Hamburg: The international allure of Germany's port town

Do you like to breathe fresh sea air? Then Hamburg is exactly the place to be! In the multicultural port city you can not only let the wind blow in your face but also study.

Hamburg at a glance

Port of Hamburg, Photo: www.mediaserver.hamburg.de, C. Spahrbier

In Hamburg you can enjoy one of the most interesting nightlives in Germany and as many cultural attractions as in Berlin. So don't be discouraged by the upturned collars and cool reserve of the burghers of Hamburg; they just need some more time to get warmed up. This guardedness should'nt impede you to explore the town, because there's pretty much to explore! From the noble shopping avenue Jungfernstieg to the infamous Reeperbahn to the underground Schanzenviertel Hamburg unifies almost all contradictions one could imagine. And exactly this makes it so interesting to live and study here! Economically, too, the city is a major player: Hamburg is the biggest trading hub in Germany and has, after Rotterdam, the second biggest port of Europe. Thus it is one of the central hubs for worldwide trading. More than 120.000 enterprises from different sectors have settled in Hamburg. Amongst them are especially many entreprises from fields like port and logistics, life sciences, aeronautical industry, media and IT.

Universities - Overview

University of Hamburg

Main building of the university, Photo: UHH, Schell

Germany's third-largest university is located in its second-largest city.
Most of the university's 39,000 students study law or macroeconomics. But the university is also known as linguistic hub: The only major in sign language in all of Germany is on offer at Hamburg, as are courses in Yiddish. The university's physics department has been recognized as part of the Federal Government's excellence initiative.

Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH)
The city's technical university (its second-largest institution) is located on the other side of the harbor in the traditionally working-class Harburg district. The university has earned a good reputation for its majors in ship-building, engineering, city planning and electrical engineering. A forward-looking university with an interdisciplinary approach since its inception in 1978, the TUHH was the first in Germany to create a technology transfer corporation, a publicly funded body that connects university researchers with private investors and companies. Its cooperation with the Northern Institute of Technology (founded in 1998) means international students are able to try for an MBA at the Hamburg Tech University.

University of Visual Arts
Next to Berlin's University of the Arts, Hamburg has the largest offering for Germany's design and art students. The university has begun emphasizing electronic media and art in recent years, but its film school remains among the country's most respected and pumps out numerous festival contenders every year. Hamburg's emphasis is on the practical and it offers its students everything from wood and textile shops to a publishing house in which to complete their student projects. Guest professors have included architects Daniel Libeskind, Friedensreich Hundertwasser, Zaha Hadid and artist Joseph Beuys.

University of Applied Sciences
The university of applied sciences offers majors in media, IT, economics and communication with an emphasis on the practical. Connected to a worldwide network of universities, the university regularly offers study abroad programs and is big on all things international: 2,000 of the school's 13,000 or so students have a foreign passport.

HafenCity University Hamburg (HCU)
The HCU is unique in Europe because it focuses its education and research on architecture and metropolitan development only. That’s why all disciplines that are dealing with this subject are summarized at the HCU and you can do your master’s in ‘Urban Design und Resource Efficiency in Architecture and Planning’ for example.

Recreation in Hamburg

Spa park Bad Bodendeich, Photo: www.mediaserver.hamburg.de/Heideregion Uelzen e.V

The undisputed centre of Hamburg day and nightlife is the St. Pauli and Reeperbahn district, known to locals affectionately as the 'Kiez'. More than just its famous red light quarter, St. Pauli offers enough top-shelf (and bargain) restaurants and watering holes to keep you going until the early morning. Good places to turn night into day are the clubs Baalsaal, the Golden Pudel Club and the Herzblut St. Pauli, where not only fans of the Hamburg soccer club St. Pauli come together. What helps best against an hangover after a night of dancing? Exactly: a fish burger! Lucky that you're in Hamburg and can take a walk to the Fischmarkt. This market opens very early: Every sunday from 5 to 9.30 a.m. you have the chance to buy the freshest fish here. After having relaxed a bit you might be in the mood to explore the town. Hamburg is often called 'Venice of the North' because of its many canals and bridges. So what would be better for a little sightseeing tour than paddling? From the water you will experience the city in a whole different way! If you are in for even more water, no problem: the sea isn't far at all. On of the beaches, for example in the little town of Sankt Peter Ording, you can relax from studying. Back in town you shouldn't miss the Speicherstadt (city of warehouses). It is the world-largest timber-pile founded warehouse district of the world. The warehouses with the Neo-Gothic red-brick outer layer provide entrances from land and water – by loading canals called Fleet. The district was built as a free zone to transfer goods without paying customs. Today, the companies in the Speicherstadt handle one-third of the world's carpet production, and other goods as cocoa, coffee, tea and spices. It also hosts several museums like the Deutsches Zollmuseum (German Customs Museum), the Speicherstadtmuseum, the Gewürzmuseum (Museum of Spices) and the Miniatur Wunderland, the largest model railway in the world.

Interview with Johann from Bremen

Johann, Photo: private

Johann Emmerich, a native of Bremen, is studying communications design at the University of Applied Sciences.

Did you feel comfortable in Hamburg from the start?
Although I was a little overwhelmed upon arriving in the port city, I realized pretty quickly that there are a few places where everything sort of runs together. When you've gotten used to that, you realize a positive aspect is that you don't have the feeling that you've seen everything. That was a big incentive for me.

With so much on offer, is it difficult to concentrate on studying?
I've got the perfect major and I work in a nice building with lots of nice people, so I don't have a problem. But if you're unhappy or bored with what you're studying there's a chance you'll have a tough time because the activities on offer are so overwhelming. There isn't just one thing to do, there are many, and if you don't watch out, you run the risk of going under.

What should every new arrival see or do?
The Hamburger Berg is a collection of small bars and a few clubs where really only students hang out. As a result it's very relaxed and pleasant. It's away from the 'Kiez' (Hamburg's famous nightlife neighborhood), where the atmosphere can be very aggressive. There's also the Schanzenviertel, which is also pretty inexpensive compared to other parts of the city.

What are some of the challenges of living there?
Compared to smaller cities, the prices are pretty high, especially when it comes to rent. If you want to live in a good neighborhood not too far from the city center, you're looking at 300 Euros for a shared apartment. And you can spend money on every corner. Hamburg is one of the cities in Germany where you have everything: the big bands play here, there are big events.

What's your favorite spot?
The cranes of the Hamburg harbor definitely have a world-city feel to them.
It's all pretty impressive. There aren't just hundreds of containers, there are millions of them, and they're definitely worth at least one look.