A taste of Hamburg
Cosmopolitan flavours rule in Hamburg, fusion food is a favourite. Nevertheless, many restaurants offer at least one time-proven traditional dish on the menu.
Aalsuppe The soup is largely vegetable despite the seeming reference to eel; “aal” means “all” in Low Saxon, apparently, though most chefs now add eel to avoid arguments.
Alsterwasser Fortunately not the water of the Alster lakes but shandy in a fifty-fifty ratio of beer and lemonade.
Bohnen, Birnen und Speck Literally, green beans, pears and bacon – a tasty, light dish that’s ideal for summer.
Hamburger The world’s favourite fast-food has its origins in the mists of time, but was introduced to the States in the late 1800s by emigrants from Hamburg, who knew it as a dockers’ street-snack. Ironically another immigrant food, the doner kebab, is far more popular in the “home” town.
Labskaus A sailor’s hash that minces corned beef, potatoes and beetroot and is topped with a fried egg and rollmop herring. The result: a bright pink stodge that locals swear cures hangovers. One theory also attributes the dish as the linguistic derivation of the Liverpudlian nickname “Scouser”.
Rotes Grütze Rich dish made of red berries swimming in cream, popular in summer.
Blankenese
Though Blankenese is the next Elbvororte (Elbe suburb) west of Övelgönne, it feels more coastal village than city suburb. The sea captains of old have long made way for captains of industry – probably the only people who can afford some of the most expensive real estate in Germany. For the tourist, there’s little to tick off, which is a relief after the high culture of Hamburg, and Blankenese demands little more than exploring a nest of paths and ambling along the riverside.
It’ll take strong legs, though. Blankenese is a suburb of stairways – 58 in total – which spill off Blankenese Hauptstrasse then trickle like tributaries down to the Elbe, threading through the half-timbered cottages, nineteenth-century villas and modern glass-and-wood statements shoehorned onto the hillside. A surprisingly fine beach fronts the river. Go west along Strandweg, past a varied selection of restaurants and cafés, and the sand becomes purer, the beaches more isolated, and you find the bizarre summer scene of beach balls and bikinis as the container ships chug past.
Destination America
Such is the hubris of boom-town Hamburg that its role as the principal emigration point in Germany is largely overlooked. Yet the unprepossessing patch of wasteland opposite HafenCity was the last piece of Europe experienced by millions of Europeans and Russians. Nearly five million people embarked at Hamburg for a new life in the New World – almost 1.9 million people left during the peak period of mass migration between 1891 and 1914, when poverty and pogroms proved the final straw for many in southern and eastern Europe. A cholera epidemic that claimed ten thousand lives in three months prompted city authorities to demand that the emigration shipping lines relocate from the docks at St Pauli to Veddel island opposite Speicherstadt. Located beside the south exit of Veddel S-Bahn station, the last brick Emigrant Hall to house the masses is the centrepiece of the BallinStadt museum (Veddeler Bogen 2; daily 10am–6pm; €12; ballinstadt.de), whose interactive exhibits seek to re-create the emigrant experience with dioramas that combine contemporary exhibits and personal narratives. Most emigrants were bound for the United States – a research area provides access to online records of émigrés from 1850 to 1934, plus a partner database with 34 million records.
Eating and drinking
Hamburg has blossomed into the great gourmet centre of Germany, its role as a prosperous media metropolis nurturing a community of discerning diners with a penchant for eating in style – traditional restaurants are thin on the ground compared to the rest of Germany – and a voracious appetite for the next big thing. For the hippest new openings, source Szene Essen & Trinken (€7) at larger newsagents and some tourist information centres. There are two caveats. First, your options are limited in the city centre, especially in the evenings. Streets such as touristy Deichstrasse and Colonnaden or squares such as Grossneumarkt provide choice in one location, as does Ditmar-Koel-Strasse near the port. The second caveat is that, notwithstanding student-budget dining in the Schanzenviertel, eating out in Hamburg is notably more expensive than in many German cities. Cheaper brasserie and bar options are listed with cafés.