1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Hamburg (city)

​HAMBURG, a seaport of Germany, capital of the free stateof Hamburg, on the right bank of the northern arm of the Elbe,75 m. from its mouth at Cuxhaven and 178 m. N.W. from Berlinby rail. It is the largest and most important seaport on thecontinent of Europe and (after London and New York) thethird largest in the world. Were it not for political and municipalboundaries Hamburg might be considered as forming with Altonaand Ottensen (which lie within Prussian territory) one town. Theview of the three from the south, presenting a continuous riverfrontage of six miles, the river crowded with shipping and thedensely packed houses surmounted by church towers—of whichthree are higher than the dome of St Paul’s in London—is oneof great magnificence.

The city proper lies on both sides of the little river Alster,which, dammed up a short distance from its mouth, forms alake, of which the southern portion within the line of the formerfortifications bears the name of the Inner Alster (Binnen Alster),and the other and larger portion (2500 yards long and 1300 yardsat the widest) that of the Outer Alster (Aussen Alster). Thefortifications as such were removed in 1815, but they have lefttheir trace in a fine girdle of green round the city, though toomany inroads on its completeness have been made by railwaysand roadways. The oldest portion of the city is that which lies ​to the east of the Alster; but, though it still retains the name ofAltstadt, nearly all trace of its antiquity has disappeared, as itwas rebuilt after the great fire of 1842. To the west lies thenew town (Neustadt), incorporated in 1678; beyond this andcontiguous to Altona is the former suburb of St Pauli, incorporatedin 1876, and towards the north-east that of St Georg,which arose in the 13th century but was not incorporated till1868.

Emery Walker sc.

The old town lies low, and it is traversed by a great numberof narrow canals or “fleets” (Fleeten)—for the same word whichhas left its trace in London nomenclature is used in the LowGerman city—which add considerably to the picturesquenessof the meaner quarters, and serve as convenient channels forthe transport of goods. They generally form what may be calledthe back streets, and they are bordered by warehouses, cellarsand the lower class of dwelling-houses. As they are subject tothe ebb and flow of the Elbe, at certain times they run almostdry. As soon as the telegram at Cuxhaven announces high tidethree shots are fired from the harbour to warn the inhabitantsof the “fleets”; and if the progress of the tide up the river givesindication of danger, another three shots follow. The “fleets”with their quaint medieval warehouses, which come sheer downto the water, and are navigated by barges, have gained forHamburg the name of “Northern Venice.” They are, however,though antique and interesting, somewhat dismal and unsavoury.In fine contrast to them is the bright appearance of the BinnenAlster, which is enclosed on three sides by handsome rows ofbuildings, the Alsterdamm in the east, the Alter Jungfernstiegin the south, and the Neuer Jungfernstieg in the west, whileit is separated from the Aussen Alster by part of the rampartgardens traversed by the railway uniting Hamburg with Altonaand crossing the lakes by a beautiful bridge—the Lombards-Brücke.Around the outer lake are grouped the suburbsHarvestehude and Pösseldorf on the western shore, and Uhlenhorston the eastern, with park-like promenades and villassurrounded by well-kept gardens. Along the southern end ofthe Binnen Alster runs the Jungfernstieg with fine shops, hotelsand restaurants facing the water. A fleet of shallow-draughtscrew steamers provides a favourite means of communicationbetween the business centre of the city and the outlying coloniesof villas.

