5 unique places at the ports in Hamburg

Oevelgönne translates as ‘ill will’, and refers either to the dubious attitude of the first inhabitants around 1731 – or to the fact that the terrain on the bank of the Elbe is difficult to build on. A walk along the promenade between the Museumshafen and Neumühlen pier definitely evokes the opposite atmosphere, particularly the little houses, some very old, where elderly ship’s pilots and captains live.

When the old Elbtunnel opened in 1911, it was a technical sensation. The machinery in the domes carries four large lift cages to a depth of almost 24 metres. More than 100 years later, they’re still transporting vehicles and large groups of people. When you arrive at the bottom, you pass through 426,5 metres of tiled tubes with a diameter of six metres – a fascinating walk that you shouldn’t miss.

It won’t be here long, a new container terminal is to be built round about the Petroleumhafen in Waltershof. While it lasts, it’s worth your while to take a trip by car or walk from the ferry stop at Bubendey-Ufer to Tankweg. Photo fans and romantics will be rewarded at the end of the headland with probably the loveliest view of the port.

It’s both sad and beautiful: since overseas container vessels only tie up in port for a few hours, seamen and -women scarcely have time to cross to the urban side of the Elbe. The Duckdalben, not far from the Köhlbrandbrücke, has been developed as a wonderful place to spend time, with a bar, billiard room and large world map with pins. The multi-faith prayer room on the top floor is particularly moving.

In October 1926, the engine of the four-masted Finnish schooner Polsterjernan exploded in what is now the Kiel Canal. Its load of wooden boxes burned so fiercely that the vessel was taken to the mouth of the Elbe to burn out, and was later moved to Blankenese. Not far away, the coastal barge Uwe suffered a collision in dense early-morning fog on 19 December 1975 and sank. Both wrecks are clearly visible, but only at low tide.