Hamburg 2

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.

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.

During a tour by bus, we passed by the Außenalster, the lake within the city, and admired the panorama of Hamburg's churches.

Engraving around 1700. Today all steeples are still there
except the one of the old bishop's cathedral, demolished in 1805.

The Elbtunnel

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.

The Landungsbrücken and the dome of the entrance to the Elbtunnel.
To the right is the Hotel Hafen Hamburg with its "bar tower."

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.

Further upstream: St. Katherinen, St. Nicolai, and above all,
Hamburg's new landmark on the right: Elphi

Here is the entire panorama

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.

Here are the entrances to elevators for the cars at the lower level.

The tunnel has two one-way tubes, one already rebuilt
while the other is still under reconstruction.

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.

Hurray, even an automobile fits into the tunnel.

 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.

He couldn't care less.

Our group walked 480 meters to meet the bus on the other side of the Elbe River.

The History of the Advent Wreath

Red Baron's traditional Advent wreath of 2019

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.

The Wichern wreath is still alive at St. Michaelis church.

A closer look.

Visiting the Kings of St. Pauli

On the second evening in Hamburg, our group went to the theater.

Crossing the Reeperbahn, Hamburg's sinful mile. A red-light district?

On the right is the famous Davidswache, Hamburg's smallest police station.

A family story: Die Königs vom Kiez.
 Their name is König, and they live in the St. Pauli district.

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.

The mayor announces that beer brewing is scheduled for Wednesday.
It is no longer allowed to shit into the creek from Tuesday on.

Here is a day view of a scene Red Baron took in January 2017 at night

The tasting took place at the Störtebeker, a restaurant on the upper floor of the Elbphilharmonie.

The brewery is named after Klaus Störtebeker, a privateer at the time of the Hanse.
He was captured and beheaded in Hamburg.

The pipes of Störtebeker's beer orgue

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.

Passing Elphi on the water. The air around the building is polluted with fine dust.

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 reported earlier on this extraordinary exhibition. So here are just two new photos:

Venice's Piazza San Marco without inundation.

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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