Hamburg

Hamburg is Germany's second-largest city and a city-state in the north, home to one of the largest ports in Europe. Officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, it is a wealthy, cosmopolitan hub of trade, media and culture. Its maritime heritage and modern waterfront define its identity.

Hamburg lies on the Elbe River, well inland from the North Sea yet connected to it, with extensive harbours, canals and more bridges than Venice and Amsterdam combined. The terrain is flat, and the climate is temperate and maritime.

Hamburg has a refined, mercantile culture, famed for its harbour, the modern Elbphilharmonie concert hall, the historic Speicherstadt warehouse district, and the lively Reeperbahn entertainment quarter. It is a center of German media and music.

A leading member of the Hanseatic League and a free imperial city, Hamburg grew rich on maritime trade for centuries. Heavily bombed in the Second World War, it rebuilt into a prosperous port and media metropolis and a federal state of Germany.