16 Must See Hamburg Landmarks

One of the great harbours of Europe, one of its great concert halls, and finest of city skylines in Germany. There are some fantastic Hamburg landmarks to seek out in the great maritime melting-pot of northern Germany, and this is my guide to them, particularly suited to anyone new to the city.

I’ll show you each of the main landmarks in Hamburg, describing each of them to you with tips on how to make the most of your time seeing them. I’ll also advise on how to get to each of them, giving you the nearest S-Bahn or U-Bahn station and the distance you’ll need to walk to reach each landmark.

I hope you find it helpful.

One of the most impressive Hamburg landmarks is Hamburg’s vast port, a forest of cranes just across the river from the St Pauli district. It’s a magnificent skyline, particularly at dusk when it’s lit against the sunset sky. It’s the biggest seaport in Germany, and the third largest in Europe after Rotterdam and Antwerp.

The ten landing stages occupy almost 700 metres of the St Pauli waterfront. They were built in 1907, and are used by local HADAG ferries to nearby Blankenese and Stade, as well as being the main departure point for Hamburg harbour cruises – one of the best ways to see the city.

The landing stage building is another notable Hamburg landmark, built at the same time as the landing stages with a few touches of contemporary Art Nouveau in the styling of its domes, archways and windows. The clock tower at the eastern end of the quay also serves as a water gauge tower (pegelturm in German) where the tides of the Elbe are continually measured.

Getting there: S1, S3 or U3 to Landungsbrücken

The Elbphilharmonie is the newest, and one of the most famous, Hamburg landmarks, quickly becoming one of the city’s most prominent symbols since its opening in 2017.

It’s perched on the end of an island overlooking the eastern end of Hamburg harbour, a magnificent location. Some have compared it to a ship standing proud on the promontory, but with its glass roof, it reminds me more of waves in the sea, especially when you see the glass roof above the red brick buildings along the Alsterfleet canal.

There are two concert spaces in the Elbphilharmonie – the Great Hall and Small Hall.  Much of the repertoire consists of classical concerts, but there are plenty of other artists in the concert programme – at the time of writing, artists as varied as Ethiopian jazz genius Mulatu Astatke and Moloko vocalist Roisin Murphy are scheduled to play in the next two months.

There are also guided tours of the Elbphilharmonie in English. These run three times a week, and can be booked via the Elbphilharmonie website, and are the only tours which include the two concert halls.

Getting there:  U3 U-Bahn to Baumwall, then a 250-metre walk; otherwise buses 2 and 111 stop at Am Kaiserkai (Elbphilharmonie), a 100-metre walk across the bridge from the concert hall

The Hauptkirche St Michaelis is one of the most famous Protestant Baroque churches in Germany. Known locally as the Michel (pronounced ‘Meekle’) it was the first of the great churches in Hamburg to be built to specific Protestant requirements – with seating galleries around the church, and the pulpit as the primary focal point – as opposed to the others, which made do with Catholic churches they had taken over.

The distinctive copper-topped spire is one of the tallest Hamburg landmarks, at 132 metres (433 feet). It’s so high that it was used by incoming sailors as a guide marker for navigating their way to the harbour.

The church you see today was completed in 1786, having replaced an earlier building which was destroyed by a lightning strike. It then had to be rebuilt after destruction in World War Two.

While visiting, take a look downstairs in the Crypt, where you’ll find the tomb of composer Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, son of the great Johann Sebastian. And you can also climb the tower for superb views of the city, including the Harbour and Elbphilharmonie.

Getting there: S1 or S3 S-Bahn to Stadthausbrücke then a 5-minute walk

Like many Hamburg landmarks, the Rathaus (City Hall) was rebuilt in the late 19^th century after the 1842 Great Fire.  As you might expect from a prosperous port, it’s a big statement of power, and its spire also soars well past the 100-metre mark like the churches nearby.

Hamburg City Hall overlooks the Rathuausplatz and, a short distance away, the Binnenalster (inner Alster), the smaller of the two city lakes. The exterior was built in Renaissance Revival style between 1886 and 1897, while the opulent interiors vary from the Gothic Revival Grand Hallway to the Baroque meets Neoclassical Bürgerschaft lobby area, which is free to visit.

You can visit the rest of the Rathaus by guided tour, which can be booked via their website.

Getting there: U3 U-Bahn to Rathaus

Hamburg’s Speicherstadt – on the edge of the harbour and to the immediate south of the city centre – is the largest warehouse district in the world. The complex was built between 1885 and 1927 on islands in the River Elbe, and was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015.

Many of the Hamburg boat tours run through the canals of the Speicherstadt, but walking around the area is just as good a way to see the warehouses. They are mostly built from red brick, often in what seems to be a Gothic-derived style, though all were fully equipped with modern facilities and machinery from the very outset.

Many of the warehouses are still in use, and when I’ve walked around the district, the one thing I’ve noticed is that it’s an immense hub for carpets from the Middle East and beyond. Possibly the most striking building in the district is the Speicherstadt Town Hall, pictured above.

Getting there: U1 U-Bahn to Messberg, then a 5-minute walk

The other part of the Hamburg World Heritage Site is the Chilehaus, an office building in the adjacent Kontorhaus district.

