Special Sub-Topic: Hamburg Click Here To Play: Hamburg

Hamburg is a fully-fledged state ('Land') of the Federal Republic of Germany.

t. It is one of the three German city states - the others are Berlin and Bremen.

Hamburg is situated on the ...?

Elbe River. The Elbe flows into the North Sea. The major port on the Weser is Bremen.

Hamburg is Germany's biggest port. It is also Europe's second biggest port after ...?

Rotterdam. London - once the busiest port in the world - declined rapidly from about 1960 onwards and already by 1980 was well down this particular league table.

Which of the following industries in Hamburg suffered a severe decline in the 1980s and 1990s and by about 1990 had become unimportant in Hamburg?

Shipbuilding. Shipbuilding declined very sharply in 1970s and 1980s in the face of competition from the Far East. Hamburg is a key center for the German media. In addition to TV and radio, three best-selling weeklies are published there - 'Die Zeit', 'Stern' and 'Der Spiegel'. The Springer newspapers 'Bildzeitung' and 'Die Welt' (and others) are also published there. Financial services have always been an important industry in Hamburg, but the development of the aircraft building industry dates from about 1980.

Which postwar German Chancellor first achieved a national standing as a Hamburg Senator? Who was it?

Helmut Schmidt. Helmut Schmidt was Chancellor from 1974-82. In 1962 he won widespread admiration for his handling of the flooding in Hamburg. In particular, he called on the armed forces to help with flood relief, which at that time wasn't strictly legal.

Hamburg has very few really old buildings. Why?

Most of the city was destroyed by fire in 1842. Hamburg was also subjected to exceptionally heavy area bombing in July 1943.

In 1241 Hamburg entered into an alliance with another German port, thus laying the foundations for the subsequent development of the Hanseatic League. Which was the other port?

Luebeck. In 1241 Hamburg was very much the junior partner in this alliance. Luebeck soon became the chief city in the Hanseatic League.

Which English pop group spent several months performing in Hamburg in 1962? It was the _______?

Beatles & The Beatles. The group spent several months performing in Hamburg before they achieved fame in England.

Though a Free City of the Holy Roman Empire, Hamburg was subject to the suzerainty of a foreign country till 1768. Which one?

Denmark. Hamburg bought itself complete freedom from Denmark in 1768 for one million thalers.

The majority of Germans who migrated to America sailed from Hamburg.

t. From about 1830 there was a sharp increase in the number of Germans migrating to America, and in 1847 the Hamburg-America Line (Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actiengesellschaft - abbreviated HAPAG) was founded in Hamburg. It was one of the very first lines to provide regular, scheduled salings across the Atlantic, instead of waiting till the ship was full enough to warrant the journey.