Hamburg

I

Introduction

Hamburg, state, northern Germany, bounded by the states of Schleswig-Holstein to the north and Lower Saxony to the south. It is formed as a single urban district, the city of Hamburg. The state has an area of 755 sq km (292 sq mi).

II

Physical Geography

Hamburg is Germany’s second smallest state (after Bremen); it is located in the Lower Elbe valley, on the River Elbe close to the North Sea. Other important rivers include the Alster and the Bille. In the centre of the state a dam on the Alster has produced a lake consisting of two parts, the Binnenalster (Inner Alsten, measuring 18 hectares/44 acres) and Aussenalster (Outer Alsten, of 160 hectares/395 acres). Numerous minor rivers, brooks, and canals form an extensive water network.

The Hamburg Wadden Sea National Park, founded in 1990, covers an area of 13,750 hectares (33,976 acres) and is situated at the mouth of the Elbe; it also includes the islands of Neuwerk (300 hectares/741 acres), Nigehörn (34 hectares/84 acres), and Scharhörn (20 hectares/49 acres). Its landscape of shoals, marshlands, and sand dunes is also at the heart of the Hamburg Wadden Sea Biosphere Reserve, established in 1992 and extending over 11,700 hectares (28,911 acres). Hamburg has 12 nature monuments, occupying about 40 hectares (99 acres).

III

Population

In 2004 the state population was estimated at 1,734,000, with a population density of 2,296 people per sq km (5,947 per sq mi), and was growing steadily: the city of Hamburg had a population of 1,734,800 in 2005. The state has a cosmopolitan character because of its economic significance, and the integration of a large number of foreign nationals, including representatives of foreign business as well as immigrants, presents a continuous challenge.

IV

Education and Culture

Institutions of higher education in the state include the University of Hamburg (founded in 1919) and the Technical University Hamburg-Harburg (established in 1978). There are also higher schools of music, theatre, and drama. Hamburg also houses the state library and archive.

Among Hamburg’s cultural institutions are the State Opera (1678) as well as the Deutsches Schauspielhaus and the Thalia-Theater. Three major symphony orchestras are based in the state, including the Philharmonic State Orchestra, the Symphonic Orchestra of North-German Radio, and the Hamburger Symphoniker. Notable museums include the Altona State Museum (1863), Museum of the History of Hamburg (1839), Museum of Arts and Crafts (1877), Museum of Ethnology and Prehistory (1878), and the Kunsthalle (1868). People born in or associated with the state include composers Georg Philipp Telemann, Felix Mendelssohn, and Johannes Brahms; dramatists Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock, and Friedrich von Schiller; painter Philipp Otto Runge; physicist Gustav Hertz; philosopher Ernst Cassirer; and fashion designer Karl-Otto Lagerfeld.