Hamburg

Located in the north of Germany, Hamburg is the second most populous city of my country with more than 1.8 million inhabitants. It lies on the river Elbe and has historically been a very important trading hub, nowadays still having Europe's third largest port. Hamburg also has a great number of canals and subsequently more than 2,500 bridges have been built to cross them, making it the city with the highest number of bridges in Europe.

The city also offers a rich and diverse culture which one can enjoy through concert halls like the Elbphilharmonie (picture to the left) or inside the world's biggest model railway and miniature world, the Miniaturwunderland Hamburg. The city also has quite a history of being heavily damaged. In 1842, for example, the "Great Fire" destroyed the inner city and left more than 20,000 people homeless and in WWII the city was devastated by the Allied Bombings which killed an estimated 37,000 people and destroyed many buildings. However, the city has come back strong since with a GDP of $119 billion in 2018 and a strong tourism sector with millions of international visitors each year.

The Elbphilharmonie is one of the largest concert halls in the world with a capacity of 2,100 people in its great hall. Construction began in 2007 and finished in 2016 costing €866 million, almost double the 2008 estimate of €450 million. The Elbphilharmonie also includes a Westin Hotel with 244 rooms on the east side. The architects behind the exceptional design are Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron.

Text adapted from Wikipedia.org