Germany - Hamburg/Lower Saxony - Altes Land

Greetings from the Altes Land

Sent by Renee, a postcrosser from Stade, Germany.

Altes Land is an area of reclaimed marshland straddling parts of Lower Saxony and Hamburg. The region is situated downstream from Hamburg on the southwestern riverside of the Elbe around the towns of Stade, Buxtehude, Jork and the Samtgemeinde of Lühe. In Hamburg it includes the quarters of Neuenfelde, Cranz, Francop and Finkenwerder.

The region – the biggest contiguous fruit-producing region in Central Europe – extends over 143 km² (55 sq mi). 76.8% of the trees areapples, 12.7% are cherries. The areas closest to the Elbe are those with the highest population. They include the most fertile marshlands; towards the Geest the area connects to fens.

The fertile land led to the development of a culture dominated by farming. The villages are known as Marschhufendörfer, a special kind of village where the farmyards are set along a street with the land directly behind them. A characteristic feature is the richly-decorated half-timbered farmhouses with their elaborate gateways. (read further)

Germany - Mapcard of Hamburg (2)

A mapcard of Hamburg.

Sent by Lily, a postcrosser from Hamburg, Germany.

Germany - Hamburg (4)

Greetings From Hamburg.

Sent by Ulrike, a postcrosser from Germany.

Germany - Hamburg (3)

Hamburg - Lights and colors of the night.

Sent by Heike, a postcrosser from Velbert, Germany.

Germany - Hamburg (2)

Views of Hamburg.

Sent by Maria, a postcrosser from Hamburg, Germany.

Germany - Mapcard of Hamburg (1)

Multiviews and mapcard of Hamburg.

Sent by Claus, a postcrosser from Hamburg, Germany.

This is from Wikipedia : Hamburg (pronounced /ˈhæmbɜrɡ/; German pronunciation: [ˈhambʊʁk], local pronunciation [ˈhambʊɪç]; Low German/Low Saxon: Hamborg [ˈhambɔːx]) is the second-largest city in Germany and the seventh-largest city in the European Union. The city is home to over 1.8 million people, while the Hamburg Metropolitan Region (including parts of the neighboring Federal States of Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein) has more than 4.3 million inhabitants. The port of Hamburg is the third-largest port in Europe (third to Port of Antwerp and Rotterdam), and the eighth largest in the world.

Hamburg's official name is the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (German: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg). It reflects Hamburg's history as a member of the medieval Hanseatic League, as a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire, and also to the fact that Hamburg is a city-state and one of the sixteen States of Germany.

Hamburg is a major transportation hub in Northern Germany and is one of the most affluent cities in Europe. It has become a media and industrial center, with plants and facilities belonging to Airbus, Blohm + Voss and Aurubis. The radio and television broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk and publishers such as Gruner + Jahr and Spiegel-Verlag are pillars of the important media industry in Hamburg. In total there are more than 120,000 enterprises.

The city is a major tourist destination both for domestic and overseas visitors, receiving about 7.7 million overnight stays in 2008. Hamburg ranked 23rd in the world for livability in 2009, higher in some alternate rankings and in 2010 the city ranked 10th in the world, and 2nd in Germany after Frankfurt as an innovation nexus in the 2thinknow annual Innovation Cities Index.

Germany - Hamburg (1)

Sent by Marlen, a postcrosser from north of Germany. The postcard says "Hamburg - The Gate To The World".

Hamburg (/ˈhæmbɜrɡ/; German pronunciation: [ˈhambʊʁk]; Low German/Low Saxon: Hamborg[ˈhaˑmbɔːx]), officially Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg (Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg), is the second largest city in Germany and the eighth largest city in the European Union. It is also the thirteenth largest German state. It is home to over 1.8 million people, while the Hamburg Metropolitan Region (including parts of the neighbouring Federal States of Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein) has more than 5 million inhabitants. On the river Elbe, the port of Hamburg is the second largest port in Europe (after the Port of Rotterdam) and tenth largest worldwide.

The official name reflects its history as a member of the medieval Hanseatic League, as a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire, and that it is a city-state, and one of the 16 states of Germany. Before the 1871 Unification of Germany, it was a fully sovereign state. Prior to the constitutional changes in 1919, the stringent civic republic was ruled by a class of hereditary grand burghers or Hanseaten.

Hamburg is a major transport hub and is one of the most affluent cities in Europe. It has become a media and industrial centre, with plants and facilities belonging to Airbus, Blohm + Voss and Aurubis. The radio and television broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk and publishers such as Gruner + Jahr and Spiegel-Verlag are pillars of the important media industry in Hamburg. Hamburg has been an important financial centre for centuries, and is the seat of the world's second oldest bank, Berenberg Bank. There are more than 120,000 enterprises.

The city is a major tourist destination for both domestic and overseas visitors; it ranked 17th in the world for livability in 2012,and in 2010 it ranked 10th in the world. (read further)