Hamburg Places: Harbour

Hamburg's harbour is the third largest harbour in Europe. With regard to container harbours, it even is the second largest European harbour and on position 9 when it comes to the largest container harbours of the world. Coffee still is one of the most important products to be reloaded.

The harbour of Hamburg supplies anchorages for more than 300 ships including container ships and bulk carriers.

Although the harbour is quite far away from the North Sea, it is regarded as seaport. This location about 100 km away from the sea is not only an advantage: the floor of the Elbe has to be removed regularly in order to increase the depth of the sea.

Otherwise, many of the ships would not be able to pass. The average depth of the sea is about 13 meters.

Hamburg's harbour, however, is not only important for the shipping of goods: it adds to the atmosphere of the city to a major extent. If you are interested in museums and the history of the harbour, you should visit the "Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte" ("Museum of the History of Hamburg") or one of the museum ships such as Rickmer Rickmers or Cap San Diego.