Sunday, May 31, 2009
Hamburg
I went to Hamburg a few weeks ago to speak to a class of students at the Fuhrungsakademie der Bundeswehr (German Federal Armed Forces Academy) -- the equivalent of a joint Air Command and Staff College. I was nervous, but the speech was well-received, and I had nearly an hour’s worth of questions and discussion afterward. Since I was in Hamburg, and had never been there before, I scheduled my return train ride to allow me a few hours to wander through the city. I had hoped to spend an extra day in the area visiting with a high school friend (an exchange student from Germany), but it wasn’t a good weekend for her ... guess that means I’ll have to make another trek that way to catch up with Sabine 21 years after we went to school together.
My first stop in Hamburg was to Saint Petri Church. The ornamental bronze door handle is considered the oldest piece of art existing in Hamburg. The church itself is the oldest parish church in Hamburg, with documentation dating back to 1195 when an ecclesia forensic (market church) is mentioned.
The former gothic style church was destroyed by the Great Fire that destroyed much of the city in 1842, when only a few foundation walls were left. In 1849, a new church in the current neo-gothic style was completed and consecrated. The current tower was consecrated in 1878, although the original frame gives evidence of the tower foundation dating back to 1342.
For a nominal fee, you could climb the tower for a view of the city, so I paid my euro and began the 544-step ascent to the top of the 433-foot tower. There were three large bells along the route. I had made it one level above the bells when the small one began chiming at 1 p.m. I was standing directly above it when it let out its first note. Egads, that was loud!!! It rang for 15 minutes straight! For the sake of my ears, I didn’t stick around for its complete serenade, but continued my climb.
I had a beautiful view of the city from tiny porthole windows at the top of the tower. The Rathausmarkt (town hall market) is to the right, the ruins of Nikolaikirche (Church of Saint Nicholas) are further back to the left, and the Michaeliskirche (Saint Michael’s Church) is further in the distance with the harbor to its left.
My next stop was to the ruins of Nikolaikirche. This church was built on the site of a former 14th century church that was also destroyed in the Great Fire of 1842. It was rebuilt between 1845 and 1874, then destroyed again in 1943 during Allied raids of World War II. The ruins are now maintained as a monument against war.
The blackened Nikolaikirche steeple is 482 feet high, making it the third tallest steeple in Germany. It was amazing that at every turn there was a completely different view of the remaining steeple -- all different and beautiful. The church must have been absolutely amazing before it was destroyed!
This is a nice little garden area. The bronze statue is titled “Friedensgebet” -- “Prayer for Peace.”
Through this window, you can see the bronze statue, “The Ordeal.” It was created by a local artist to memorialize the Sandbostel Prisoner Camp. Sandbostel was one of the Nazi’s largest prisoner camps, where more than 50,000 people from many countries died. The sculpture’s pedestal is built from original stones from the prisoners’ barracks.
No man in the whole world can change the truth. One can only look for the truth, find it and serve it. The truth is in all places.
-- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
After admiring the Nikolaikirche for a while, I made my way toward the Michaeliskirche. Along the way, I passed several neo-gothic warehouses that once stored goods arriving in Europe from all over the world while awaiting further transport throughout the continent. Hamburg is, after all, a port city with canals weaving their way throughout the city.
I could see the top of the Michaeliskirche from several blocks away as it towered above the busy streets. It definitely stood out, not just because it towered 434 feet above the city, but also because it is decorated with the largest tower clock in Germany.
I didn’t see where to catch one of these tour rides, but figured it would have been a great way to see the city. I can only imagine the workout the tour guide is getting by peddling three people and unique bike around the city!
Michaeliskirche was first built between 1648 and 1669 as the city’s fifth parish. In 1750, the church was struck by lightening and burned to the ground. The church was rebuilt in 1751-1752, and the tower was built between 1777 and 1786. The old church with a triple nave plan was extended to become one of the largest Protestant baroque churches set over a Greek cross. In 1906, fire once again destroyed the church. However, it had become such an important symbol to the city that it was reconstructed true to its original external design. It was also severely damaged in 1943 during World War II and was once again rebuilt.
The view of the harbor from the top of Michaeliskirche spire was amazing. If you look closely at the bottom left of this photo, you can see (part of) the Rickmer Rickmers museum ship. It was built in 1896 and is one of the last three-masted sailing ships. Unfortunately, I only managed to get one of the masts in this shot. You could definitely tell that Hamburg is a very busy and bustling harbor city!
There was even a nice view of the Nikolaikirche remains from here. It was real windy and cold up there, but fortunately, I didn’t have to climb the 453 steps for this view -- there was an elevator after about three flights of stairs. Nice!
After four hours wandering through Hamburg, visiting three churches and going to the top of two church steeples, I was one tired tourist! Fortunately, the Hamburg train station has lockers where you can leave your luggage if need be. Even though I traveled light with just a small pull-behind suitcase, it made my afternoon wanderings so much easier knowing my suitcase was safely waiting for me at the station.
