Tuesday, 18 February 2014

A Day-Trip to Hamburg

To Hamburg
Today sees me watching Our Ship (with Our Stuff), the Hyundai Singapore as she leaves  Rotterdam-Maasvlakte  in The Netherlands and heads for Hamburg in Germany at a speed of 17.7 knots direction 76°. How much further North can she go?

About Hamburg? Interesting (not confirmed by me) stuff includes:

(1) "“Hummel, Hummel” greeting was originated from a Hamburger water carrier, Georg Daniel Christian Hummel, who during delivery always been accompanied by a bunch of children shouting his name. His successor Johann Wilhelm Benz has been treated in the same manner even so his last name was different. He is upset because of this and angrily answered “Mors, Mors” a short way from saying “Klei mi an’ Mors” which translated as “kiss my ass.” (Mors (North German slang) = ass). If you are in Hamburg and someone greets you with “Hummel Hummel”, you reply with “Mors Mors!”."


(2) John Lennon: “I was born in Liverpool but raised in Hamburg.”;  (3) Hamburg's official name is the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (German: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg);   (4) It has become a media and industrial centre, with factories such as Airbus, Blohm & Voss and Aurubis;  (5) The city takes its name from the first permanent building on the site, a castle ordered built by Emperor Charlemagne in 808 AD;            (6) Hamburg had several great fires, the most notable ones in 1284 and 1842; (7) During World War II Hamburg suffered a series of air raids, which killed 42,000 civilians;           (8) Hamburg surrendered without a fight to British Forces on May 3, 1945;  (9) On February 16, 1962 the North Sea flood of that year caused the Elbe to rise to an all-time high, inundating one-fifth of Hamburg and killing more than 300 people; (10) With an area of 755 sq km (292 sq mi), Hamburg's area is seven times that of Paris and twice that of London. The living space per person in Hamburg is an average of 30 square meters per person, thereby making Hamburg the city with the largest average living space in the world;  (11) A large number of rivers and canals are found meandering Hamburg, christening it with the name 'city of rivers'. Small adorable canals are found running all along the city like veins in a human body. Moreover, with over 2500 bridges, Hamburg is also known to have more bridges than Venice or Amsterdam.

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