A (tongue-in-check) expertise. Even though Iam not from Hamburg, and in fact wasn’t even born in Germany, I have been living in this Hanseatic city for several years now. And I love it. All towns, countries and even city districts sometimes have a hard time living down prejudices that people have about them. Hamburg is no exception. But enough of that! Let’s get straight down to Part II of six Misconceptions about Hamburg.
4. There is plenty of tasty fish in Hamburg
The fish are a rather tricky matter. Every Hamburger and, above all, every visitor to Hamburg, has heard of the famous "Fischmarkt". But you can also get bananas, salami, latte macchiato, vegetables and even household plants, such as yuccas, at the Fischmarkt. With more than 60,000 visitors per week, the fish market is definitely a tourist attraction. But in fact, nowadays most of the fish is transported deep-frozen to Hamburg by lorry and air. Hardly any freshly caught fish is landed now. This explains why the range of fish and fish restaurants is really no different to that in other large inland cities. Sorry, Hamburg, but these days, the plentiful supply of fish fresh off the boats is more of a myth than reality.
5. Hamburg equals harbour, bricks and water
Hamburg is often used as the backdrop for TV formats and films. And so the images of a typical port city with lots of water, red brick or clinker brink buildings and old grey houses with green slip roofs have spread. Of course, Hamburg has all of that. But Hamburg is also a very green city. Almost 14% of the metropolitan area is green space and there are roughly 1,400 parks. Just a few minutes’ walk away from the ARCOTEL Onyx is the 500,000 m2 Planten un Blomenpark in the heart of the city and at the start of the Reeperbahn.Or the Stadtpark, which with 150 hectares is three times bigger, and boasts a planetarium, ecological swimming pool and open-air pool, a lake, an open-air stage for concerts as well as playgrounds, barbecuing areas and of course plenty of vegetation.
6. "Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg"
Every year in May, Hamburg celebrates the birthday of the port of Hamburg with a massive spectacle that this year drew more than 1.5 million visitors. Hamburg‘s wealth and prosperity really is closely linked to the port and so the city’s residents always enjoy remembering 7 May 1189. This was when Emperor Frederick Barbarossa consented to the establishment of the harbour and granted Hamburg the status of an Imperial Free City which bestowed numerous privileges such as exemption from customs duties, free trade and fishing rights. Except the document that can still be found in the Hamburg State Archive is a forgery! It was made some 70 years after Barbarossa’s death. So strictly speaking, Hamburg is neither “free” nor a “Hanseatic city”. Scholars and historians are still debating the exact circumstances under which the document was produced and whether it is merely a 14th century copy of the original document that had been lost.
Yet whatever the case, Hamburg is and remains a wonderful city with wonderful people. I love it here!
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