Travel and Adventure by Various Travel Authors

Hamburg, Germany's second largest city and Europe's second busiest container port, offers unique appeals as well as challenges to tourists. A crazy quilt of neighborhoods and attractions, Hamburg is the opposite of so many German cities where a common mood and well-preserved architecture enhances the feeling of stepping back into history.

But, that's not Hamburg. With a history marked by vigorous trade and multiple wars, plus natural and manmade disasters, those who are comfortable searching out urban gems will appreciate Hamburg.

The Alster Lake, around which Hamburg's finest architecture arises, is a logical base of operations. And one terrific hotel choice in the area is the lovely 281-room InterContinenal hotel.

Quite nearby is Jungfernstieg, site of the truly grand, circa 1897 neo-Renaissance Rathaus, or city hall, on the Binnenalster, the lower end of the Alster shoreline. Nearby are many of Hamburg's chicest shops, and Deichstrasse, or Dyke Street, an old traders lane that's one of the few essentially intact remnants of 17th to 19th century Hamburg.

Deichstrasse is both fascinating to peruse, as well as an excellent dining destination. One of its best restaurants is the approximately 300-year-old Alt Hamburger Aalspeicher, which specializes in fish.

Much more stark and thought-provoking is the nearby surviving portions of St. Nikolai Church. Once an impressive Gothic cathedral, today it is powerful antiwar memorial. With its nave essentially obliterated by World War II bombs, it now consists largely of bits of window frames, jagged wall fragments, and the entryway to an underground museum.

However, the 246-foot-tall tower, accessible by elevator, does provide an extraordinary 360-degree view. Also at the top are photos of the views visitors might have seen before WWII. At street level, there are walls of an exhibition center covered with wartime photographs. Concerts and exhibits are also staged here.

Among Hamburg's most notable preserved structures is St. Michael's, a massive baroque church, built during the 1750s that is the symbol of Hamburg. Its gorgeous architecture, and soaring 433-foot-tall tower features what is reputed to be Germany's largest church clock,

Another pleasant stop is the home where Johannes Brahms (1833-97) was born. Filled with music manuscripts, photographs, the home offers a real sense of a prosperous 19th century middle-class dwelling. Also on Peterstrasse, one of the city's oldest byways, is a group of well-preserved half-timbered houses.

Nearby is Neue Strasse, an area were Jewish merchants who for centuries were prohibited from establishing permanent stores in Hamburg were allowed to set up temporary sales stalls.

Of course, there is no lack of superior music offerings throughout Hamburg. The most attractive venue is Laeiszhalle, a jewel box of a concert hall, home to the renowned Hamburg Symphony.

And operagoers will enjoy attending a performance of the Staatsoper Hamburg. In operation since 1678, today its international quality performances and productions are the hallmark of this troupe, considered one of Europe's best.

By proceeding toward Landsbrucke, which parallels the Elbe River, visitors invariably partake of one of Hamburg's favorite attractions, a river cruise. Most popular are the hour-long sailings in which one can see astoundingly busy container ports, dry-docks, new ship construction sites, continually crisscrossing ferries, the ultramodern design shape of the city's new concert hall, set to debut in 2011, and the site of the St. Pauli Fischmarkt.

The latter is definitely worth a visit on Sunday mornings from 5:30 to 9:30 am. It's a great chance to mingle with every strata of Hamburg society — from fishmongers to "fleshmongers" and most stops between — and also consume samples from hundreds of stalls selling the best from European waters.

Another walking area that underlines Hamburg's devotion to trade — it was one of the founding members of the medieval Hanseatic League — is Speicherstadt.

Dominated by late 19th century warehouses and adjoining canals, they comprise one of the worlds most massive indoor storage areas. Many are product-specific. Some, such as the coffee or spice facilities, can be identified long before being viewed!

Major art has a fine Hamburg home at the Kuntshalle. Focusing on 19th century German romantics, there are also fine works by Rembrandt, Edouard Manet, Edvard Munch, and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner.

Of course, Hamburg's most famous — or infamous — street is the Reeperbahn. Long after the retreat of sexual repression — and more than 40 years since the Beatles ignited their career here, the Reeperbahn, named for the heavy rope for ships produced here for centuries—today is far more sad than sensual.

Bars, and their spillover of soused football fans are more prominent than the streetwalkers who once dominated the scene. There are still some musical shows running in the district, but the most prestigious and upscale — such as Disney's "The Lion King" and "Tarzan" — are playing in more modern, and family-friendly settings.

But what still draws curious visitors are the sex shows, and Herbertstrasse, the city's most famous brothel street, where ladies for rent pose in red-backlit windows. Incidentally, the street is perfectly safe due in part to an armada of patrolling police. It has a barrier at either end through which no women, and no males under the age of 18, are allowed to pass.

A more intriguing remnant of Hamburg's past is BallinStadt, a five-minute walk, directly across the street from the Werkel station on the S. bahn train. Now filling three restored buildings — there used to be 30 — are renovations and reconstructions including a dormitory where emigrants stayed prior to their departure from Germany.

A creation of Albert Ballin, the general manager of the Hapag Ship Line during the late 19th and early 20th century, it served as a place to provide clean housing, medical attention and good food to thousands who sought a better life outside of Europe.

When BallinStadt opened in 1907, the complex handled 190,000 arrivals who stayed an average of five days. Many, having come to Hamburg from all over Europe, needed a place to recover from what was often a harrowing land journey. And Ballin, like other ship owners, needed to ensure that his passengers were accepted for entry at the end of their journey. Otherwise, they were required to return them to Germany at their company expense.

Therefore, for more than purely humanitarian reasons, Ballin had good reason to ensure his passengers were in the best possible shape. Today, you can visit a typical dormitory, and a museum where visitors can follow the progress of a typical immigrant

There is also a library where today's visitors can trace their ancestors (via a website like www.ancestors.com) and find the actual ship and route that, more often than not, brought them to the United States.

Incidentally, for those investigating family trees, an ideal complementary visit would be to the German Emigration Center in Bremerhaven, 2 1/2 hours by train from Hamburg.

Other intriguing nearby destinations include the well-preserved commercial center of Bremen, the extraordinarily well-preserved medieval trading hub of Lubeck, and Stade, a photographers paradise and one of Germany 's best preserved medieval towns. All are easily reachable from Hamburg via German Rail.

IF YOU GO:

InterContinenal hotel www.hamburg.intercontinental.com.

BallinStadt: www.ballinstadt.de.

Hamburg Tourism: www.hamburg-tourism.de.

German Rail: www.railpass.com.

Robert Selwitz is a freelance travel writer. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2009 CREATORS SYNDICATE INC.