After retrieving my suitcase, I headed down to the platform to catch the ICE -- Inter City Express -- train back home. Of note, all of these trains are local and regional trains, not the ICE. I made sure I was on the platform waiting for my high-speed train when it arrived since they don’t stop for very long.
My first stop in Hamburg was to Saint Petri Church. The ornamental bronze door handle is considered the oldest piece of art existing in Hamburg. The church itself is the oldest parish church in Hamburg, with documentation dating back to 1195 when an ecclesia forensic (market church) is mentioned.
The former gothic style church was destroyed by the Great Fire that destroyed much of the city in 1842, when only a few foundation walls were left. In 1849, a new church in the current neo-gothic style was completed and consecrated. The current tower was consecrated in 1878, although the original frame gives evidence of the tower foundation dating back to 1342.
For a nominal fee, you could climb the tower for a view of the city, so I paid my euro and began the 544-step ascent to the top of the 433-foot tower. There were three large bells along the route. I had made it one level above the bells when the small one began chiming at 1 p.m. I was standing directly above it when it let out its first note. Egads, that was loud!!! It rang for 15 minutes straight! For the sake of my ears, I didn’t stick around for its complete serenade, but continued my climb.
I had a beautiful view of the city from tiny porthole windows at the top of the tower. The Rathausmarkt (town hall market) is to the right, the ruins of Nikolaikirche (Church of Saint Nicholas) are further back to the left, and the Michaeliskirche (Saint Michael’s Church) is further in the distance with the harbor to its left.
My next stop was to the ruins of Nikolaikirche. This church was built on the site of a former 14th century church that was also destroyed in the Great Fire of 1842. It was rebuilt between 1845 and 1874, then destroyed again in 1943 during Allied raids of World War II. The ruins are now maintained as a monument against war.
The blackened Nikolaikirche steeple is 482 feet high, making it the third tallest steeple in Germany. It was amazing that at every turn there was a completely different view of the remaining steeple -- all different and beautiful. The church must have been absolutely amazing before it was destroyed!
This is a nice little garden area. The bronze statue is titled “Friedensgebet” -- “Prayer for Peace.”
Through this window, you can see the bronze statue, “The Ordeal.” It was created by a local artist to memorialize the Sandbostel Prisoner Camp. Sandbostel was one of the Nazi’s largest prisoner camps, where more than 50,000 people from many countries died. The sculpture’s pedestal is built from original stones from the prisoners’ barracks.
No man in the whole world can change the truth. One can only look for the truth, find it and serve it. The truth is in all places.-- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
After admiring the Nikolaikirche for a while, I made my way toward the Michaeliskirche. Along the way, I passed several neo-gothic warehouses that once stored goods arriving in Europe from all over the world while awaiting further transport throughout the continent. Hamburg is, after all, a port city with canals weaving their way throughout the city.
I could see the top of the Michaeliskirche from several blocks away as it towered above the busy streets. It definitely stood out, not just because it towered 434 feet above the city, but also because it is decorated with the largest tower clock in Germany. I didn’t see where to catch one of these tour rides, but figured it would have been a great way to see the city. I can only imagine the workout the tour guide is getting by peddling three people and unique bike around the city!
Michaeliskirche was first built between 1648 and 1669 as the city’s fifth parish. In 1750, the church was struck by lightening and burned to the ground. The church was rebuilt in 1751-1752, and the tower was built between 1777 and 1786. The old church with a triple nave plan was extended to become one of the largest Protestant baroque churches set over a Greek cross. In 1906, fire once again destroyed the church. However, it had become such an important symbol to the city that it was reconstructed true to its original external design. It was also severely damaged in 1943 during World War II and was once again rebuilt.
The view of the harbor from the top of Michaeliskirche spire was amazing. If you look closely at the bottom left of this photo, you can see (part of) the Rickmer Rickmers museum ship. It was built in 1896 and is one of the last three-masted sailing ships. Unfortunately, I only managed to get one of the masts in this shot. You could definitely tell that Hamburg is a very busy and bustling harbor city!
There was even a nice view of the Nikolaikirche remains from here. It was real windy and cold up there, but fortunately, I didn’t have to climb the 453 steps for this view -- there was an elevator after about three flights of stairs. Nice!
After four hours wandering through Hamburg, visiting three churches and going to the top of two church steeples, I was one tired tourist! Fortunately, the Hamburg train station has lockers where you can leave your luggage if need be. Even though I traveled light with just a small pull-behind suitcase, it made my afternoon wanderings so much easier knowing my suitcase was safely waiting for me at the station.
After retrieving my suitcase, I headed down to the platform to catch the ICE -- Inter City Express -- train back home. Of note, all of these trains are local and regional trains, not the ICE. I made sure I was on the platform waiting for my high-speed train when it arrived since they don’t stop for very long.
