Hafengeburtstag (lit. ''Harbour Birthday'', ''Port Anniversary'') is an annual public festival and

funfair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Fairs showcase a wide range of go ...

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It takes place mostly on the first weekend of May to celebrate the anniversary of the

port of Hamburg The Port of Hamburg (, ) is a seaport on the river Elbe in Hamburg, Germany, from its mouth on the North Sea. Known as Germany's "Gateway to the World" (), it is the country's largest seaport by volume. In terms of TEU throughput, Hambur ...

, the largest in Germany. In 2019, the 830th birthday was celebrated and a new record was set; more than a million spectators, among them many tourists from abroad, visited the city.

Attractions

The attractions of the Hafengeburtstag extend from Kehrwiederspitze near the Speicherstadt in the east to the Fish Auction Hall near Fischmarkt (Fish market) in the west. Many sailing vessels, tall ships among them, are tied up there, mostly at the Landungsbrücken (St. Pauli Piers). Vessels like ''Mir'', ''Sea Cloud'', ''Sedov'', ''Gorch Fock'' and many others regularly visit Hamburg for the celebrations, also naval and cruise ships. The music festival ''Hafenrock'' takes place there on several stages, frequently including international artists. In 2016, the cruise ship of '' AIDAprima'' was christened at the Hafengeburtstag celebrations on 7 May.

History

The Hafengeburtstag dates back to Emperor

Frederick Barbarossa Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (; ), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death in 1190. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March 115 ...

, who issued a charter to Hamburg merchants on 7 May 1189, granting freedom from customs duties for ships sailing the Elbe from Hamburg to the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

.Hafengeburtstag - Hamburg.de
/ref> So on the weekend of or around 7 May the anniversary is annually celebrated. The modern public festival takes place since 1977.

External links

Hafengeburtstag
Hamburg.de

References

{{Reflist Annual events in Hamburg Tourist attractions in Hamburg Festivals in Hamburg 1180s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1189 establishments in Europe 1977 establishments in West Germany Spring (season) in Germany