The streets enclosing the Binnen Alster are fashionablepromenades, and leading directly from this quarter are the mainbusiness thoroughfares, the Neuer-Wall, the Grosse Bleichenand the Hermannstrasse. The largest of the public squares inHamburg is the Hopfenmarkt, which contains the church ofSt Nicholas (Nikolaikirche) and is the principal market forvegetables and fruit. Others of importance are the Gänsemarkt,the Zeughausmarkt and the Grossneumarkt. Of the thirty-fivechurches existing in Hamburg (the old cathedral had to be takendown in 1805), the St Petrikirche, Nikolaikirche, St Katharinenkirche,St Jakobikirche and St Michaeliskirche are those that ​give their names to the five old city parishes. The Nikolaikircheis especially remarkable for its spire, which is 473 ft. high andranks, after those of Ulm and Cologne, as the third highestecclesiastical edifice in the world. The old church was destroyedin the great fire of 1842, and the new building, designed by SirGeorge Gilbert Scott in 13th century Gothic, was erected 1845–1874.The exterior and interior are elaborately adorned withsculptures. Sandstone from Osterwald near Hildesheim wasused for the outside, and for the inner work a softer variety fromPostelwitz near Dresden. The Michaeliskirche, which is builton the highest point in the city and has a tower 428 ft. high,was erected (1750–1762) by Ernst G. Sonnin on the site of theolder building of the 17th century destroyed by lightning; theinterior, which can contain 3000 people, is remarkable for itsbold construction, there being no pillars. The St Petrikirche,originally consecrated in the 12th century and rebuilt in the14th, was the oldest church in Hamburg; it was burnt in 1842 andrebuilt in its old form in 1844–1849. It has a graceful taperingspire 402 ft. in height (completed 1878); the granite columnsfrom the old cathedral, the stained glass windows by Kellnerof Nuremberg, and H. Schubert’s fine relief of the entombmentof Christ are worthy of notice. The St Katharinenkirche andthe St Jakobikirche are the only surviving medieval churches,but neither is of special interest. Of the numerous other churches,Evangelical, Roman Catholic and Anglican, none are of specialinterest. The new synagogue was built by Rosengarten between1857 and 1859, and to the same architect is due the sepulchralchapel built for the Hamburg merchant prince Johann Heinrich,Freiherr von Schröder (1784–1883), in the churchyard of thePetrikirche. The beautiful chapel of St Gertrude was unfortunatelydestroyed in 1842.

Hamburg has comparatively few secular buildings of greatarchitectural interest, but first among them is the new Rathaus,a huge German Renaissance building, constructed of sandstonein 1886–1897, richly adorned with sculptures and with a spire330 ft. in height. It is the place of meeting of the municipalcouncil and of the senate and contains the city archives.Immediately adjoining it and connected with it by two wings isthe exchange. It was erected in 1836–1841 on the site of theconvent of St Mary Magdalen and escaped the conflagration of1842. It was restored and enlarged in 1904, and shelters thecommercial library of nearly 100,000 vols. During the businesshours (1–3 p.m.) the exchange is crowded by some 5000 merchantsand brokers. In the same neighbourhood is the Johanneum,erected in 1834 and in which are preserved the town library ofabout 600,000 printed books and 5000 MSS. and the collectionof Hamburg antiquities. In the courtyard is a statue (1885)of the reformer Johann Bugenhagen. In the Fischmarkt,immediately south of the Johanneum, a handsome fountainwas erected in 1890. Directly west of the town hall is the newStadthaus, the chief police station of the town, in front of whichis a bronze statue of the burgomaster Karl Friedrich Petersen(1809–1892), erected in 1897. A little farther away are theheadquarters of the Patriotic Society (Patriotische Gesellschaft),founded in 1765, with fine rooms for the meetings of artisticand learned societies. Several new public buildings have beenerected along the circuit of the former walls. Near the westextremity, abutting upon the Elbe, the moat was filled in in1894–1897, and some good streets were built along the site,while the Kersten Miles-Brücke, adorned with statues of fourHamburg heroes, was thrown across the Helgoländer Allee.Farther north, along the line of the former town wall, are thecriminal law courts (1879–1882, enlarged 1893) and the civillaw courts (finished in 1901). Close to the latter stand the newsupreme court, the old age and accident state insurance offices,the chief custom house, and the concert hall, founded by KarlLaeisz, a former Hamburg wharfinger. Farther on are thechemical and the physical laboratories and the Hygienic Institute.Facing the botanical gardens a new central post-office,in the Renaissance style, was built in 1887. At the west end ofthe Lombards-Brücke there is a monument by Schilling, commemoratingthe war of 1870–71. A few streets south of that isa monument to Lessing (1881); while occupying a commandingsite on the promenades towards Altona is the gigantic statue ofBismarck which was unveiled in June 1906. The Kunst-Halle(the picture gallery), containing some good works by modernmasters, faces the east end of Lombards-Brücke. The newNatural History Museum, completed in 1891, stands a littledistance farther south. To the east of it comes the Museumfor Art and Industry, founded in 1878, now one of the mostimportant institutions of the kind in Germany, with whichis connected a trades school. Close by is the Hansa-fountain(65 ft. high), erected in 1878. On the north-east side of thesuburb of St Georg a botanical museum and laboratory havebeen established. There is a new general hospital at Eppendorf,outside the town on the north, built on the pavilion principle,and one of the finest structures of the kind in Europe; and atOhlsdorf, in the same direction, a crematorium was built in 1891in conjunction with the town cemeteries (370 acres). Theremust also be mentioned the fine public zoological gardens,Hagenbeck’s private zoological gardens in the vicinity, theschools of music and navigation, and the school of commerce.In 1900 a high school for shipbuilding was founded, and in 1901an institute for seamen’s and tropical diseases, with a laboratoryfor their physiological study, was opened, and also the firstpublic free library in the city. The river is spanned just abovethe Frei Hafen by a triple-arched railway bridge, 1339 ft. long,erected in 1868–1873 and doubled in width in 1894. Some 270yds. higher up is a magnificent iron bridge (1888) for vehiclesand foot passengers. The southern arm of the Elbe, on thesouth side of the island of Wilhelmsburg, is crossed by anotherrailway bridge of four arches and 2050 ft. in length.

