Sightseeing - Hamburg (many pictures)

Hamburg, 2nd largest city and biggest port in Germany - lots of water, fish, and new friends!
Rebecca introduced us to Christine and Jorge, with whom she has been friends since in Mexico when Sasha was born.  Peter introduced us to Jens and Brigitte, his friends from Denmark, who came to spend time with us.

 (note the bunker in the background!)

 Jorge, a musician, gave us a great Beatles tour!

Of course we took a harbor cruise and saw the many kinds of ships and activities in the harbor area.

The best view of the new symphonic hall is from the water.

Every German city has its Rathaus = townhall and square

 At another square we hear a man with a loud mike inviting persons to speak up on the topic tonight: Frieden = Peace

We rest a bit at the Binnenalster, city lake.  We watched a man capsize his racing shell and get rescued from the cold water.  Rescuing his shell seemed to take twice as long.

 Water scenes like this

 and the old Speicherstadt = warehouse district, that is accessed by water

Police were out in force for a large demonstration against racism.

A super fun museum was the  Miniature Wunderland

More on this amazing place will come from Jack at some point.  We spent a day here!

We saw the famous St. Pauli district, but also enjoyed walking through the Altoona district.  Hamburg is a multifaceted city.

Below is bombed out Saint Nikolai Church- left as a memorial and reminder to choose peace.

The devastation of Hamburg was thorough - the result of firebombing the city in Operation Gomorrah  July, 1943. At the end of the seven days of bombing, nearly 43,000 civilians were dead, 37,000 wounded, and virtually all of downtown Hamburg destroyed. (For more details, see the Wikipedia article.)

In the cellar of the earlier church the present museum displays figures that flanked the former altar.

Amazingly, you can take a fast elevator to the top of the remaining tower and get a great view of Hamburg!

Upon leaving we walked around the outside that used to be the church building.  A gripping sculpture reflected my feelings.  How could this destruction and death have rained down on this city and how can we still be repeating such destruction today?!  Lord have mercy.