GO HAMBURG:From its history as a jumping-off point for emigrants to its status as Germany's biggest port, Hamburg is consumed by all things maritime, writes
GODFREY FITZSIMONS
WHAT HAPPENED to the ships? My startled question was in reference to the big, smoke-blackened model square-riggers that once hung on stout chains from the ceiling of the Ratsweinkeller, the restaurant in the vaults of Hamburg’s town hall. Not only that, but in my prolonged absence the Ratsweinkeller had transmuted into the Parlament restaurant.
What happened to the ships? “Security thought they were dangerous,” said my lady greeter. “So they were taken down.”
“They were dangerous for 100 years,” I riposted with some asperity. That shook her. I think.
But not even the foundering of the Ratsweinkeller fleet can detract from the sea-girt ambiance that pervades Hamburg in every corner. One afternoon I rode the S-Bahn train to Veddel, in the southeast of the city, to visit BallinStadt, Port of Dreams. BallinStadt is the new museum of the emigration experience, when Hamburg was one end of the nexus of which Ellis Island was the other.
Albert Ballin, in whose honour the centre is named, was general director of the Hamburg-Amerika line, and early in the last century he built this extensive facility on what were then the fringes of the metropolis.
Here the tens of thousands, fleeing poverty or persecution, were quarantined for up to 14 days, to prevent them exporting illnesses like typhoid. They slept in dormitories, ate in refectories, were treated in a hospital and worshipped in a Catholic or Protestant church, or a synagogue, until the time came for their ship to sail for the New World.
BallinStadt tells their story in an instructive and moving exhibit chronicling the experiences of the tens of thousands for whom Hamburg was the jumping-off point in the quest for a better life on the other side of the Atlantic. Equipped as it is with the latest in audiovisual technology, including a computerised database, here today’s North Americans come to research their old- country ancestors from the passenger lists of nearly a century.
WHEN IT CAME to ocean-linked heritage and history, the contrast that evening could hardly have been greater. I sat in the ClassiC restaurant of the Maritim Reichshof Hotel, which is a precise replica of the first-class dining room of the 1930s transatlantic luxury liner Cap Polonio, replete with 18-branch chandeliers, Portoro marble pilasters and sumptuous wood panelling. Sitting there, you could imagine yourself an international plutocrat or a Hollywood star returning from Europe after a successful tour.
And there it is again, that echo of the deep, in the Hotel Hafen Hamburg, my favourite gaff in the city. I won’t stay if they want to put me in the modern extension, which is the resort of thrusting young executives with laptops and ulcers. I want a room in the Stammhaus, the original building, which was founded in 1858 as a seamen’s home.
To it the Jack Tars, shouldering their sea-bags, would toil up the steep flight of steps from the jetties of the Landungsbrücken below on the Elbe shore. Now it’s a comfortable hostelry with marine artefacts and paintings decorating the hallways and staircases.
From those jetties below the hotel the harbour tours now depart, and the visitor has plenty of choice, be it sleek catamaran or (fake) Mississippi paddle-steamer. Among the best is the Maritime Circle Line, an all-year-round hop-on hop-off circuit that drops anchor at half-a-dozen historical locations (including BallinStadt). The round trip takes about one hour 40 minutes.
Or get your (freshwater) sea legs on the Alster, the big lake that comes right into the centre of the city. In winter they run hot chocolate and punch cruises, so you can covet in comfort the posh residences of the Hamburg Prominenten, whose lawns dip to the water’s edge.
ANOTHER DESIRABLE residential suburb is Blankenese, a picturesque former fishing village a few kilometres downstream from Hamburg. Take the S-Bahn S1 line, direction Wedel, to the village, then walk down the winding, stepped little streets, amid achingly pretty cottages and gardens, to the river landing. Catch a boat back to the Landungsbrücken, or ride the Mountain Goat bus back up to the S-Bahn station.
Above the Baumwall promenade along the river, not far from the Landungsbrücken, you’ll spot the slender copper cupola of St Michaelis, the former seamen’s church which is a city landmark. Known to generations of Hamburgers as Michel, it offers an unmatchable bird’s-eye view of the whole city. There’s a lift to the top or, if you’re a glutton for punishment, an endless flight of stairs.
Upriver a short walk from there is the Speicherstadt (warehouse complex). You might not think of working warehouses as a visitor attraction. But as you glide on a harbour tour between the cliff-like buildings of this former entrepôt, constructed in ornate Gothic red brick between 1885 and 1888, you can read the signs for still-active trade in Oriental carpets, coffee, tea, cocoa beans, rubber, raw silk, rum, dried fruit, nuts and spices, and the importers’ Persian and Armenian family names.
The Speicherstadt Museum recalls the heyday of the complex, when it was a freeport, and elsewhere among the huge buildings you’ll find Spicys spice museum, covering five centuries of the fragrant substances, where you can touch, smell and taste to your heart’s content.
