Hamburg

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History

Claudius Ptolemy (2nd century AD) reported the first name for the vicinity as Treva. The name Hamburg comes from the first permanent building on the site, a castle which the Emperor Charlemagne ordered constructed in AD 808. It rose on rocky terrain in a marsh between the Alster and the Elbe rivers as a defence against Slavic incursion, and acquired the name Hammaburg, burg meaning castle or fort. The origin of the Hamma term remains uncertain, but its location is estimated to be at the site of today's Hammaburgplatz. In 834 CE, Hamburg was established as the seat of a bishopric. Its first bishop, Ansgar, later known as the Apostle of the North, founded the city's early Christian institutions. Two years later, Hamburg was linked with Bremen to form the Bishopric of Hamburg-Bremen. Hamburg faced repeated destruction in its early centuries. In 845, a fleet of 600 Viking ships sailed up the River Elbe and destroyed the town, which then had about 500 inhabitants. A major turning point came in 1189 when Frederick Barbarossa granted Hamburg the status of a Free Imperial City. The imperial charter included tax-free passage down the Lower Elbe to the North Sea (a form of free-trade zone). In 1265, an allegedly forged charter was presented to or by the Rath of Hamburg. Hamburg's location between the North Sea and Baltic Sea trade routes helped it become a major port in Northern Europe. Its 1241 alliance with Lübeck is regarded as the founding moment of the Hanseatic League. On 8 November 1266, a contract between Henry III of England and Hamburg's merchants allowed them to establish a hanse in London — the first recorded use of the word for the League's trading guild. In 1270, Jordan von Boitzenburg, solicitor to the Senate of Hamburg, wrote the Ordeelbook, the first…

Geography

Hamburg is at a sheltered natural harbour on the southern fanning-out of the Jutland Peninsula, between Continental Europe to the south and Scandinavia to the north, with the North Sea to the west and the Baltic Sea to the northeast. It is on the River Elbe at its confluence with the Alster and Bille. The city centre is around the Binnenalster ("Inner Alster") and Außenalster ("Outer Alster"), both formed by damming the Alster river to create lakes. The islands of Neuwerk, Scharhörn, and Nigehörn, away in the Hamburg Wadden Sea National Park, are also part of the city of Hamburg. The neighbourhoods of Neuenfelde, Cranz, Francop and Finkenwerder are part of the Altes Land (old land) region, the largest contiguous fruit-producing region in Central Europe. Neugraben-Fischbek has Hamburg's highest elevation, the Hasselbrack at AMSL. Hamburg borders the states of Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony. Hamburg has an oceanic climate (Köppen: Cfb; Trewartha: Dobk), influenced by its proximity to the coast and maritime influences that originate over the Atlantic Ocean. The location in the north of Germany provides extremes greater than typical marine climates, but definitely in the category due to the prevailing westerlies. Nearby wetlands enjoy a maritime temperate climate. The amount of snowfall has varied greatly in recent decades. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, heavy snowfall sometimes occurred, the winters of recent years have been less cold, with snowfall just a few days per year. The warmest months are June, July, and August, with high temperatures of . The coldest are December, January, and February, with low temperatures of . The annual extreme temperatures range from on 13 February 1940, to on 20 July 2022, and the latter was measured at…

Most-observed species

• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  7,570
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  7,470
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  7,016
• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  6,894
• Carrion Crow

  Corvus corone Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  6,419
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  6,026
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  5,994
• Great Spotted Woodpecker

  Dendrocopos major (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  4,738

Most recent

• M 2.9 — 2021-09-13
  0 km WNW of Ottersberg, Germany
• M 2.8 — 2008-04-03
  3 km SSW of Ottersberg, Germany
• M 4.5 — 2004-10-20
  3 km W of Wittorf, Germany