|
|
 Buxtehude
offers you comprehensive possibilities for your recreational activities:
For example
trips to the historic old towns of Buxtehude or Stade,
to the "Old Land" (Altes Land), through the valley
of the river Este (Estetal) and to the famous "Heath lands
of Luneburg" (Lüneburger Heide). Or what about to make
sometime an excursion by ferry boat at the Elbe to Blankenese,
to the famous fish market (Fischmarkt) or to the St. Pauli
landing stages in Hamburg (St. Pauli Landungsbrücken)?
The central area of Buxtehude
 38,500 people live today
in the central area of Buxtehude,
before the gates of Hamburg and on the outskirts of Altes Land
with its beautiful, blossoming fruit trees. The historical old-town center with its pedestrian shopping zone, canal facility, moat, Marschtor military
lookout post and beautiful town houses is a special attraction for visitors
from far and near. The St. Petri Church is the most important old-style
building; a three-storey, gothic, redbrick basilica built around 1300 A.D.
  Street
festivals are held often and celebrated with great enthusiasm in these
charming surroundings. The “Old-Town Festival”, the “Wine Festival”
and the “Christmas Market” consistently fill the streets and alleyways
with merry-makers. Cultural life is indeed very much alive in Buxtehude. The
“Buxtehuder Bulle”; one of the most respected literature awards for young
people and the Buxtehude museum for regional history and art provide strong
evidence of this.
Buxtehude,
with its healthy mixture of industry and commerce, can be proud of its
economic achievements; internationally renown names such as: Babcock Materials
Handling, Bacardi, K.I.D. systems, Malteser Kreuz Aquavit, NSB Niederelbe
Shipping Company, National Rejectors, Pioneer Hi-Bred and the Unilever
subsidiary Lever Fabergé are ample proof of this. All in all, well-over
15,000 people earn their living in Buxtehude.
Further plus points for
Buxtehude as an economic base include its University of Applied Sciences for
north-east Niedersachsen which specialises in architecture, real estate
management and civil engineering, the Technology-Center which offers start-up
support for young entrepreneurs, and a number of highly-attractive commercial
areas near the center. The strong performance of its retail outlets in the
historical town center has turned Buxtehude into a popular spot for shopping
and tourism.
|
|
|
|
Hamburg
 Hamburg is the second-largest city in Germany (after Berlin). The city is home to approximately 1.8 million people.
Culture and contemporary life:
Hamburg offers more than 40 theatres, 60 museums and 100 music venues and
clubs. In 2005, more than 18 million people visited concerts, exhibitions,
theatres, cinemas, museums, and other performances of cultural achievement.
Theaters:
The state-owned Deutsches Schauspielhaus, the Thalia Theater, and the Kampnagel are well-known theatres in Germany and abroad. The English Theatre near U2 Mundsburg station was established in 1976 and is the oldest professional English speaking theatre in Germany having exclusively English native speaking actors in its staff.
Museums:
Art Gallery and Gallery of Contemporary Arts (Kunsthalle Hamburg) is located near central
station. In 2008 the Internationales Maritimes Museum Hamburg opened in the HafenCity
quarter. Two museum ships near Landungsbrücken bear witness to freight ship (Cap San Diego) and cargo sailing ship
(Rickmer Rickmers) time.
Museum BallinStadt Emigration City reminds of the vast streams of European people emigrating from those mass accommodation halls between 1850 and 1939 to North and South America. Those people from overseas stemming from emigrants may search in data banks for their
ancestors.
Music:
 Music in Hamburg diversifies from classical music to hip hop, heavy metal, and psychedelic trance
music.
The Hamburg State Opera is one of the leading German opera houses. Its orchestra is the Philharmoniker Hamburg. Hamburg's other orchestra is the North German Radio Symphony Orchestra. The main concert venue is the Laeiszhalle Musikhalle Hamburg, pending the completion of the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg. The Laeiszhalle is the home of the Hamburger
Symphoniker. Hamburg was one city to take part in the Complaints Choir
project.
Since the German premiere of Cats in 1985 there are always a number of musicals being played in the city. Among them have been Phantom of the Opera, The Lion King or Dirty Dancing (before there was Dance of the Vampires). This density, which is the highest in Germany, is partly due to Germany's major musical production company Stage Entertainment being located in Hamburg. One of the musical theatres is a large tent in the
harbour, guests either arrive by boat or through the historic Old Elbe Tunnel.
Tourism:
Tourists play a significant role in the city's economy. In 2007, Hamburg attracted more than 3,985,105 visitors (+3.7% to 2006) with 7,402,423 overnight accommodations (+3.1%). More than 700,000 people from abroad were visiting for an average duration of stay of 2.1
days. More than 175,000 full-time employees and a revenue of €9.3 billion make the tourism industry a major economic factor in the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. Hamburg has one of the fastest-growing tourism industries in Germany. From 2001 to 2007, the overnight stays in the city grew about 55.2% (Berlin +52.7%, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania +33%).