Railways.—The through railway traffic of Hamburg is practicallyconfined to that proceeding northwards—to Kiel and Jutland—andfor the accommodation of such trains the central (terminus)station at Altona is the chief gathering point. The Hamburgstations, connected with the other by the Verbindungs-Bahn(or metropolitan railway) crossing the Lombards-Brücke, arethose of the Venloer (or Hanoverian, as it is often called)Bahnhof on the south-east, in close proximity to the harbour,into which converge the lines from Cologne and Bremen, Hanoverand Frankfort-on-Main, and from Berlin, via Nelzen; theKlostertor-Bahnhof (on the metropolitan line) which temporarilysuperseded the old Berlin station, and the Lübeck station a littleto the north-east, during the erection of the new central station,which occupies a site between the Klostertor-Bahnhof and theLombards-Brücke. Between this central station and Altonaterminus runs the metropolitan railway, which has been raisedseveral feet so as to bridge over the streets, and on which liethe important stations Dammtor and Sternschanze. An excellentservice of electric trams interconnect the towns of Hamburg,Altona and the adjacent suburbs, and steamboats providecommunication on the Elbe with the riparian towns and villages;and so with Blankenese and Harburg, with Stade, Glückstadtand Cuxhaven.

Trade and Shipping.—Probably there is no place which duringthe last thirty years of the 19th century grew faster commerciallythan Hamburg. Its commerce is, however, almost entirely ofthe nature of transit trade, for it is not only the chief distributingcentre for the middle of Europe of the products of all other partsof the world, but is also the chief outlet for German, Austrian,and even to some extent Russian (Polish) raw products andmanufactures. Its principal imports are coffee (of which it isthe greatest continental market), tea, sugar, spices, rice, wine(especially from Bordeaux), lard (from Chicago), cereals, sago,dried fruits, herrings, wax (from Morocco and Mozambique),tobacco, hemp, cotton (which of late years shows a large increase),wool, skins, leather, oils, dyewoods, indigo, nitrates, phosphatesand coal. Of the total importations of all kinds of coal to Hamburg,that of British coal, particularly from Northumberlandand Durham, occupies the first place, and despite some falling offin late years, owing to the competition made by Westphaliancoal, amounts to more than half the total import. The increaseof the trade of Hamburg is most strikingly shown by that of ​the shipping belonging to the port. Between 1876 and 1880there were 475 sailing vessels with a tonnage of 230,691, and110 steam-ships with a tonnage of 87,050. In 1907 there were(exclusive of fishing vessels) 470 sailing ships with a tonnage of271,661, and 610 steamers with a tonnage of 1,256,449. In1870 the crews numbered 6900 men, in 1907 they numbered29,536.

Industries.—The development of manufacturing industriesat Hamburg and its immediate vicinity since 1880, though not sorapid as that of its trade and shipping, has been very remarkable,and more especially has this been the case since the year 1888,when Hamburg joined the German customs union, and thebarriers which prevented goods manufactured at Hamburg fromentering into other parts of Germany were removed. Amongthe chief industries are those for the production of articles offood and drink. The import trade of various cereals by sea toHamburg is very large, and a considerable portion of this cornis converted into flour at Hamburg itself. There are also, inthis connexion, numerous bakeries for biscuit, rice-peeling millsand spice mills. Besides the foregoing there are cocoa, chocolate,confectionery and baking-powder factories, coffee-roasting andham-curing and smoking establishments, lard refineries, margarinemanufactories and fish-curing, preserving and packingfactories. There are numerous breweries, producing annuallyabout 24,000,000 gallons of beer, spirit distilleries and factoriesof artificial waters. Yarns, textile goods and weaving industriesgenerally have not attained any great dimensions, but there arelarge jute-spinning mills and factories for cotton-wool andcotton driving-belts. Among other important articles ofdomestic industry are tobacco and cigars (manufactured mainlyin bond, within the free harbour precincts), hydraulic machinery,electro-technical machinery, chemical products (includingartificial manures), oils, soaps, india-rubber, ivory and celluloidarticles and the manufacture of leather.