John Masefield’s romance of “quinquireme of Nineveh . . . with a cargo of ivory and apes and peacocks, sandalwood and cedar wood and sweet white wine” will come all too readily to the imagination’s eye. And, while the aromas from a visit to Spicys may soon fade from the nostrils, the salt-sea tang of Hamburg itself will linger.
Go there
Aer Lingus (aerlingus.com) flies from Dublin to Hamburg. Take the S-Bahn (S1) line to city or hop on the red and yellow Jasper bus from airport arrivals to main station (Hauptbahnhof).
Hamburg where to . . .
Stay
Value:InterCity hotels, intercityhotel.com. This budget chain was originally owned by the German rail company DB, which is why you find them beside railway termini, in this case at both the main and Altona stations. Simple, clean, no frills and suitable for limited budgets. Doubles from €94. Seven days' advance booking earns a 15 per cent discount. Rate of €79.90 including breakfast for over-65s. Free travel on the Hamburg public transportation system for duration of stay.
Mid-market:Best Western St Raphael, Adenauer Allee 41, 00-49-40-248200, bestwestern.de.Four-star hotel 10 minutes' walk from the Hauptbahnhof. Double rooms from €89 to €119. For every two paying adults, one child 12 and under goes free.
Upmarket:Hotel Atlantic Kempinski, An der Alster 72-79, 00-49-40-28880, kempinski.atlantic.de.For self-indulgence this century-old, dazzling white grand hotel, a hundred metres from the Alster Lake, would be hard to beat. You can even hire its private eight-seater cinema. Doubles from €229 a night and way up, depending on season and your wallet.
Eat
Value:Das Feuerschiff, Vorsetzen, near the Baumwall bank of the Elbe, 00-49-40-362553, das-feuerschiff.de. Now permanently moored since 1989, this red-painted lightship once, as LV 13, guided vessels in the English Channel (and just to make the point, there's a red British telephone kiosk at the entrance). Traditional seafood-accented menu. Jazz on Sunday mornings. Medium priced.
Mid-market: Parlament restaurant, Rathausmarkt 1, 00-49-40-7038-3399, parlament-hamburg.de.In spite of the sunken ships, this is still an atmospheric and informal place to dine at reasonable prices. The fresh sole bonne femme is substantial and commendable, as is the Hamburg crab soup. While you're there, inspect the town hall itself, a vast neo-Renaissance riot of ornate sandstone without and within. Guided tours available.
Upmarket:Restaurant ClassiC, Maritim Reichshof Hotel, Kirchenallee 34-36, 00-49-40-248330. Typical dinner menu items include loup de mer and scallops with fried fig, cèpes and polenta; Red snapper with green asparagus, carrots and chanterelles. Moderately expensive, but worth it for the surroundings.
Hot spot
20 Up Bar, 20th floor, Empire Riverside Hotel, St Pauli, 00-40-31-1197-0470. Where it’s hip and happening these days, and with spectacular views of the twinkling city by night.
Shop spot
Mönckebergstrasse, a street connecting the main station with the Rathaus, is the citys traditional shopping district with department store chains such as Karstadt and Kaufhof. The huge Saturn electronics store, across from the main station, has everything for the geek and those studying to enter the geekhood.
Gänsemarkt (Goose Market) Passage is a glass-roofed mall with shops and cafes on two levels in the upmarket shopping area across the canal from the Rathaus. Most exclusive stores are to be found in Grosse Bleichen and Neuer Wall.
Go
Alster boat tours, 00-49-40-3574-240, alstertouristik.de.Board at the Jungfernstieg for a tour of the big lake that comes right into the centre of the city and envy the posh mansions of the Hamburg wealthy along the shoreline.
Harbour tours: mostly departing from the jetties of the Landungsbrücken. Among the best is the Maritime Circle Line, (00-49-40-2849-3963, maritime-circle-line.de), a hop-on hop-off circuit that drops anchor at half-a-dozen historical locations (including BallinStadt). Adults €8, children €5. From jetty 10, at the western end of the Landungsbrücken.
Blankenese: picturesque former fishing village a few kilometres downstream from Hamburg. Take the S-Bahn S1 line to Blankenese. Return to the Landungsbrücken by boat, or catch the Mountain Goat bus to the S-Bahn station.
BallinStadt, Port of Dreams, Veddeler Bogen 2, 00-49-40-3197-9160, ballinstadt.de.Exhibit chronicling the experiences of the tens of thousands who left Hamburg for a better life in the US. Two stops from the Hauptbahnhof on the S3 and S31 lines, direction Neugraben, get off at Veddel station.
Don’t bother
Reeperbahn: only visited by gullible provincials who are still conned into believing that it represents daring naughtiness. Tawdry and dull. Only go if your shopping taste runs to pink cowboy hats and spangled tops, bottoms and middles.