Hamburg

“ There are no remarkable collections of art, or curiosities for a stranger, in Hamburg. The promenades in the gardens, the cafés crowded with both sexes, the sight of the water parties, in their gaily painted boats, a stroll through the gardens in the evening, listening to the music, and viewing the dances and waltzes of all classes, is quite sufficient to occupy the time of a traveller. ”

“ The illusion remained with them and qualified the impression which Hamburg made by her much-trolleyed Bostonian effect; by the decorous activity and Parisian architecture of her business streets; by the turmoil of her quays, and the innumerable masts and chimneys of her shipping. At the heart of all was that quaintness, that picturesqueness of the past, which embodied the spirit of the old Hanseatic city, and seemed the expression of the home-side of her history. ”

“ Hamburg has always been an important city and one where great volume of business has been transacted. In the Middle Ages it was a member of the Hanseatic League; in after days it was a Free City and, even at this time, its citizens view its absorption within the German Empire not altogether with satisfaction. It bears the marks of great antiquity. Quaint and picturesque are the lofty mediaeval buildings which lean over its canals, where men and women push, with long poles, blunt-ended canal boats and clumsy-looking, but storm-proof, sloops and luggers, among perpetual cries and clamors ”

“ From Empfelde, a village half way from Ratzeburg, I walked to Hamburg through deep sandy roads and a dreary flat: the soil everywhere white, hungry, and excessively pulverised; but the approach to the city is pleasing. Light cool country houses, which you can look through and see the gardens behind them, with arbours and trellis work, and thick vegetable walls, and trees in cloisters and piazzas, each house with neat rails before it, and green seats within the rails. Every object, whether the growth of nature or the work of man, was neat and artificial. ”

“ Even here in old Hamburg, the haughty free city of commerce, the rich city boasting of her noble port filled with ships from every land,—proud of her wealth, her strength, her merchants, and her warehouses,—looking well after her ducats, caring much for her dinner, plainly telling you she is of a prosaic nature, leaving tales of love and chivalry to the more romantic South,—even here the air is full of subtle intangible influences, that will move you deeply if you will but receive them. ”

“ We are three; a quiet Dane, full of sage precepts, and practical illustrations of economy; a roystering Bavarian from Nuremberg, who never fails to grieve over the thin beer of Hamburg, and who, as member of a choral union near Das Johanneum, delights in vigorous and unexpected bursts of song; and myself.
Workmen in Hamburg are still in a state of villanage; beneath the roof of the “Herr” do they find at once a workshop, a dormitory, and a home. We endeavour so far to conform to the rules of propriety as to escape the imprisonment and other penalties that await the “unruly journeyman.” ”

“ In the olden time the good wives of Hamburg no doubt wore such gowns. One sees now in the street called Grosse Bleichen great buildings, banks and shops, and all the evidences of busy modern life; but one shuts the eyes and sees instead groups of women in blue and red, coming out from the city walls to lay on the green grass the linen they have spun, that it may whiten in the sunshine. ”

“ It is but a short and pleasant walk from Hamburg to Altona, under the shade of several rows of trees, and this walk is the more agreeable after quitting the rough pavement of either place.
Hamburg is an ill, close-built town, swarming with inhabitants, and, from what I could learn, like all the other free towns, governed in a manner which bears hard on the poor, whilst narrowing the minds of the rich; the character of the man is lost in the Hamburger. ”

“ The gates of Hamburg are shut at seven in the winter and nine in the summer, lest some strangers, who come to traffic in Hamburg, should prefer living, and consequently—so exactly do they calculate—spend their money out of the walls of the Hamburger’s world. Immense fortunes have been acquired by the per-cents. ”

“ The landscape beauty of Hamburg is beyond description. “Schöne Aussicht” greets you in bold letters everywhere you glance, to remind you if you are careless and indifferent to their beauty. Usually four rows of lindens will run the entire length of the streets; drives through the residence portion are quite unlike those of our American cities. The exclusiveness of their homes is a distinct feature. They are hidden almost from view by dense but highly cultivated foliage. Flowers are in greatest profusion about every home, from the palace to the peasant’s home at Cuxhaven. ”

