Caterpillar Marine - Marine Engines Caterpillar

Seen en Route
Hymn to Hamburg
Cosmopolitan city and maritime centre on the Elbe
Why be less than direct: saying
something about Hamburg,
describing the city, always involves
something akin to a declaration of love.
That begins with the statement that
Hamburg is without doubt one of the
world’s most beautiful large cities. This
has been taken to heart just by many
natives of Hamburg with very typical
“Hanseatic” reserve, but is also only too
readily confirmed by most foreign visitors,
who are also considered as including
those from the southern German
federal states.
The “Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg”
– a title recalling Hamburg’s
membership of the medieval Hanseatic
League of trading interests in northern
Europe and one of which of not only
the government of this city state is
proud – offers just about everything its
inhabitants and visitors could wish for.
It has quiet and lively residential areas,
middle-class and also fashionable quarters,
all mixed together, a wealth of cultural
attractions, with the “Elbe Philharmonic”
as forthcoming highlight,
as well as many sights that survived
the bombs of the second world war
and bear witness to Hamburg’s historical
development. There is plenty of
green everywhere, and a large lake, the
Binnen- und Aussenalster, in the heart
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of the busy city centre – something you
hardly see elsewhere. This expanse of
water is a delightful sight with all the
sailing boats and other craft nearly
every day and season. Hamburg, beautiful
during the day, but also with that
typical Hanseatic reserve, always makes
a pleasantly colourful picture.
But there is also another Hamburg,
which awakes at a late hour. Its night life
with its restaurants and pubs, “in” places
and wide variety of entertainment is
more than a match for that of other big
cities. St. Pauli and the Reeperbahn with
the Grosse Freiheit are a “must” for latenight
revellers and are known not only
to seafarers from every continent, as far
away as Australia and New Zealand, so
what more is there to say?
The real heart of Hamburg, however,
particularly in the economic sense but
sentimentally too, is its port. The best
view of this is to be had from the city’s
symbol, the Michel: an impressive panorama
of the shipyard facilities opposite
with the giant drydock “Elbe 17” in
the centre, Landungsbrücken terminal
and old Elbe tunnel to the right and the
historic Speicherstadt warehouse area
to the left. The new HafenCity district
featuring many architecturally interesting
office and residential buildings
is currently being developed on the
periphery of the Speicherstadt towards
the water. This area will also include
the Elbe Philharmonic concert hall.
In 2005, the Port of Hamburg handled
over 125m t of cargo and a container
volume exceeding 8m TEU,
thereby consolidating its position
as the second largest European container
port. Visitors are recommended
to take an extensive conducted tour
around the port to gain some overview
of all the interesting activities going
on between the Speicherstadt and the
container terminals further down river.
However, maritime Hamburg is not
only a bustling port but also shipyards
and above all shipping lines, as it is easily
the most important location for German
shipping lines. By far the largest share
of the German merchant fleet, meanwhile
the third largest in the world, is
managed from Hamburg. This maritime
metropolis makes the ideal venue for
the SMM – Shipbuilding, Machinery &
Marine Technology International Trade
Fair, held for the 22nd time this year as
the leading international fair of the shipbuilding
industry presenting the sector’s
innovations to many visitors from Germany
and other countries. The SMM certainly
met their expectations, just as
Hamburg itself with its abundance of
attractions for everyone.