A centre of international trade with a thriving metropolis of two million people, Hamburg’s status as a contemporary European tourist destination is well justified. 

Often overlooked by travellers who traditionally favour the more old-world European cities of the cobblestone and castle variety, the tourist trade in Germany’s second city is now on the up. This is the largest city in Europe that’s not a capital and it has the fastest growing visitor numbers in Germany - up 15% in recent years with people eager to sample an energetic, youthful and cosmopolitan new Europe.

The reunification of Germany in the early 1990s, along with the recent addition of many Baltic States to the EU, has redrawn the European map with Hamburg firmly at its centre and this Hanseatic City State has been quick to take full advantage.

No longer forced onto the peripheries and marginalised by the Iron Curtain, the buzz here is palpable; Hamburg is once again booming not only as the country’s most prominent trade centre, but also as the media capital of Germany and a world class centre of art, culture, fashion and retail.

Getting  Started
Although the city suffered major damage in the Second World War, this is still a picturesque and pleasing city. Modern buildings sit next to historic architecture from the city’s Baroque and Renaissance past which gives the city an eclectic, but harmonious feel.

Hamburg is largely dominated by water as it’s located on the convergence of three rivers (the Elbe, Alster and Bille), two huge lakes (the Binnenalster (Inner Alster) and the Außenalster (Outer Alster)) and a network of canals that rival Venice. Over 2,300 bridges – which, incidentally, is more than both Venice and Amsterdam combined! - connect the city and the 1,400 parks and gardens aptly give Hamburg the nickname of Germany’s ‘Green City’.

Getting Around
A fantastic way for anyone visiting to get an overview of the city is to take a boat ride along lovely Lake Alster and its interconnecting waterways. Many of the city’s grandest homes sit in prime waterfront locations and there are plenty to be seen - this is the wealthiest metropolitan area in Europe and home to the largest number of millionaires in the whole of Germany.

Hop-on hop-off sightseeing trips depart daily from the city’s harbour with English language tours leaving daily from Landungsbrücken. More details are available from the Hamburg Tourist Office.

Culture
The Kunsthalle, or Art Mile, is where most of Hamburg’s museums can be found and runs from the main station to Deichtorstrasse on the River Elbe. Not to be missed is the city’s most important museum, the Kunsthalle, which houses major artworks from medieval to modern periods.

The altarpiece painted by Hamburg's first known painter, Master Bertram in the 14th century for the city’s oldest church, St. Petri Church, is on display here, but if your preference is for something more modern there are also works by the Impressionists Monet, Renoir and Manet.

The adjacent Galerie der Gegenwart is home to a more contemporary collection and equally worth a visit. Other museums lining the street include The Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, hosting a diverse collection with just about everything covered from the ancient world to Art Nouveau and Modernism, and the Bucerius Kunst Forum which has many excellent temporary exhibitions.

Hamburg’s State Opera is another highlight and one of Europe’s leading opera houses, as well as a stunning example of modern German architecture. The venue is also home to the Hamburg Ballet, a company well worth seeing.

Considering Hamburg’s reputation of something of a sexopolis, thanks to the largest red light district in Europe, a visit to Hamburg would not be complete without a visit to The Erotic Museum on Norbistor Street. The museum houses a provocative collection of displays and exhibitions but far from being sordid it takes a rather studious approach (how very German) to the whole  business of sex.

Sightseeing: Old Town
The city’s centre and old town is only a short walk from the north bank of the Elbe and contains some of the most important sites of interest. Sweeping views of the city can be enjoyed from the tower of the Baroque St Michaelis Church. Dating from the 17th century, the church survives thanks to several rebuilding programmes following fire and flood which also saved the city’s oldest church, the 12th century St Petri, located in the city's main shopping area, the Mönckebergstraße.

Nearby the neo-Renaissance Rathaus is one of the most iconic buildings in the whole of Hamburg, thanks perhaps to the ornate style of the building - quite a rarity in the city. The 45 minute tour is a worthwhile way to spend a while viewing the opulent halls, interior and the statue of Germany’s former Kaiser.

Red Light Reeperbahn
Probably the most famous and notorious street in Hamburg is the city’s seedy, anything-goes Reeperbahn, which is central to the red light district. Wonderfully unsavoury, this tangle of streets in the bohemian St Pauli district is nonetheless safe and definitely interesting packing more sleaze into a few small streets than most entire city’s do.

Prostitution is regulated but that isn’t all that’s on offer. Sex shows and sex shops have everything - and we do mean everything - that you could possibly imagine.

The gated Herbertstrasse is a men only zone and is home to the more upscale side of the business while if you venture closer to the river, especially later in the evenings, expect to get propositioned whether you want to or not.

Like any good red light district the Reeperbahn is also home to a number of gay venues including bars and hotels which have there own rent boys - so be careful who you buy a drink for! If this isn’t your kind of scene there are also upscale bars, clubs and sex shops which are located on the Talstrasse block, just off Reeperbahn itself.

The Green City
Hamburg is a city of wonderful parks and the Tierpark, home to the city’s zoo and botanical gardens, is an oasis of green in the very centre of the city. The zoo is famous for its large open panoramas thanks to the enclosures which were the first to be moated, instead of fencing animals inside their exhibits. This gives the zoo a real open feeling and makes for a pleasant place to visit at any time of the year.

The zoo has been successful in the breeding of endangered species and is home to orangutans, Asian elephants, tigers and giant otters from South America amongst other animals. There’s also a large aquarium.

Connected by a mini-railroad the Grosse and Kleine Wallanlagen parks, the Planten un Blomen flower garden, and the Alter Botanischer Garten form a quartet of meticulously well kept public spaces. Particularly beautiful is the Planten un Blomen Japanese garden and lake, the largest of its kind in Europe.

Gay Life
The two districts of the Reeperbahn and St Georg are where all the gay life takes place and both have a varied and diverse number of venues. Hamburgers (yes, that’s what they’re called, but we did resist until now) are true connoisseurs of café culture and this is where the pre-nightlife can be enjoyed over some coffee and pastries.

When night falls the city is well equipped to cater to the well heeled and stylish locals with a large number of bars and clubs along the Talstrasse block in the Reeperbahn and on the Lange Reihe in St Georg, which is also where the leather scene is located.

Ladies should head for the Ballissima annual autumn ball (mid-November) or the gay lesbian dance courses at the Magnus Hirschfeld Centre (named after the famous sexologist and gay right’s lawyer), where there’s never a dull moment.

As well as nightlife the city also has plentiful shopping venues for gay tourists with gay bookstores, fetish and leather shops as well as hotels, rent boy bars, saunas and sex clubs.

The Baroque church of St. Georg in the district of the same name also serves as a cruising area and as an unofficial AIDS memorial with the names of victims of the virus engraved in the stone walls of the churches courtyard.


Find out all the latest gay travel information by ordering the 2008 Spartacus International Gay Guide. Get it online and save some money to put towards the other Bruno Gmunder guides - Hotel and Restaurant Guide and Sauna Guide.