![Blick über den Brooksfleet auf die Speicher am Brook-1000288](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Blick_%C3%BCber_den_Brooksfleet_auf_die_Speicher_am_Brook-1000288.jpg)
The Port of Hamburg (german: Hamburger Hafen, ) is a
seaport
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...
on the river
Elbe
The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Repu ...
in
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
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,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, from its mouth on the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
.
Known as Germany's "Gateway to the World" (''Tor zur Welt''), it is the country's largest seaport by volume. In terms of
TEU throughput, Hamburg is the
third-busiest port in Europe (after
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...
and
Antwerp
Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504, ) and 15th-largest worldwide. In 2014, 9.73 million TEUs (20-foot standard
container
A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping.
Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...
equivalents) were handled in Hamburg.
The port covers an area of (64.80 km
2 usable), of which 43.31 km
2 (34.12 km
2) are land areas. The branching Elbe creates an ideal place for a port complex with
warehousing
A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities, tow ...
and transshipment facilities. The extensive
free port
Free economic zones (FEZ), free economic territories (FETs) or free zones (FZ) are a class of special economic zone (SEZ) designated by the trade and commerce administrations of various countries. The term is used to designate areas in which com ...
was established when
Hamburg joined the German Customs Union. It enabled duty-free storing of imported goods and also importing of materials which were processed, re-packaged, used in manufacturing and then re-exported without incurring customs duties. The free port was abandoned in 2013.
History
The port is almost as old as the
history of Hamburg
Hamburg was founded in the 9th century as a mission settlement to convert the Saxons. Since the Middle Ages, it has been an important trading center in Europe. The convenient location of the port and its independence as a city and state for centur ...
itself. Founded on 7 May 1189 by
Frederick I Frederick I may refer to:
* Frederick of Utrecht or Frederick I (815/16–834/38), Bishop of Utrecht.
* Frederick I, Duke of Upper Lorraine (942–978)
* Frederick I, Duke of Swabia (1050–1105)
* Frederick I, Count of Zoll ...
at a strategic location near the mouth of the Elbe, it has been
Central Europe
Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the area' ...
's main port for centuries and enabled Hamburg to develop early into a leading city of trade with a rich and proud bourgeoisie.
During the age of the
Hanseatic League
The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label=Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German to ...
from the 13th to 16th century, Hamburg was considered second only to the port and city of
Lübeck
Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the stat ...
in terms of its position as a central trading node for sea-borne trade. With discovery of the Americas and the emerging transatlantic trade, Hamburg exceeded all other German ports. During the second half of the 19th century, Hamburg became Central Europe's main hub for transatlantic passenger and freight travel, and from 1871 onward it was Germany's principal port of trade. In her time the
Hamburg America Line
The Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Aktien-Gesellschaft (HAPAG), known in English as the Hamburg America Line, was a transatlantic shipping enterprise established in Hamburg, in 1847. Among those involved in its development were prominent citi ...
was the largest shipping company in the world. Since 1888, the
HADAG
The HADAG (full name HADAG Seetouristik und Fährdienst AG, literally "''HADAG Sea-tourism and Ferry service''") is a local public transport company in Hamburg, Germany. It owns and operates passengers ferries across the Elbe River, overseen by a ...
runs a scheduled ferry service across various parts of the port and the Elbe. The Free Port, established on 15 October 1888, enabled traders to ship and store goods without going through customs and further enhanced Hamburg's position in sea trade with neighbouring countries. The
Moldauhafen
Moldauhafen is a lot in the port of Hamburg, Germany that Czechoslovakia acquired on a 99-year lease in 1929 pursuant to the Treaty of Versailles. In 1993, the Czech Republic succeeded to the rights of Czechoslovakia. The lease will expire in 202 ...
has a similar arrangement, though related to the Czech Republic exclusively.
The ''
Speicherstadt
The Speicherstadt (, literally: 'City of Warehouses', meaning warehouse district) in Hamburg, Germany is the largest warehouse district in the world where the buildings stand on timber-pile foundations, oak logs, in this particular case. It is ...
'', one of Hamburg's architectural icons today, is a large wharf area of 350,000 m
2 floor area on the northern shore of the river, built in the 1880s as part of the free port and to cope with the growing quantity of goods stored in the port.
