Hamburg

About Hamburg

Hamburg is Germany's second-largest city and a Northern European homeport for ships bound for the Norwegian fjords, British Isles, and Baltic. Cruise berths alternate between HafenCity (newest, closest to downtown), Altona, and Steinwerder. The restored warehouse district of Speicherstadt and the soaring Elbphilharmonie concert hall on the Elbe are the must-see landmarks within walking distance of HafenCity.

• Known as Germany's 'Gateway to the World' (Tor zur Welt), Hamburg's port is situated 110 km up the Elbe River from the North Sea — making it the furthest inland major seaport in Germany.
• Hamburg is the third-busiest port in Europe by TEU throughput (after Rotterdam and Antwerp), having handled 9.73 million TEUs in 2014.
• The port's historic Speicherstadt — a vast red-brick warehouse district built on timber piles over canals — is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to museums and offices.
• Hamburg ran an extensive 'free port' (Freihafen) zone from the time it joined the German Customs Union in 1888 until 2013, allowing goods to be stored, processed, and re-exported duty-free.
• The port has three dedicated cruise terminals — Hamburg Cruise Center HafenCity, Altona, and Steinwerder — and Hamburg is consistently one of Europe's top cruise homeports.