Hamburg - the best city in Germany

[Guest]

I've been bouncing around a lot of different ex-pat sites lately, everything from forums to blogs to travel sites, and I keep hearing consistenty positive reviews about the city of Hamburg from people who have lived there for a couple of years.

 

I contrast this to reviews of Sweden (except Goteborg), Denmark, the Netherlands, and certain cities in Germany such as Frankfurt, where the reviews are decidedly negative for the most part.

 

I was curious why Hamburg is widely liked by long-term ex-pats, and if any of you have lived there before?

 

Thanks.

[Small Town Boy 6,672]

Can't really comment on Hamburg as I haven't been there since I was 14, but if you do go there I hope you don't like mountains.

 

Frankfurt I can comment on, and as most people would agree, it's miserable.

[pepper 8]

Hamburg is a really nice city, I would live there, but as for whether its the best city in Germany, this is a personal thing, and everyones opinion will be different. All I can say is, if you want to live in Hamburg, go for it, and don't post on a Munich web site !

 

Hamburg does have a great night life !

[Keydeck 9,248]

Hamburg the best city in Germany? No.

[jml 365]

dammit, beaten to it. what he said. :D

[Guest]

Depends what you like. It's like Berlin only smaller. The people are very open towards strangers, but it rains a lot! The weather is probably the worst in the whole of Germany. I felt very at home there, but disliked the weather. It is a beautiful but expensive city. The Alster is great!

[Didsbury's Daftest 22]

Spent the last 25 years there and it beats any other German city by lengths. I agree about the weather but don't think a bit of rain does us any harm. Especially not if you're from Merseyside anyway. And my first summer here wasn't really any different to be honest. Every thing else is just brilliant, the River Elbe, the Fish market, the docks, the districts, the Alster twin lakes, the bridges, the night life, the architecture, the green spaces, the housing and living standards, the fruit-growing areas and the old farmhouses, the brick-built warehose complex called Speicherstadt, the harbour, the non-stop maritime hustle-and-bustle, the lively shopping streets, the hospitality, the shopping arcades (not just for bad weather), the historic sites etc. etc. etc. - probably also the most British city in Germany. See it!

[algorhythm 0]

I spent 6 yrs in HH and loved it. Not quite as cosmopolitan as Berlin, London or Paris, but large enough to be far from provincial. Comparing it to Berlin is a bit analogous to Los Angeles/S.F., Toronto/Montreal, or Madrid/Barcelona...large enough to be cultured, small enough to be (reasonably) friendly. Yes, the weather sucks, but that's true for most of Germany. HH has a good music scene...more live musicians than Berlin, which is a bigger club/DJ scene. Personally, I prefer HH to Muenchen, but I'm sure others will disagree.

[Expat Mat 16]

I've been here for nearly 2 years and I don't think I can express it as eliquently as Didsbury's Daftest, but I found this on the web and its seems to ring true:

 

Wolfgang Borchert, who was born here, once stated:

 

"Oh Hamburg! It's more than a heap of stones, roofs, windows, beds, streets, bridges and streetlights! It's

more than factory chimneys and cars blowing their horns - more than the screeching of seagulls, noise from the streetcars and the thundering of the railway - it's more than ships sirens, cranes than creak, curses and dancing music - oh, it is so much more!"

 

He was right. Hamburg just has an air about it - on the one-hand, it's the epitome of a metropolis and on the other hand, it has a cosiness and elegance about it. It is idyllic, mundane, hectic and cosy all at the same time, but never boring.

 

I instantly felt at home here and feel it shares a lot of characterisitics with Manchester(UK): Down-to-earth people, a relaxed attitude and good nightlife, not to mention the weather.

 

I could quite easily see myself living here for a lot longer.

[Didsbury's Daftest 22]

And I would love to be still living there, best German city I know. Munichs a definate second though...completely different but certainly has it's own wonderful style and atmosphere.

[Hutcho 2,227]

Yeh, but any mountains near Hamburg? :)

[Didsbury's Daftest 22]

Ever been to the Strandperle bar, sat on the banks of the river Elbe and watched the container ships pass by? Who needs mountains?

[Hutcho 2,227]

Umm.. you ever been to the Alps?

[algorhythm 0]

I think a lot of what I was alluding to were the cultural aspects of the city...not always something you can tangibly define, but there are a handful of (term used loosely here) "secondary" cities like Hamburg, SF, Montreal and yes, Manchester, which may not be as "world-class" as their big-cousin rivals, but have something special about them. HH is a seaport town, and some (only some) old seaport towns have a certain flair about them. And yeah, it's a really visually appealing city...all the different neighborhoods really =feel= like neighborhoods. As to mountains, okay, it's lacking...you want mountains, head south. (Though personally I'm more fond of Freiburg than Munich.) Hamburg's got water...lots of it...more canals than Venice, I've read somewhere. It's pretty tough to find a city with close access to beaches =and= mountains (other than maybe L.A., but that's due to drop into the Pacific soon...) :rolleyes:

[resi 317]

 

Hamburg the best city in Germany? No.

Yes, actually. But it depends a lot on what you're looking for.

 

Quick test for you:

A ) I enjoy wearing my designer outfit to the beergarden and having a decent job/salary; I like parks and Italy and skiing.

B ) I write like poetry and I want to start a revolution in the music biz but till then I teach English for 10 eur per hour and boy, did I have to fight to get that job. Never mind, great bars, cheap booze, bizarre people...

C ) I don't know what I like. But I like to have it all on offer. Culture high and low. Dress up, dress down, don't dress at all. A river that smells of salt. I'm looking for variety.

 

A's for Munich

B's for Berlin

C's for Hamburg

 

Have lived in each city for a minimum of 5 years so it isn't hearsay.

 

Take your pick.

[DDBug 1,665]

C is Munich - except for the river smelling of salt. A certainly isn't Munich - but I've only lived here 14 years, what do I know ;)

[bluedave 2,499]

Lived in Hamburg for 3 years and it is a great city, lots of culture ( both low and high), great river and harbour, people very unpretentious unlike some of our Bavarian brethren.

 

Get rid of the bloody tramps that are everywhere, the litter that is even more prevalent than the tramps, build some decent beer gardens AND most of all ! import Bavarian helles instead of the Jever piss and it would be a good northern alternative to Munich :)

[Hammonia 12]

Litter everywhere? You spent too much time on the Reeps, Dave *g*

 

Seriously - it is not such a huge problem, but maybe I just don't notice it anymore...

Was quite shocked about litter really being lit(t)erally everywhere in Manchester, though (but still think Manchester is a phantastic city).

 

Think you know some places where you can get an Augustiner or a Maß in Hamburg, eh?

Hey, we even found a store that sells Augustiner, and 249 other brands of beer

 

For me Hamburg is the one and only city to be in Germany, mainly because auf the (as mentioned) unpretentious, down-to-earth people, that's more important to me than beer gardens (although we do have quite a few, but maybe not decent compared to Munich)

I like it that Hamburg is so green, I even like the weather, there's always at least a soft breeze, and you can smell the water...

 

Just sitting in the office, with a lovely view of the Rathaus, Finnegan's Wake just round the corner for a beer after work, an apartment with view of Hagenbeck's Tierpark - I'm happy here :)

[Eleanor Rigby 1,934]

 

Have lived in each city for a minimum of 5 years so it isn't hearsay.

It may not be hearsay but it is crass overgeneralisation to the point that it no longer reflects reality.

[boomtown_rat 629]

I've also heard good things about Hamburg but never been there