the Franco-Prussian War. The German states are unified and the national parliament, called the Reichstag, is established.
  • 1882 - The Triple Alliance is formed between Germany, Austria, and Italy.
  • 1914 - World War I begins. Germany is part of the Central Powers with Austria and the Ottoman Empire. Germany invades France and Russia.
  • 1918 - World War I ends and Germany is defeated.
  • 1919 - The Treaty of Versailles is signed forcing Germany to pay reparations and give up territory.
  • 1933 - Adolf Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany.
  • 1934 - Hitler declares himself Fuhrer.
  • 1939 - World War II begins when Germany invades Poland. Germany is part of the Axis alliance including Germany, Italy, and Japan.
  • 1940 - Germany conquers much of Europe.
  • 1941 - Germany declares war against the United States after Pearl Harbour.
  • 1945 - World War II in Europe ends when the German army surrenders to the Allies.
  • 1948 - The Berlin Blockade occurs.
  • 1949 - Germany is split into East and West Germany.
  • 1961 - The Berlin Wall is built.
  • 1973 - East and West Germany both join the United Nations.
  • 1989 - The Berlin Wall is torn down.
  • 1990 - Germany is reunified into a single country.
  • 1991 - Berlin is named the capital of the new unified country.
  • 2002 - The Euro replaces the Deutsche Mark as the official currency.
  • 2005 - Angela Merkel is elected as the first woman Chancellor of Germany.

    Hamburg

     

    Hamburgs Medieval beginnings
    The first settlement on the grounds of modern-day Hamburg was the Hammaburg fortress, built in 825 between the Elbe and Alster rivers. It was from here that Saint Ansgar lead missions to evangelise Scandinavia. The Vikings didn’t appreciate his efforts and burned down the moated fortress in 845. It was rebuilt only to be burned down time and again in the following three centuries. Eventually, by the 12th-century trade took over missionary work and Hamburg established itself as a city of merchants.

    Hanseatic greatness
    In 1189, Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa granted Hamburg special trading rights, toll exemptions and navigation privileges. It became a Free Imperial City, a status that was the cornerstone of Hamburg’s growth and wealth in the centuries to come.


    In the 13th and 14th centuries, Hamburg was one of the key members of the Hanseatic League, a commercial and defensive alliance of market towns that dominated the Baltic and North Sea trade for three centuries. The league lost importance, with the discovery of the New World, and was dissolved in the 17th century. Yet Hamburg succeeded in dominating the new trade routes, continued to prosper and soon surpassed its former Hanseatic sister cities.

    Growth and destruction
    Over the next centuries, Hamburg continued to flourish. The city’s stock exchange was founded in 1558, the Bank of Hamburg in 1619. It was the first German city to introduce marine insurance and the first who established a convoy system to protect merchant ships on the high seas. In the 19th century, Hamburg became part of the German Empire but retained its free city status.
    But the city experienced numerous setbacks as well. In 1810, it was briefly annexed to the French Empire by Napoleon’s troops. In 1842 the Great Fire of Hamburg destroyed a third of the city and left around 20,000 people homeless. From the rubble a new modern city centre was built, followed by the grand Speicherstadt warehouse district. Prosperity lost to war and wreckage was quickly regained and trade routes now extended to the Americas, Africa, and Asia. At the turn of the twentieth century, Hamburg’s population had grown to one million.


    Also, the two world wars have left their traces in Hamburg’s history. The First World War saw the collapse of international trade, and most of Hamburg’s commercial fleet was given over to the Allies as war reparation. During the Second World War, air raids destroyed 55% of housing, 80% of the port, and 40% of the city’s industry. Over 55,000 people were killed, among them the city’s Jewish community, once the largest in Germany.

    Hamburg today
    In the postwar decades, Hamburg contributed to Germany’s economic miracle. The bustling harbour and the trade that it brings remain the backbone of the city’s wealth but Hamburg has also emerged as Germany’s hub of mass media, publishing and advertising. It’s an international, vibrant city whose past is still alive in its full name: the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg.

     

    Interesting Facts

    Hamburgs Denmark border

    The borough of Altona in the city of Hamburg was part of Denmark between 1640 and 1864, thus the border between Germany and Denmark ran through St. Pauli for almost 2 centuries. You can still see the old demarcation line in the streets today if you look closely! (below - Old Danish border in Altona).

     

    City of Most Bridges in the World

    Hamburg has more bridges than Venice, London and Amsterdam combined. The total number of bridges in the city is a slight more than 2,300 a world record.

     

    The Beatles in Hamburg

    The Beatles’ booking agent, Allan Williams, decided to send the group to Hamburg when another group he managed, proved successful there. They regularly performed at different clubs in Hamburg, during from 1960 to 1962; a chapter in the group’s history which honed their performance skills, widened their reputation, and led to their first recording, which brought them to the attention of Brian Epstein (below - The Beatles sculpture in Beatles-Platz).

     

    Hamburg has its own island in the North Sea

    The island Neuwerk close to Cuxhaven is actually part of Hamburg, even though it's situated 100km west of the city! The city of Hamburg took over the rights to Neuwerk in 1299 in order to protect the Elbe river from pirates. Since then, the island has been part of Hamburg and its lighthouse is actually the oldest building on Germany's coast.

     

    The biggest model railway in the world can be found in Hamburg

    The Miniatur Wunderland of Hamburg not only features the biggest model railway of the world but also a miniature version of pretty much the entire world! You can explore Hamburg, Italy and the Alps, Scandinavia (even Tromsø!), and the US all in one day at this miniature wonderland in the old warehouse district of Hamburg.

     

    Every ship receives a special greeting

    Downriver from Hamburg, in the town of Wedel, lies the Willkomm-Höft - a “welcome point” for ships arriving at, or leaving the port of Hamburg. Every day more than 50 ships are welcomed here by playing the national anthem of the country where the ship is registered, or bid farewell by hoisting the signal flag UW to wish departing ships bon voyage. The six welcoming captains who man the welcome point can choose from a collection of 152 national anthems and recorded greetings in the language of every seafaring country in the world.