“ In Hamburg alone there were handed over from female friends of the Mission, one hundred and twenty-eight cotton shirts, all finished and ready; from Haide forty striped shirts for the natives; from Lübeck and Mechlenburg, besides beautiful under-linen, all sorts of pictures and little things for the heathen; from some children here came writing boxes, pens, and writing books for the heathen children. Also from here, from Osnabrück, Schaumburg, Lüneburg, Bremen, and neighbourhood, whole rolls of linen cloth. There was a stir and spring of love that moved people's hearts. ”

“ The modern portion of Hamburg has been entirely rebuilt since the memorable fire of 1842. What a useful renovator a great fire is to an old city; there is nothing like it for a great clearing out of nuisances! ”

“ The levelled fortifications are now converted into superb and extensive promenades, gardens, and shrubberies, exhibiting a pleasing contrast to the endless batteries, fosses, and bastions of Magdeburg and other fortified towns. No city or town on the Continent, that I have seen, presents anything like the bustle of business that is going forward in every street of Hamburg. ”

“ The exquisite symmetry, the novel and shapely rose combs, the snowy and delicate ear-lobes, the tapering blue legs and graceful carriage give them an aristocratic and “dressed up” appearance and render them the most beautiful of our domestic fowls.
The Hamburg fancier has plenty of scope in which to indulge his taste, the different colors and markings affording an ample variety from which to choose, while the general characteristics are the same. ”

“ If the intention was to take my life, no better place could have been chosen for the work than Hamburg. It would be a comparatively easy matter to knock me on the head, dress me in some disguise without a mark of any sort which would lead to my identification, and then either drop me into the river or carry me ashore to one of the low quarters of the town, where violent deaths were matters of no uncommon occurrence. ”

“ The charge for the ascent is one mark.
Afterwards, when perambulating the streets, you will discover that Hamburg is a city not less interesting when viewed from the ground. The narrow streets, the old architecture, the variety of costumes, the curious ways of the traders, will arrest your attention at every step. ”

“ But for the pain of witnessing vexations of this sort, which I had not always power to prevent, especially after Bernadotte's removal, my residence at Hamburg would have been delightful. Those who have visited that town know the advantages it possesses from its charming situation on the Elbe, and above all, the delightful country which surrounds it like a garden, and extends to the distance of more than a league along the banks of the Eyder. The manners and customs of the inhabitants bear the stamp of peculiarity; they are fond of pursuing their occupations in the open air. ”

“ The crops raised in the country districts are principally vegetables and fruit, potatoes, hay, oats, rye and wheat. For manufactures and trade statistics see Hamburg (city) .
The military organization of Hamburg was arranged by convention with Prussia. The state furnishes three battalions of the 2nd Hanseatic regiment, under Prussian officers. The soldiers swear the oath of allegiance to the senate.
HAMBURG, a seaport of Germany, capital of the free state of Hamburg, on the right bank of the northern arm of the Elbe, 75 m. from its mouth at Cuxhaven and 178 m. N.W. from Berlin by rail. ”

“ Oh, God! and those are supposed to be the very finest brands to be got in Hamburg. Damme! I've spared neither trouble nor money, and here they play the very deuce with every idea of enjoyment--not one of the infernal things will draw. Can a man enjoy the beauties of nature, or take part in any sort of rational conversation, when these damnable things won't burn? ”

“ The first thing that impressed me was Hamburg, and by that I mean the European views prevalent there. At that time, doubtless mainly for national reasons, Denmark hated Hamburg. Different Danish authors had recently written about the town, and in as depreciatory a strain as they could. The description of one amounted to an assertion that in Hamburg people only talked of two things, money and women; that of another commenced: "Of all the places I have ever seen in my life, Hamburg is the most hideous." ”