A typical Hamburg visit includes a tour of the city hall and the grand church St. Michaelis
(called the Michel), and visiting the old warehouse district (Speicherstadt) and the harbour promenade
(Landungsbrücken). Sightseeing buses connect these points of
interest. As Hamburg is one of the world's largest harbours many visitors take one of the harbour
and/or canal boat tours (Große Hafenrundfahrt, Fleetfahrt) which start from the
Landungsbrücken. Major destinations also include
museums.
Many visitors take a walk in the evening around the area of Reeperbahn in the quarter St.
Pauli, considered Europe's largest red light district and home of strip
clubs, brothels, bars and nightclubs. The singer and actor Hans Albers is strongly associated with St.
Pauli, providing in the 1940s the neighborhood's unofficial
anthem, "Auf der Reeperbahn Nachts um Halb Eins." The song explains in a polite way how a sailor enjoys his last day with a trollop before going
aboard. It was in the Reeperbahn that The Beatles began their career with a 48-night residency at the Indra Club, and then another 58 nights at the
Kaiserkeller, in 1960, the Top Ten Club (1961), and the Star-Club (1962). Others prefer the laidback neighborhood Schanze with its street cafés or a barbecue on one of the beaches along the river Elbe. Hamburg's famous
zoo, the Tierpark Hagenbeck, was founded in 1907 by Carl Hagenbeck as the first zoo with
moated, barless enclosures.
 People may visit Hamburg because of a specific
interest, notably one of the musicals, a sports event, a congress or fair. In 2005 the average visitor spent two nights in Hamburg. The majority of visitors come from Germany (80%); most foreigners are European, especially from the United Kingdom and
Switzerland, and the largest group from outside Europe comes from the United
States.
Festivals and regular events:
Hamburg is noted for several festivals and regular events. Some of them are street
festivals, such as the gay pride Christopher Street Day festival or the Alster fair, held at the
Binnenalster. The Hamburger Dom is a northern Germany's biggest fun fair held three times a
year. Hafengeburtstag is a funfair to honour the birthday of the port of Hamburg with a party and a ship
parade. The biker's divine service in Saint Michael's Church attracts tens of thousands
biker. Christmas markets in December were held among other locations at the Hamburg Rathaus
square. For art and culture the long night of museums offers one entrance fee for about 40 museums until
midnight. In 2008 the 6th festival of cultures was held in September, to celebrate the multi cultural life. The Filmfest Hamburg—a film festival originated from the 1950s film days (German: Film
Tage) and others—presents a wide range of
films. The Hamburg Messe and Congress offers a location for several trade
fairs, such hanseboot, an international boat show, or Du und deine Welt, a large consumer
exhibition. Regular sports events—some open to pro and amateur participants—are the cycling competition Vattenfall
Cyclassics, Hamburg Marathon, the biggest marathon in Germany after Berlin, the tennis tournament Hamburg Masters and equestrian events like Deutsches Derby.
Architecture:
 Hamburg has architecturally significant buildings in a wide range of
styles. There are only a few skyscrapers. Churches like St. Nicholas's church, the world tallest building in the 19th
century, are important landmarks. The skyline of Hamburg features the high spires of the principal churches
(Hauptkirchen) Saint Michael's Church
(nicknamed “Michel"), Saint Peter's Church, Saint James's Church and Saint Catherine's Church covered with
copper
plates.
 The many canals in Hamburg are crossed by over 2300 bridges, more than those of Amsterdam and Venice combined. Hamburg has more bridges inside its city limits than any other city in the world. The Köhlbrandbrücke, Freihafen Elbbrücken, and Lombards-brücke and Kennedybrücke dividing Binnenalster from Aussenalster are important traffic structures.
The townhall is a richly decorated Neo-Renaissance building finished in 1897. The tower is 112 metres (367 ft) high. Its facade, 111 m (364 ft) long, depicts the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire, since Hamburg was, as a Free Imperial City, only under the sovereignty of the emperor. The
Chilehaus, a brick stone office building built in 1922 and designed by architect Fritz Höger is spectacularly shaped like an ocean liner.
 To be completed around 2015, Europe's largest inner city development as of 2012, the quarter
HafenCity, will house about 10,000 inhabitants and 15,000 workers. Its ambitious planning and architecture
(among other designs by Rem Kolhaas and Renzo Piano will be realized) are slowly coming into
shape. By the end of 2014, the Elbe Philharmonic Hall (Elbphilharmonie) is scheduled to house its first concerts in a spectacular building designed by the Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron on top of an old
warehouse.
The many parks of Hamburg are distributed over the whole city, which makes Hamburg a very green
city. The biggest parks are the Stadtpark, the Ohlsdorf Cemetery and Planten un
Blomen. The Stadtpark, Hamburg's "Central Park", has a great lawn and a huge
watertower, which houses one of Europe's biggest Planetariums. The park and its buildings were also designed by Fritz Schumacher in the 1910s.
Climate:
The warmest months in Hamburg are June, July, and August, with mean temperatures of 19.9 to 22.2 °C (67.8 to 72.0 °F). The coldest are
December, January, and February, with mean temperatures of -1.4 to 0.0 °C (29.5 to 32 °F).
|
|
