HAMBURG - A BELATED WINTER TRIBUTE

I've forgotten some photos that were on a digital waiting pile on this site, which I've intended for a more wintery presentation. This year I travelled to the north of Germany quite a few times for various reasons, and along the around-town-walks snapshots were taken for keeps or not. Instead of stockpiling photos on the smartphone or deleting them after weeks of inobservance, I try to see if they give me a cue as to why I shot them in the first place.

This is an experiment of some sorts.

A classic - Hamburg and its harbour. The athmosphere of the global theater coming in at almost

any time of the day, depending on the tides. Ferries, tugboats, the cruisers in the dry docks and

the monstrous cargo vessels in the various port basins.

Somewhat dwarfed in this image is the Elbphilharmonie, nicknamed Elphie, a spectacular concert hall cum luxury residence for some fortunates. The philharmonic venue has made quite an impact not only in Hamburg, but in the musical scene in general, as it seems to be one of the best acoustic spaces around.

The David Wache - probably Germanys most famous police station. Set in the heart of Hamburgs iconic red light district, the Reeperbahn, it looks rather unspectacular and peaceful during daytime.

Just a view outside of a popular Currywurst eatery in the somewhat leftist-hipster-rebels-with-hardly-a-cause-left neighbourhood of Schulterblatt. The semi-low representative building in the background is the infamous Rote Flora, a cultural hotspot and politically loaded gentrification landmark.

The old border-marking between Hamburg and Altona. Altona was an independent city for a long time and was only integrated into the City of Hamburg in 1938. For some time this was also the border between Hamburg and Denmark, Altona being the second biggest Danish city after Copenhagen.

A close-up of the Rote Flora. The little square in front of the building has been named Achidi-John-Square by human rights activists. Achidi John was a refugee who died while in police custody.

The Buddhist Center Hamburg

The end part of the Große Freiheit, one of the most iconic streets in Germany. When walking down the other direction one will hit Beatles Square at the Reeperbahn. It was in this road where the Beatles played in various clubs before their musical invasion of the rest of the world.

Unspectacular supervenue. Four Hamburg highlights can be seen in this pic:

• Football stadium of FC Sankt Pauli (Millerntor) to the left. Sankt Pauli is one of the most popular underdog clubs in the country.
• One of only two surviving Flak-tower type IV (multiple storey bunker/flak tower combination) in Germany. Presently being used culturally.
• The Heinrich-Hertz-TV-Tower has a stunning view of Hamburg. One of the decks has a café which turns while you can enjoy coffee and cake (has been closed to the public for a while, but now seems to be re-opening soon).
• The massive space itself. A parking lot called Heiligengeistfeld (Holy Ghost Field) which turns into a frenzied fair (Hamburger Dom) three times per annum.

View outside from an elevated subway train passing by the Rickmer Rickmers, an 1896 sailing freighter.