Jon Searles' photos with the keyword: Hamburg

I took this photo mainly because I liked the shape of the trainshed. It was taken from the train, if memory serves, as we were waiting to depart.

This was my train home (if memory serves), headed by a Class 112 electric. These units were originally built as improved DR Class 212 electrics, being intended for 160 km/h services instead of 120 km/h. They were among the first locomotives ordered in anticipation of the reunification of Germany, one of the last classes built for the DR, and one of the only classes to serve from the beginning on both the DR and the (pre-1994) DB. These units put out 4,220 Kw, or 5,660 horsepower, and have a maximum tractive effort of 56,000 lbs. (248kN). However, their 160 km/h maximum speed still has always been slow by DB standards, so initially they were preferred for local, or RegionalBahn trains, and now they serve slower trains exclusively. I have been unable to get the precise production run of these units, but it looks as if 45 were built by AEG between about 1992 and 1995.

The museum is surrounded by parkland, including gardens, artificial ponds, an amusement park, and additional buildings. These grounds are ideal for photography, and this is only one of the photos that I took.

This is the Museum for Hamburg History, known since 2005 as the Hamburg Museum (although the older "Museum fur Hamburgische Geschichte" signage is still up). It is arguably a very diverse museum with a collection spanning from prehistoric times through the 1990's. Some of the more interesting exhibits include reconstructed rooms from 20th Century houses, including one from the 1990's, a display on 20th Century squatting, the remains of a dog sacrificed during a secret pagan ritual during the Middle Ages, a display on Jewish history that includes displays about Jewish organizations (especially sports organizations) that survived in the earlier years of the Nazi regime, the superstructure of a tugboat once used in the Hamburg port (which features a fascinating color documentary film from the 1930's), and a display of pirate skulls with forensic reconstructions (partly faked, as some of the originals have been stolen). There are too many other displays to list here. You'll just have to visit the museum.

I only took this picture because this restaurant on the ground floor of this building has a sort-of amusing name, "Hamburger Hof," or "Hamburger House." As far as I know, it isn't a pun, but it looks like one.

This appears to be the "Old Post Office," although it looks much newer due to a 2007 restoration as retail space by Stenham Property. The original building dates to 1845-1847, having been designed by Alexis de Chateauneuf (1799-1853), who also designed the Berliner Bahnhof railway station, which in spite of its name was in Hamburg, serving in two incarnations from 1844 until 1903 (I have been unable to find a demolition date for the second station). However, de Chateauneuf only designed the first station, which was used from 1844 to 1857.

This is not a church, but Hamburg's city hall, or Rathaus. Built between 1886 and 1897, and designed by Martin Haller (1835-1925), who also designed the American Consulate, it survived World War II intact. One interesting anecdote is that in 1971, a secret room was found in the tower, leading to theories that there could be more. Officially, there are already 647 rooms known.

Being a port city, Hamburg also has a canal system, allowing smaller craft access to parts of the city centre. Some of these canals mostly provide a place to float houseboats, some of them restaurants like this one (visible just out of frame below, with a main building on land to the right).

Visible at the end of the street, Hauptkirche St. Jacobi, also called St. James's church (St. Jacob and St. James are, historically, the same person) is one of Hamburg's many rebuilt churches, using a combination of Gothic and newer architectural styles. This rebuild was completed in 1963, including some interior parts from the previous churches dating back, possibly, to 1255.

Many of Hamburg's churches were leveled during World War II. Most of the surviving churches in the city centre are rebuilds, some more than others. This church was an exception, though, as it survived intact. It stands on the site of a number churches dating back to 1195, when the first one was completed, but the current church dates to 1878, built to replace a church destroyed by fire in 1842.

I don't know much about this building, but it appears to be an operahouse. It is situated across the street from Hauptbahnhof.

Here's an interior shot of Hamburg Hauptbahnhof, showing the trainshed and large advertisement for Philips electronics. I had been here before, but primarily to change trains. This was my first proper visit to Hamburg as a tourist.

On the first afternoon of my Hamburg trip, I spotted some of the S-Bahn trains running in and out of Hauptbahnhof. The other notable mainline station is Altona, although the Stadtbahn, or S-Bahn system serves all the smaller stations associated with it. S-Bahn systems in German cities function as a combination of transit and commuter services, often using the same rights of way as mainline RegionalBahn, Intercity, Eurocity, ICE, and other longer-distance services. Hamburg also has an Untergrundbahn, or U-Bahn services, which are subway services.

Having a half hour to kill in Hamburg didn't give me a chance to wander the city, but I insisted on walking out of the station and looking around. I also got this shot of the station exterior, a combination of old and new.

Here's another, wider shot of Hamburg Hbf's trainshed.

This was the scene when I got to Hamburg. That beautiful Class 101 electric, #101 019-8, was regrettably not on my train, but another Class 101 was, so I got my railfan's treat of the trip. I love those 101s. :-)