VIII. Gay Games Cologne 2010

Hamburg – harbor and Reeperbahn

„In Hamburg sind die Nächte lang“ (“In Hamburg the nights are long”), because it starts „auf der Reeperbahn nachts um halb eins“ (“on the Reeperbahn at night at half past twelve”) when you want to experience this city. These German Pop songs may be way too old, but the lyrics are still accurate. Hamburg is a city with the biggest contrasts. Next to workers’ neighborhood, the docking stations in the harbor the red light milieu in St. Pauli there the noblest living neighborhoods on the Elbe and on the Inner Alster and Aussenalster. Hamburg was always a rich city that was coined business. The old business and city nobility lead in the early middle-ages, the destiny of the city that as it was independent of the German Reich, didn’t have any other lord over itself than the German King. And he was of course far away. The harbor formed at that time was already the main pulsing vein of the city and the connection to the North and Baltic Sea. This was enforced by the membership of Hamburg in the Hanse, a powerful city network in which Hamburg played a leading part next to Cologne. Nowadays it is a bit more simple in Hamburg but still dignified and noble. Hamburg is a world class city. And Hamburg’s inhabitants might appear as a bit too cold, but when you get to know him, he melts and is very welcoming. Hamburg is 250 miles away over the highway from Cologne and is reachable by ICE train within 4 hours.

http://english.hamburg.de/