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Hamburg History

Although people lived in the area from about 400 AD, the official history of Hamburg started in the year 810 when Charlemagne ordered the construction of a baptistry because he wanted to evangelise the heathen people in the north. For the protection of the church against invasion, a castle was built between the rivers Alster and Elbe. "Hamburg" is due to the castle's name "Hammaburg".

In 845, Hamburg that had only about 500 citizens then was destroyed by Vikings who came there by the river Elbe.

The Elbe and therefore Hamburg became more important in sea trade in the 12th century.

In 1189, Hamburg was appointed Free Imperial City by Friedrich I Barbarossa and received privileges in sea trade because Hamburg already was a center of trade at that time. Within a short time, the city had become a major port in Europe with the main article for export being beer.

In 1241, the two North-German cities Hamburg and Lübeck became member of the "Hanse", an important league of trading cities in North Germany. Hamburg soon was the most important North Sea harbour of the Hanse where many goods were reloaded and shipped.
Due to the discovery of America in the 15th century and the establishment of a sea route to Asia, Hamburg also had one of the most important ports of entry in Europe.

Because of further increases of international trade and ocean shipping, Hamburg's harbour ran out of storage capacities. The famous Speicherstadt was built between 1881 and 1888 and the harbour was extended to the opposite bank of the Elbe. In 1888 as well, Hamburg became free port which made it one of the largest storage places particularly for coffee, tea and spices throughout the world.

Hamburg's population reached 1,000,000 in 1900, which made it a metropolis.

During the First World War, about 40,000 people died and Hamburg's trade was stopped by a trade blockade.

The "Groß-Hamburg-Gesetz" of 1937 lead to the incorporation of many suburbs, e.g. Wandsbek, Harburg and Altona, into the city, which increased Hamburg's population quite much. Hamburg received its present borders.

In the Second World War, Hamburg was destroyed to a large extent, particularly in severe bombings in the year 1943.

Now, Hamburg is Germany's second largest city and its harbour is still important throughout the world.

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