Shipbuilding has made very important progress, and thereare at present in Hamburg eleven large shipbuilding yards,employing nearly 10,000 hands. Of these, however, only threeare of any great extent, and one, where the largest class ofocean-going steamers and of war vessels for the German navyare built, employs about 5000 persons. There are also two yardsfor the building of pleasure yachts and rowing-boats (in bothwhich branches of sport Hamburg takes a leading place inGermany). Art industries, particularly those which appeal tothe luxurious taste of the inhabitants in fitting their houses,such as wall-papers and furniture, and those which are includedin the equipment of ocean-going steamers, have of late yearsmade rapid strides and are among the best productions of thischaracter of any German city.

History.—Hamburg probably had its origin in a fortresserected in 808 by Charlemagne, on an elevation between theElbe and Alster, as a defence against the Slavs, and calledHammaburg because of the surrounding forest (Hamme). In811 Charlemagne founded a church here, perhaps on the site ofa Saxon place of sacrifice, and this became a great centre forthe evangelization of the north of Europe, missionaries fromHamburg introducing Christianity into Jutland and the Danishislands and even into Sweden and Norway. In 834 Hamburgbecame an archbishopric, St Ansgar, a monk of Corbie andknown as the apostle of the North, being the first metropolitan.In 845 church, monastery and town were burnt down by theNorsemen, and two years later the see of Hamburg was unitedwith that of Bremen and its seat transferred to the latter city.The town, rebuilt after this disaster, was again more than oncedevastated by invading Danes and Slavs. Archbishop Unwanof Hamburg-Bremen (1013–1029) substituted a chapter ofcanons for the monastery, and in 1037 Archbishop Bezelin (orAlebrand) built a stone cathedral and a palace on the Elbe.In 1110 Hamburg, with Holstein, passed into the hands ofAdolph I., count of Schauenburg, and it is with the buildingof the Neustadt (the present parish of St Nicholas) by his grandson,Adolph III. of Holstein, that the history of the commercialcity actually begins. In return for a contribution to the costsof a crusade, he obtained from the emperor Frederick I. in 1189a charter granting Hamburg considerable franchises, includingexemption from tolls, a separate court and jurisdiction, and therights of fishery on the Elbe from the city to the sea. The citycouncil (Rath), first mentioned in 1190, had jurisdiction overboth the episcopal and the new town. Craft gilds were alreadyin existence, but these had no share in the government; for,though the Lübeck rule excluding craftsmen from the Rathdid not obtain, they were excluded in practice. The counts, of ​course, as over-lords, had their Vogt (advocatus) in the town,but this official, as the city grew in power, became subordinateto the Rath, as at Lübeck.

The wealth of the town was increased in 1189 by the destructionof the flourishing trading centre of Bardowieck by Henry theLion; from this time it began to be much frequented by Flemishmerchants. In 1201 the city submitted to Valdemar of Schleswig,after his victory over the count of Holstein, but in 1225, owingto the capture of King Valdemar II. of Denmark by Henry ofSchwerin, it once more exchanged the Danish over-lordship forthat of the counts of Schauenburg, who established themselveshere and in 1231 built a strong castle to hold it in check. Thedefensive alliance of the city with Lübeck in 1241, extendedfor other purpose by the treaty of 1255, practically laid thefoundations of the Hanseatic League (q.v.), of which Hamburgcontinued to be one of the principal members. The internalorganization of the city, too, was rendered more stable by thenew constitution of 1270, and the recognition in 1292 of thecomplete internal autonomy of the city by the count of Schauenburg.The exclusion of the handicraftsmen from the Rath led,early in the 15th century, to a rising of the craft gilds againstthe patrician merchants, and in 1410 they forced the latter torecognize the authority of a committee of 48 burghers, whichconcluded with the senate the so-called First Recess; therewere, however, fresh outbursts in 1458 and 1483, which weresettled by further compromises. In 1461 Hamburg did homageto Christian I. of Denmark, as heir of the Schauenburg counts;but the suzerainty of Denmark was merely nominal and soonrepudiated altogether; in 1510 Hamburg was made a freeimperial city by the emperor Maximilian I.

