For New Year's Eve, Red Baron had booked a trip to Hamburg (again), this time
with the
Badische Zeitung, Freiburg's one and only daily newspaper.
But then my relatives did not like that I planned to stay alone at Christmas. So
I took a train north to Bonn on Christmas Eve (December 24), meeting my
sister-in-law and brother for the celebration.
Although the tree was traditional, Christmas Eve was not. I sat around a table
with my sister-in-law's family; we all had meat fondue. The seating arrangement
was perfect, so we all found our conversation partners.
On December 27, I continued north to Cologne, spending two days with my other
sister-in-law and husband.
I stayed at the Hotel Früh am Dom (near the cathedral). Früh is a traditional
beer brewer of
Kölsch, the local beer of Cologne. They operate extensive
drinking facilities on the ground floor but now run a hotel too. In the
foreground, note the
Heinzelmännchenbrunnen (fountain of the brownies or
good folks of Cologne).
This was the early morning view from the breakfast room. Men are cleaning the
square around the cathedral from the remains of the Christmas market.
Later, I visited the Rembrandt exhibition at the Wallraf Museum with my
relatives.
On December 29, I finally took the
train to Hamburg to meet
my fellow Freiburgers at the hotel. Before New Year's Eve, we spent some time
sightseeing in the city.
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Hamburg's major steeples from right to left: St. Michaelis (Michel), St.
Katherinen,
St.Nicolai in front of Elphi, St. Petri, St. Jacobi,
and to the left, the twin steeples of new St. Ansgar, the Catholic
bishop church.
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During a tour by bus, we passed by the
Außenalster, the lake within the
city, and admired the panorama of Hamburg's churches.
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Engraving around 1700. Today all steeples are still there
except the one of the old bishop's cathedral, demolished in 1805.
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The Elbtunnel
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| West entrance to the Elbtunnel |
Our bus moved through the new Hafen City to the entrance of the
Elbtunnel on the left bank of the Elbe River. But before we entered the
building, we went to the waterfront, where we had a fantastic view of the river
and the city.
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The Landungsbrücken and the dome of the entrance to the
Elbtunnel.
To the right is the
Hotel Hafen Hamburg with its "bar tower."
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The middle part of the panorama with the spire of St. Michaelis.
Note to the left the tower at Landungsbrücken displaying the tide
mark,
and farther to the left, the Bismarck statue.
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Further upstream: St. Katherinen, St. Nicolai, and above all,
Hamburg's new landmark on the right: Elphi
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Here is the entire panorama
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Construction of the Elbtunnel started in 1907. No access ramps were
built.
Vehicles - primarily horse-drawn carriages - were brought
to the lower level using elevators.
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Here are the entrances to elevators for the cars at the lower level.
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The tunnel has two one-way tubes, one already rebuilt
while the other is still under reconstruction.
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The entrances to the tube under construction are covered with canvas.
The surfaces show old photos.
Dockers with their bicycles on their way to work.
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Hurray, even an automobile fits into the tunnel.
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Only bicycles are allowed in the already-restored tube
in both directions during the construction work.
The speed limit
is 10 km/h (6 miles per hour), but cyclists go faster.
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He couldn't care less.
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Our group walked 480 meters to meet the bus on the other side of the
Elbe River.
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The History of the Advent Wreath
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Red Baron's traditional Advent wreath of 2019
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In
1839 the Protestant-Lutheran theologian, educator, and
founder of the Protestant Diaconia
Johann Hinrich Wichern
(1808-1881) introduced the Advent wreath when working in a suburb of Hamburg at
the
Rauhes Haus (Harsh House), an approved school for orphans and street
children.
The so-called
Wichernkranz was a wagon wheel with initially twenty small
red candles and four large white candles. A candle is lit every evening from the
1st of Advent to Christmas Eve. The big candles are for the Sundays in Advent,
and the small ones are for the workdays. Wichern hung the wreath in the prayer
room of the orphanage. It was to show the children the number of days until
Christmas while also learning to count.
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The Wichern wreath is still alive at St. Michaelis church.
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| A closer look. |
Visiting the Kings of St. Pauli
On the second evening in Hamburg, our group went to the theater.
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Crossing the Reeperbahn, Hamburg's sinful mile. A red-light
district?
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On the right is the famous Davidswache, Hamburg's smallest police
station.
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A family story: Die Königs vom Kiez.
Their name is König, and they live in the St. Pauli
district.
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| Red light urinal. |
Beer Tasting
A beer tasting was included in the trip. Hamburg has an old tradition of beer
brewing, although the hygienic conditions in the past were only sometimes
perfect.
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The mayor announces that beer brewing is scheduled for Wednesday.
It is no longer allowed to shit into the creek from Tuesday on.
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The tasting took place at the Störtebeker, a restaurant on the upper floor of
the
Elbphilharmonie.
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The brewery is named after
Klaus Störtebeker, a privateer at the time of the Hanse.
He was captured and beheaded in Hamburg.
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The pipes of Störtebeker's beer orgue
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For the tasting, we had the following beers accompanied by appropriate
sandwiches.
1. The mild off-dry
Kellerbier trüb (Cellar beer, foggy; 4.6%) is served
with an avocado cream sandwich.
2. Fruity aromatic
Wit-Bier (5.1%) with a Brie cheese sandwich. The
Störtebeker Witbier, brewed with coriander and orange peel, does not fulfill the
German
Reinheitsgebot. You must ask for authorization to name the drink a beer. Such approval is
easier to get in Northern Germany than in Bavaria.
3. Stormy fresh bitterly Atlantik Pale Ale (5.1%) and a smoked salmon sandwich
not in a photo.
4. Substantial fruity
Roggen Weizen (5.4%) and a smoked ham sandwich. The
rye "wheat" beer is brewed with aromatic and classical bitter hops.
5. All the sandwiches are gone. The substantial aromatic-fruity
Eis Lager (9.8%) is served with mascarpone in a glass. The ice lager is
increased in alcohol by freezing out about half the water but retaining the
alcohol.
New Year's Eve
Our group boarded a boat, MS Hafen Hamburg, on New Year's Eve to celebrate the
new year on the Elbe River. New Year's Day is welcomed with noise and smoke from
official and private fireworks in Germany. Apparently, about 20% of the yearly
dose of fine dust is emitted during New Year's Night. Could the money spent on
fireworks find nobler causes? The air would be cleaner too.
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Passing Elphi on the water. The air around the building is polluted with
fine dust.
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Miniatur Wunderland
Before taking the train south, our group visited the Miniatur Wunderland on New
Year's morning. We were walking from our hotel, still smelling the curse of the
night's deeds. Red Baron r
eported earlier on this extraordinary exhibition. So here are just two new photos:
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Venice's Piazza San Marco without inundation.
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The Principality of Monaco is still under construction.
The greatest challenge is the simulation of the
famous Grand Prix de Monte Carlo, the Formula 1 car race.
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