Traditions old and new

Today, Hamburg is often seen as Germany's media capital, but it is proud, too, of its alternative qualities. The city's beloved football team, St Pauli, has a skull and crossbones as its emblem. Despite the apparently sinister touch, the team's fans pride themselves, above all, on their tolerance and liberalism.

The St Pauli district, from which the football team takes its name, is very varied. It includes the world-famous "Reeperbahn", with its sex shops and strip-bars. It was near this area that the Beatles played as a newly-formed band. But it is also a lively residential district, with a strong sense of individual character.

Hamburg is a city which takes its old traditions seriously. The fish market, down by the river on Sunday mornings, is still popular today. Stall-holders barter with their customers, as they sell salmon and smoked eel. In fact, crowds sometimes gather simply to listen to the entertaining exchanges, with no intention of buying.

The fish market was created 300 years ago, against the wishes of the church. Their authorities were worried it would distract people from going to worship, but local traders found a way around the ban by selling fish from 5am to 9.45am, giving people time to go to church after the market was over. Even today, the prompt closing time remains compulsory.

Refugees from all over the world found a home in Hamburg. They helped trade, which meant that the city was happy to accept them as Hamburg citizens. Officially, you have to be a Hamburger for three generations in order to be "a citizen of Hamburg". As local historian Michael Möllers points out, new arrivals quickly learnt to speak "platt" - the dialect of Hamburg and the north - and by doing so, they themselves became Hamburgers, no matter where their families had originally come from.

Links:

FC St Pauli
Hamburg football club St Pauli's official website and online community for its fans. In German.

Hamburg impressions
Plenty of images of Hamburg, including harbour and fish market. In English and German.

Plattdeutsch
The dialect spoken in Hamburg is "Plattdeutsch" ("flat German"). A table comparing words in German, English and Plattdeutsch shows how close it is to English. In English, Plattdeutsch and German.