In 1529 the Reformation was definitively established inHamburg by the Great Recess of the 19th of February, whichat the same time vested the government of the city in the Rath,together with the three colleges of the Oberalten, the Forty-eight(increased to 60 in 1685) and the Hundred and Forty-four(increased to 180). The ordinary burgesses consisted of thefreeholders and the master-workmen of the gilds. In 1536Hamburg joined the league of Schmalkalden, for which errorit had to pay a heavy fine in 1547 when the league had beendefeated. During the same period the Lutheran zeal of thecitizens led to the expulsion of the Mennonites and other Protestantsects, who founded Altona. The loss this brought tothe city was, however, compensated for by the immigration ofProtestant refugees from the Low Countries and Jews fromSpain and Portugal. In 1549, too, the English merchantadventurers removed their staple from Antwerp to Hamburg.

The 17th century saw notable developments. Hamburg hadestablished, so early as the 16th century, a regular postal servicewith certain cities in the interior of Germany, e.g. Leipzig andBreslau; in 1615 it was included in the postal system of Turnand Taxis. In 1603 Hamburg received a code of laws regulatingexchange, and in 1619 the bank was established. In 1615 theNeustadt was included within the city walls. During the ThirtyYears’ War the city received no direct harm; but the ruin ofGermany reacted upon its prosperity, and the misery of the lowerorders led to an agitation against the Rath. In 1685, at theinvitation of the popular leaders, the Danes appeared beforeHamburg demanding the traditional homage; they wererepulsed, but the internal troubles continued, culminating in1708 in the victory of the democratic factions. The imperialgovernment, however, intervened, and in 1712 the “GreatRecess” established durable good relations between the Rathand the commonalty. Frederick IV. of Denmark, who had seizedthe opportunity to threaten the city (1712), was bought off witha ransom of 246,000 Reichsthaler. Denmark, however, onlyfinally renounced her claims by the treaty of Gottorp in 1768,and in 1770 Hamburg was admitted for the first time to a representationin the diet of the empire.

The trade of Hamburg received its first great impulse in 1783,when the United States, by the treaty of Paris, became an independentpower. From this time dates its first direct maritimecommunication with America. Its commerce was furtherextended and developed by the French occupation of Hollandin 1795, when the Dutch trade was largely directed to its port.The French Revolution and the insecurity of the politicalsituation, however, exercised a depressing and retarding effect.The wars which ensued, the closing of continental ports againstEnglish trade, the occupation of the city after the disastrousbattle of Jena, and pestilence within its walls brought about asevere commercial crisis and caused a serious decline in itsprosperity. Moreover, the great contributions levied byNapoleon on the city, the plundering of its bank by Davoust, andthe burning of its prosperous suburbs inflicted wounds fromwhich the city but slowly recovered. Under the long peacewhich followed the close of the Napoleonic wars, its trade graduallyrevived, fostered by the declaration of independence ofSouth and Central America, with both of which it energeticallyopened close commercial relations, and by the introduction ofsteam navigation. The first steamboat was seen on the Elbe onthe 17th of June 1816; in 1826 a regular steam communicationwas opened with London; and in 1856 the first direct steamshipline linked the port with the United States. The great fire of1842 (5th-8th of May) laid in waste the greatest part of thebusiness quarter of the city and caused a temporary interruptionof its commerce. The city, however, soon rose from its ashes,the churches were rebuilt and new streets laid out on a scale ofconsiderable magnificence. In 1866 Hamburg joined the NorthGerman Confederation, and in 1871, while remaining outsidethe Zollverein, became a constituent state of the German empire.In 1883–1888 the works for the Free Harbour were completed,and on the 18th of October 1888 Hamburg joined the CustomsUnion (Zollverein). In 1892 the cholera raged within its walls,carried off 8500 of its inhabitants, and caused considerable lossesto its commerce and industry; but the visitation was not withoutits salutary fruits, for an improved drainage system, betterhospital accommodation, and a purer water-supply have sincecombined to make it one of the healthiest commercial cities ofEurope.