“ In Hamburg they were selected from among the most respectable and wealthy men in the city, some of them far advanced in age. They were conveyed to the old castle of Haarburg on the left bank of the Elbe, and these men, who had been accustomed to all the comforts of life, were deprived even of necessaries, and had only straw to lie on. The hostages from Lübeck were taken to, Hamburg: they were placed between decks on board an old ship in the port: this was a worthy imitation of the prison hulks of England. ”

“ Hamburg, being a neutral city, did an immense business, and offered even more opportunity than the United States for the industry and activity of our French emigres, who were obliged to make a living somehow. ”

“ It was curious to see the people hurrying towards the Jacob Thor on a Sunday evening as the hour of closing approached, jostling and mobbing each other in their endeavours to escape the human poll tax.
But men are free, or in fetters, only by comparison; and although the rule of the senate of Hamburg, when contrasted with British government, can scarcely be called a liberal one, there is little doubt that identical laws are in Hamburg less stringently carried out than in other and most parts of the great German continent. ”

“ HAMBURG, a state of the German empire, on the lower Elbe, bounded by the Prussian provinces of Schleswig-Holstein and Hanover. The whole territory has an area of 160 sq. m., and consists of the city of Hamburg with its incorporated suburbs and the surrounding district, including several islands in the Elbe, five small enclaves in Holstein; the communes of Moorburg in the Lüneburg district of the Prussian province of Hanover and Cuxhaven-Ritzebüttel at the mouth of the Elbe, the island of Neuwerk about 5 m. ”

“ The wonderful stories told of Hamburg productiveness, while often more amusing than reliable, serve to show that in any hands, in any climate and under the most adverse circumstances they have proved very profitable to their owners, while with ordinary care they are the best of layers. ”

“ On my arrival at Hamburg, I found the river Elbe, upon which it stands, blockaded by the Danes, and the merchants complaining bitterly. This city is eighty miles from the mouth of the river, and is divided in many places by canals and crossed by bridges; and in the old town, the houses, bridges, and quays reminded me of Amsterdam. The city has a population of some one hundred and forty thousand, and possesses an immense amount of commerce. ”

“ The lady knew that her husband would be taken on to Lauenberg, but as she did not know where to telegraph to him there, she could but do so to the station-master at Buchen, and on this being done, she turned to Chute, for, traveller though she was, she was perplexed to find herself in a strange place, without servants or escort, and surrounded by unceremonious German touts bawling out, 'Stadt Hamburg,' 'Hotel du Nord,' 'Funf Thurme,' and the names of other hotels.
'Permit me to be your guide,' said he, as Travers procured an open droski; 'the Stadt Hamburg is the chief hotel. ”

“ Hamburg.—The three free cities of Hamburg, Bremen, and Lübeck are survivals of the ancient Hanseatic League. All have republican forms of government, differing in only minor details. The constitution of Hamburg came into operation January 1, 1861, and was revised in 1879 and in 1906. The principal organs of government are the Senate and the Bürgerschaft, or House of Burgesses. The Senate consists of eighteen members elected for life by the House of Burgesses, but in accordance with an indirect method so devised that the Senate itself exercises a preponderating influence in the elections. ”

“ Hamburg was more worth seeing than I expected; in the older parts there are very picturesque bits, consisting of tall, ancient houses, leaning at different angles over the dark and busy waters of the canal,—indeed, both streets and canals are crowded with the world’s commerce. Everything nowadays comes from Hamburg. Chemistry competes with the vineyards of Spain in producing what we [Pg 222] innocently drink as sherry. We survive it, so we must be grateful to Chemistry for her wonderful adaptations. ”

“ HERMAN. Listen, my friends. We are talking too much about foreign affairs. Let us discuss Hamburg for a while—that subject will give us material enough. I have often pondered on the question of how it happens that we own no cities in India, but are forced to buy the wares of others. That is a matter that the burgomaster and council ought to consider.
RICHARD. Don't speak of the burgomaster and council. If we wait until they think of it, we shall wait a long time. Here in Hamburg a burgomaster is commended for nothing but holding the law-abiding burgesses in subjection. ”