The ten-storey building was constructed between 1922 and 1924, and is one of the best examples in the world of the Expressionist style in brick. The Chilehaus is shaped like a ship, with the eastern end of it narrowing to a point like the bow of a vessel.

It’s named after the South American country,  where the owner of the building, Henry B Sloman, made his fortune in the 19^th century from the saltpetre (used to make gunpowder) trade.

You can visit the courtyards of the Chilehaus, which are mainly occupied by cafes, restaurants and shops.

Getting there: U1 U-Bahn to Messberg

There’s not a lot left of ‘old Hamburg’. The severe blows of the Great Fire of 1842 and the Second World War bombings destroyed most vestiges of the historic Hanseatic city, and most of what is left consists of its rebuilt churches and this one street which backs onto the Nikolaifleet canal.

The street, which is 280 metres long, is built on a dyke next to the canal.  Some of them were used for storing goods, which were hauled from barges on the canal.

The house facades at rear of the street are more attractive than the house fronts on the street proper, but it’s still well worth the short walk along the street. There are several good restaurants there, and an excellent Breton crêperie (they do buckwheat crêpes, the most delicious kind) called Ti Breizh (‘House of Brittany’).

Getting there: it’s midway between Baumwall and Rödingsmarkt, both of which are on the U3 U-Bahn line

The Venetian-style Alsterarkaden – along with Jungfernstieg, just around the corner – is one of the best places to visit in Hamburg if you’re planning some shopping.

One of the arcades runs alongside the canal separating them from the Rathausmarkt, and there are some great views of the Rathaus tower though its arches.

Take a walk through some of the adjoining arcades, which are beautifully decorated with Art Nouveau-era frescoes and stained glass windows.

Getting there: U3 U-Bahn to Rathaus, or S1 and S3 to Jungfernstieg

For two brief years – 1874 to 1876 – the soaring 483 feet spire of Hamburg’s Nikolaikirche was the tallest building in the world. It was then surpassed by the central spire of Rouen Cathedral in Normandy, France, at an exciting time when buildings would soon rise to within twice this height in little more than a decade.

The Nikolaikirche was rebuilt in the 19^th century, following the disastrous 1842 Great Fire of Hamburg, which destroyed many of the city’s great buildings. It was decided to build a new church on the same site, and the design of English architect George Gilbert Scott – best known for designing what is now the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel in London – was eventually chosen, despite not winning the original open competition.

Much of the Gothic Revival church was destroyed during an Allied bombing raid on 28^th July 1943. The spire and some walls of the church remained standing, but there have never been any serious plans to rebuild it, unlike the Frauenkirche Dresden.  Instead, like the Old Cathedral in Coventry, England, it has been left as an eloquent reminder of the horrors of war.

Getting there: U3 U-Bahn to Rödingsmarkt (a 200-metre walk) or U1 U-Bahn to Messberg (a 400-metre walk)

The Petrikirche – formally known as Hauptkirche St Petri, and St Peter’s Church in English – is the main Protestant church in Hamburg. The great brick church is one of the great historic Hamburg landmarks, its brick tower and copper spire soaring an immense 433 feet (132 metres) into the Hamburg sky. It’s one of the ten tallest church towers in the world.

The original Petrikirche was built in the late 12^th century, and this was replaced by a brick Gothic version which was completed in 1418. This iteration of the church survived over 400 years, only to suffer severe damage in the Great Fire of Hamburg in 1842. It was rebuilt in 1878, with most of its artworks reinstated including the lion head door handles on the church’s west portal.

Getting there: U3 U-Bahn to Rathaus

The Reeperbahn is one of the most notorious streets in Europe. Originally named after ropemakers, the street has long been a big part of Hamburg’s sometimes raucous nightlife, and home to the city’s red-light district.

The street is lined with a mixture of theatres and nightclubs, and then there’s the sleazier stuff – strip clubs, peepshows, sex cinemas, the whole lot.  And then there’s the Herbertstrasse, a street accessible only to males over the age of 18.  Women sit on high stools in windows, usually in a state of some undress, tapping on the windows trying to attract passing custom.

For fascinating insights into life in the underbelly of Hamburg, I recommend the Sex and Crime In St Pauli walking tour, which covers the area around the lower end of the Reeperbahn.

Getting there: S-Bahn (S1or S3) to Reeperbahn

This street of the north side of the Reeperbahn got its name (which means ‘In Greater Freedom’) because Catholics were permitted to worship there, as it was just outside the boundary of staunchly Protestant Hamburg. Although now it’s more associated with ‘freedom’ of a very different kind.

The street was where the Beatles plied their trade while in Hamburg, and it has also been cinemas, theatres, bars and a preponderance of strip clubs, including the Dollhouse Diner. A few doors along, the Olivia Jones Bar is owned by Germany’s most famous drag queen, who has also written a children’s book about diversity and tolerance, and run for political office.

Getting there: S-Bahn (S1or S3) to Reeperbahn

Also known as the St Pauli Elbtunnel, this tunnel 24 metres below the river was the first to be built in Hamburg. It was intended for workers making their way from the Landungsbrücken to the docks across the river.

The tunnel has six lifts – three on each side of the river. Cars can use the tunnel for a small toll, while pedestrians can still use them for free. Some of the tiles are decorated with local motifs, landmarks and pictures of fish that swim in the river above.

Getting there: S1, S3 or U3 to Landungsbrücken