History route

The route begins at Hamburg City Hall, located in the city center. At 14 stations, information panels will present you with intriguing stories and facts from the history of Hamburg's Neustadt (New Town). The walking tour is enhanced with audio files to make the history come to life even more vividly. A QR code is available at each station, which can be scanned to access and play the corresponding podcast. For this, you will need a smartphone. The tour continues through Nikolaifleet, the Patriotic Society, Trostbrücke, Bohnenstraße, Neue Burg, St. Nikolai Memorial, Hopfenmarkt, Großer Burstah, Altenwall Bridge, Mönkedammfleet, Adolphsplatz, Alsterfleet, and finally to Alten Wall. After starting at City Hall, you can walk down Großer Burstah for a bit and then continue through Börsenbrücke and Trostbrücke streets. Along your path, you'll encounter more stations and pass by numerous shops and restaurants where you can take a brief pause during or after the historical tour.

After passing the station at Trostbrücke, you will reach the station Neue Burg. In 2019, remains of the fortification wall of the "Neue Burg" (New Castle) were discovered here, which once enclosed the merchant city. The archaeological excavations unearthed new knowledge about Hamburg's history, now on display at the Archaeological Museum Hamburg. Standing on the Neue Burg, you'll have a view of the impressive St. Nikolai Memorial. The former church nave is open to the public and offers additional intriguing information panels, as well as the St. Nikolai Museum located in the memorial's basement. The observation tower with a glass elevator provides a wonderful view over the city center of Hamburg. Daily at 9, 12 am as well as 3 and 6 pm, the impressive carillon (51-bell carillon) rings. The path then continues to Hopfenmarkt, where around 1200, the first town hall of Hamburg was located. It served as such until around 1230. If you follow the route further, you'll reach the Großer Burstah by way of Kleiner Burstah. Around 1900, this street was a bustling commercial street with the Hamburg tram running through it. After the fire in 1842, there was a surge of office and commercial buildings with many small shops. Even today, the area is great for a shopping excursion.

As you continue following the walking tour, you'll approach the Altenwallbrücke, which crosses over the Mönckedammfleet and serves as the western entrance to the Alten Wall. Above the Mönckedammfleet, you'll discover the U3 subway bridge, leading to the steepest rail incline in the world. The U3 line stops at various points around the quarter, running above ground and providing a brief city tour with fantastic views. Once you've reached Mönckedamm during your tour, you'll walk parallel to the fleet and arrive at Adolphsplatz. Here, you'll be treated to a view of the impressiveHamburg Chamber of Commerce building. It has adorned Adolphsplatz since 1841 and has been architecturally expanded over time, reaching its present size in 1912. As you continue the route towards Bleichenbrücke, you can gaze over the Alsterfleet and the so-called Kleine Alster (Little Alster), connected to the Hamburg Binnenalster (Inner Alster) through a lock.The last station of the Historical Tour in the Nikolai Quartier leads you across the Alten Wall, where inviting cafes, restaurants, and unique individual shops await. If you have some time and interest after the tour, you have the opportunity to visit the Bucerius Kunst Forum. It annually presents four art exhibitions on various themes.

At every point of this tour, you can easily reach one of the inner-city U-Bahn or suburban train (S-Bahn) stations within a short distance.

As a route planner, we strive to put together particularly diverse routes through Hamburg's most beautiful areas. Did you like our History route? We look forward to receiving your feedback. To discover even more unique corners of Hamburg, take a look at our city map.