Hamburg shipyards lost fleets twice after World War I and World War II, and during the partition of Germany between 1945 and 1990, the Port of Hamburg lost much of its
hinterland
Hinterland is a German word meaning "the land behind" (a city, a port, or similar). Its use in English was first documented by the geographer George Chisholm in his ''Handbook of Commercial Geography'' (1888). Originally the term was associated ...
and consequently many of its trading connections. However, since
German reunification
German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...
,
the fall of the Iron Curtain and
European enlargement, Hamburg has made substantial ground as one of Europe's prime logistics centres and as one of the world's largest and busiest sea ports.
In 2022, the German government let The Chinese state-owned
COSCO Shipping
China COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited, abbreviated as COSCO Shipping, is a Chinese state-owned multinational conglomerate headquartered in Shanghai. The group is focused on marine transportation services. COSCO Shipping was established in J ...
take a stake in ownership of the port.
Access
Deepening of the river Elbe for large vessels is controversial for
ecological
Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...
reasons. In part due to cooperation with
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...
and
Bremen
Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...
to build a new container port (
JadeWeserPort
JadeWeserPort () is Germany's largest harbour project.
It is supported by the states of Lower Saxony (50.1% stake) and Bremen (49.9% stake). This new container port is located at Wilhelmshaven at the Jade Bight, a bay on the North Sea coas ...
) in the deep waters of
Jadebusen
The Jade Bight (or ''Jade Bay''; german: Jadebusen) is a bight or bay on the North Sea coast of Germany. It was formerly known simply as ''Jade'' or ''Jahde''. Because of the very low input of freshwater, it is classified as a bay rather than an ...
in
Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea, and has a population of 76,089. Wilhelmsha ...
, Hamburg withdrew from this plan after a change of government in 2001.
Hamburg Port Authority
The port is administered by the Hamburg Port Authority.
The Hamburg Port Authority is described as having adopted an innovative approach.
In November 2016 the Hamburg Port Authority ordered a modern
fireboat
A fireboat or fire-float is a specialized watercraft with pumps and nozzles designed for fighting shoreline and shipboard fires. The first fireboats, dating to the late 18th century, were tugboats, retrofitted with firefighting equipmen ...
budgeted at 16 million
euro
The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...
s.
Terminals
Cruise
Hamburg is a major cruise destination and one of Europe's largest
ports of call for cruise passengers traveling the Atlantic, or the Norwegian and Baltic Seas. The port is also a major location for
shipbuilder
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...
and
shipyard
A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...
s, designing, building and reconditioning yachts and cruise liners. Hamburg has three passenger terminals for
cruise ship
Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "s ...
s: Hamburg Cruise Center
HafenCity, the Hamburg Cruise Center
Altona and the Hamburg Cruise Center
Steinwerder, all three capable of processing
the world's largest cruise ships.
Culture
The Port of Hamburg is also one of Hamburg's largest attractions, both as a living, industrial and logistic center but also as a backdrop for modern culture and the port's history. Among these are various museum ships, musical theaters, bars, restaurants and hotels - and even a floating boat church.
The annual celebration of the port's birthday (''
Hafengeburtstag'') during the first weekend of May is one of Hamburg's biggest public events. National and international visitors come to experience the festivities. Tugboats perform "ballets", old galleons and new cruise ships are open for tours, and fireworks explode at night.
Tour guides on boat tours in the port are called
he lüchts (Low German for ''he is lying'') after an often used call of dock workers when they overheard the stories told to tourists.
See also
*
BallinStadt
__NOTOC__
BallinStadt () is the name given to a memorial park and former emigration station in the Port of Hamburg, Germany.
From the 1850s to the early 1930s the ground's emigration halls were last homestead for some five million emigrants fr ...
*
Elbe 17
Elbe 17 is the third largest dry dock in Germany, located in Hamburg (Germany) and administrated by shipbuilding company Blohm + Voss. Completed in 1942 at a length of 351 meters and a width of 59 meters. It was originally intended for the constru ...
References
External links
Port of Hamburg WebsiteHamburg Chamber of CommercePort of Hamburg: Facts, figures, and outlook
HafenCity WebsiteThe Elbe Philharmonic HallCurrently under construction in the HafenCity
Arts in the HafenCity* List o
Webcams in the Port of Hamburg
{{Authority control
Transport in Hamburg
Geography of Hamburg
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
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River ports of Germany
Ports and harbours of the North Sea