Today's tour is going to pass through the port of Hamburg
as it looked in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
The main German seaport is located on the Elbe River,
some 110 km from the North Sea.
One of the first cities to join the Hanseatic League,
Hamburg became a prominent trading and cultural center
of Central Europe mainly thanks to its port.
Its list of landmarks is both large and highly impressive.
We begin our journey at one of the oldest buildings in Hamburg—
St. Catherine's Church.
It's a vivid example of the Brick or Hanseatic Gothic style
and one of the five principal churches of Hamburg.
Its construction started in the 13th century
and ended only in the middle of the 15th century.
In 1657, the belfry was decorated with a storied dome
and a spire with a gold crown at a height of 115 meters.
Later, the church became known for its unique organ,
which was played by Bach himself.
St. Catherine's Church was considered the main temple of Hamburg sailors.
Not far from it stands the highest building in Hamburg
at that time—the Church of St. Nicholas—
which was built in the neo-Gothic style.
It's located on the spot where a 14th-century church
bearing the same name burnt down during the Great fire of 1842.
Its construction was finished in 1874,
and for the following 2 years,
the Church of St. Nicholas was the tallest building in the world.
St. Michael's Church is an architectural landmark of Hamburg.
The first St. Michael's Church was built between 1648 and 1669,
and it burnt down as a result of a lightning strike
less than a hundred years later.
New construction started in its place the following year,
but it was for a new project in the Late Baroque style.
However, at the beginning of the 20th century, a fire destroyed it as well.
Citizens then restored the temple using the old blueprints,
but implementing modern technology.
The clock on the 132-meter belfry is the largest in Germany.
The clock's diameter is 8 meters;
the length of the hour hand is almost 5 meters;
and the clock's weight is almost 130 kg.
Close to St. Michael's Church, on the bank of the Elbe,
there is the impressive Landungsbrücken landing place
with a river-boat station and a huge—
almost 700-meter long—pontoon bridge
which was erected between 1907 and 1909
and still serves as a pier for numerous ships.
The Pegelturm tower rises in the eastern part
of the complex made of volcanic tuff.
The tower houses a water level indicator, a clock,
and a ship's bell that is struck every 30 minutes.
On the opposite side of the Landungsbrücken landing place,
an entrance to the Old Elbe Tunnel is located—
it's one of the oldest submarine tunnels in Europe
and an engineering landmark of the early 20th century
that is still in use today.
It was opened in 1911 and was considered an engineering marvel.
Four elevators lower cars to a depth of 22 meters.
The cars then travel 420 meters under the Elbe
and return to the surface on the opposite bank using elevators again.
The entrances to the tunnel are extremely decorated rotundas,
and the walls inside the tunnel are decorated
with maritime-themed bas-reliefs.
Several interesting ships are moored along the river bank today.
The oldest of them is paddle-wheel steamer Dolphin, which was built in 1905.
She was used for transporting passengers between
Wangerooge island and the mainland.
Four-masted barque Padua was launched in 1926.
This commercial cargo ship
was one of the fastest sailing ships of the 20th century,
and she set several speed records that are yet to be topped.
For example, between 1933 and 1934,
the ship traveled from Hamburg to Port Lincoln, South Australia,
in a mere 67 days.
Later on, she would be known as Kruzenshtern.
Cap Arcona is a luxury ocean liner
which set out on her maiden voyage from Hamburg
to Buenos Aires on October 29, 1927.
At that time, she was the most spacious, fastest,
and state-of-the-art ship on that route.
Passenger vessel Stadt Kiel was launched at the Germania dockyard on May 26, 1934.
The vessel had room for 400 passengers.
No port can go without a dockyard.
Blohm&Voss was founded in 1877, and 50 years later,
it became one of the largest dockyards in the world.
That's where welding was first used instead of rivet points
for the construction of steel hulls.
The unique Kaispeicher A port warehouse was built in 1875.
Its elevators and cranes could lift loads weighing up to 1.5 tons
right from a ship's deck.
The tower didn't just serve as a good waypoint—
a "time ball" was mounted on its top.
The ball moved up the mast and fell exactly at noon
to indicate a precise time to match
chronometer watches used in navigation.
In 1883, to clear out an area for a new port district and warehouses,
more than 20,000 people were forced to move out.
The Speicherstadt, "the city of warehouses" in German,
emerged in place of their homes.
It's the largest warehouse district in the world,
and the buildings stand on oak-log foundations.
Construction was finished in 1927.
The Speicherstadt became a free zone.
The buildings there had different support structures—
they were all clad in red bricks and decorated with glazed terracotta ornaments.
As a result, the buildings formed an impressive
uniform neo-Gothic architectural ensemble.
The Fish Auction Hall was built between 1895 and 1896
for unloading and selling caught fish, storing and repairing fishnets,
and distributing ice. In its structure, this hall represents
a three-aisled basilica, and its architect intended it
to resemble the market halls of Ancient Rome.
The German Naval Observatory was founded in 1874,
and in 1881, it received its own building.
Meteorological observations and hydrography activities were conducted here,
and it was also a place for nautical instruments
and chronometers to be checked.
On October 1, 1749, the first state German Navigation School
for training new captains was founded in Hamburg.
A new building for the school was erected in 1905.
Its brick facades in the North Renaissance style
are decorated with cartouches depicting the names of outstanding
geographers, seafarers, and map makers.
The City Hall building housed the Senate and Parliament of Hamburg.
It was erected between 1886 and 1897
in the same spot where the Old City Hall
had burnt down during the Great fire of 1842.
The building's rich Neo-Renaissance decorations and stately appearance
were intended to highlight the wealth and independence of Hamburg.
The tallest monument in Hamburg (more than 34 meters)—
the Bismarck monument— was established in 1906
in honor of the German Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck.
The sculpture is carved out of Schwarzwald granite—
its weight is around 650 tons and its height is almost 15 meters.
It's placed on a 19-meter pedestal
with relief drawings depicting scenes from German history.
Two sets of stairs lead up the pedestal,
and athletes are carved into its sides.
The Grasbrook Gasworks, built in 1909, is a gigantic tank
that stores up to 200,000 m³ of natural gas.
For a period of several weeks, it was the largest gas receptacle in Europe.
In the sky above the port,
you can see one of the most famous and largest
passenger dirigibles in the world—
LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin— which was built in 1928.
A year later, it became the first airship to circumnavigate the world.
It completed the journey in a record 20 days
with just three intermediate landings.
And here is another airborne record holder—
the largest, heaviest, and most powerful flying boat in the world—
Dornier Do X.
This airplane, constructed in 1929, took off with 169 passengers on board,
and its record remained unsurpassed for 20 years.
Unfortunately, this unique twelve-engine airborne vehicle
didn't enter serial production due to its poor flight performance.
We'll conclude our tour at St. Peter's Church.
It's built on the site of a wooden church from the early 11th century,
and it's considered the oldest parish church in the city.
The first mention of the church dates back to 1195.
Its bronze door handles shaped as lion heads
are the most ancient art pieces in Hamburg—they date back to 1342.
The church was rebuilt several times,
and in 1878, it got its current appearance
when its 132-meter belfry topped with a copper spire was completed.
Here, we say goodbye to historic Hamburg. Until next time!