This morning we caught a train to Landungsbrücken, the suburb of Hamburg where the shipping port is. This is where the St Pauli sailed from to Nelson; the Zebra sailed to Adelaide carrying the Janetzki's; and the Humboldt sailed to Brisbane carrying the Müller's. This port is about 60km from the open sea.
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| Waiting for the train |
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| there it is! |
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| Piggy enjoying the sights |
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| the port |
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| a sailing ship, slightly bigger than the ones our ancestors sailed on |
We walked up the hill to St Michael's church. This is the most important baroque-style church of the 5 Lutheran churches in Hamburg. That's because it holds the seat of the bishop. This is where our ancestors would have attended church while waiting to board their ship. It was not a simple matter of getting to Hamburg and boarding, they would have been here for a week or 2 before sailing.
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| The spire of St Michael's from a distance |
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| and from up closer |
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| the angel guarding the church entrance |
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| He was big! |
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| such a magnificent church on the inside |
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| one side of the balcony organ pipes |
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| The pulpit |
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| a big mosaic at the back of the altar area |
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| view of the organ from the altar area |
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| Bach is actually buried in the catacomb of St Michael's |
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| The baptismal font. |
After resting our feet a while in the hotel room, we joined a hop-on, hop-off bus tour of the city. We got off at town hall.
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| A lady dressed as a statue |
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| Haidee and Piggy checking it all out |
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| home of a rich and famous person |
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| town hall |
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| town hall on the inside |
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| town hall inside |
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| part of town hall where there's a bar |
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| the back courtyard of town hall |
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We then walked to St Nikolai, the remains of the tallest church steeple in Hamburg. This steeple was used as a sight marker for the bombings during WWII and subsequently the firestorm. Not much of the church building remains but the catacombs are intact and are now a memorial to the people who died in the firestorm.
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| the ruins of a once huge cathedral |
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| a model of the old cathedral with it's massive tower |
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| a board game to make it fun and educational for families to learn how to get to an air-raid shelter |
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| view from the tower |
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| commemorative mosaic of the crucifixion |
After that, although already thoroughly exhausted, we took the bus to miniature wonderland. It was very cool and we could have spent a lot longer there.
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| We were visitor # 3799 & 3800 from New Zealand |
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| miniature Germany through the ages |
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| airport |
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| airport |
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| carnival |
Miniature airport landing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_3WlHWq4OY
Miniature airport traffic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJw1bEI4ki4
Miniature airport take-off and dusk: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGQCDgV6Q4A
We had McDonald's for dinner and Chris had a waffle and then we called it a night.
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| Piggy being a pig |
Chris struggled around all day with blisters on his toes and I have generally sore feet and ankles. We tried to get a massage but they weren't available and didn't speak English.
Wow. You saw lots in Hamburg that we didn't see. I see we missed something by not going inside St Michaels. Amazing!!! The building impressed me from the outside though- - - and I have a dishwasher magnet to prove it. In some ways it seems a long time since our ancestors left Hamburg - - - but then when you think that St Michael's spire was looking down on them it seems like just the other day!!!
ReplyDelete- -- and Telemann and Brahms. What about the more famous Bach, was he buried there too?
ReplyDeleteWas the crucifixion mosaic ultra old or ultra modern????
ReplyDelete