Like the gigantic bow of a ship, the Elbe Philharmonic Hall sails into the skyline. Built on top of a former red brick warehouse for cocoa, the glass construction rises 110 meters (360 feet) into the sky. The concert house opened in January 2017.

In 1888, German Emperor Wilhelm II opened the "Speicherstadt" (the warehouse district). Hamburg had already established itself as a free port, where storage and transfer of goods was duty free. As a result, it became one of the biggest storage districts in the world. The Speicherstadt was granted World Heritage status by UNESCO in 2015.

In the Speicherstadt district, you can also find the Miniature Wonderland, the largest model railway system in the world. Here, visitors can travel from Hamburg to Patagonia in miniature form. 1,166 trains travel on 16,491 meters of tracks on an area of more than 1,600 square meters. There are even planes that start and land, and cruise ships travelling on water.

Hamburg is redefining itself with its HafenCity, Europe's biggest urban regeneration project. When finished in 2025, it is to be home to 10,000 people. From the ViewPoint in the Baakenhafen, the development can be observed in a 360-degree panorama. The design of the orange steel tower was inspired by the dock cranes and was conceived to offer the panoramic view of a nautical periscope.

The baroque St. Michael's Church, colloquially known as "Michel", offers another perfect view of the city. The church is a landmark building and can also be explored using an app. Prominent points like the tower or the crypt have been equipped with transmitters that react to the app and provides information.

The Old Elbe Tunnel was the first river tunnel in continental Europe. It reduced travel time from the city to the shipyards on the southern shores of the Elbe River. Since 1911, lifts have taken pedestrians, cars and cyclists down to the bottom, where two 426-meter-long (1,398-foot) tunnels run. For pedestrians and cyclists, it costs nothing to use — other than the price of overcoming their fear.

In Hamburg, the messengers of spring are the city's very own swans, hundreds of them. The city council boasts a "swan office" called the "Schwanenwesen" — the only global authority that employs a "swan father," it oversees the white birds' return after the winter. By taking ownership of swans, normally an exclusive privilege of royals, Hamburg proved its independence as a free Hanseatic city.

Boats sail night and day on the Elbe River to the harbor. Their fog horns and the sound of the seagulls create the soundtrack to any early morning run on the pale sand of the shore. The port of Hamburg is 70 nautical miles away from the open sea. This popular sandy beach along the Elbe river is located in Ovelgönne in the Othmarschen district (image).

These days, office blocks do the dancing on the Reeperbahn. The architect of these two office towers with a kink designed them as a couple dancing tango, a tribute to the red light district where they are located. There is a restaurant and a bar on the top floor and the roof terrace offers a fabulous view of the harbor, especially at night.

Sailors have spent entire wages in just one night in the Große Freiheit, a side street to the famous Reeperbahn. The St. Pauli district is filled with bars, clubs and a variety of fun and games. Artists and musicians discovered the charm of the seedy area in the 1960s. For the Beatles, playing at the legendary Star-Club became a warm-up exercise for their subsequent global success.

The HafenCity is divided into several districts. One of them being the Überseequartier - or overseas quarter as it would be called in English. It is to become the commercial heart of the HafenCity, creating over 6,000 jobs, with restaurants, hotels, shops and leisure activities including a large cinema. The northern part is pretty much completed but the southern part is still under construction.

Part of the Überseequartier district is the Cruise Center HafenCity, Hamburg's gateway to the world. Here big cruise ships dock and trade fairs are held in the terminal buildings. The building dating from 2004 was only only a temporary solution and will be replaced by a significantly bigger construction with a hotel in 2022, as Hamburg reacts to the booming sea cruise market.

Construction work for the concert hall took nearly 10 years. Hamburg's new landmark, carried by over 1,700 reinforced concrete piles, majestically rises up into the sky. An old warehouse was gutted, re-designed and had a futuristic glass covered extension added. The Elbphilharmonie is Hamburg's foremost prestigious building project.

The Elbphilharmonie is part of Hamburg's newly developed HafenCity, Europe's largest urban regeneration projects. Since 2001, on an area of some 157 hectares, up to 7,000 apartments, promenades, squares, shops and offices have been created. The western part (green) is completed, the central part (blue) is still under construction and in the eastern part (red), building work is just beginning.

Another architectural masterpiece in the HafenCity is the Marco-Polo-Tower, an eye-catching feature on the waterfront next to the Elbphilharmonie concert hall. The 55-meter-high extravagant apartment tower can be seen from afar. The 17 floors have been differently sculpted to give it the appearance that they are being turned on their axis. Construction of the tower was completed in 2010.

For years, a customs fence prohibited direct access to the Spree harbor. In 2013, the free port agreement was lifted and the fence removed. The International Building Exhibition Hamburg, responsible for developing and regenerating the harbor area, had new foot and bicycle paths constructed. A stroll there allows you to see the biggest collection of house boats in Hamburg.

By now, Hamburg has a 10-kilometer (6.3-mile) stretch of "city coastline" with promenades along the waterfront. They begin at the Deichtorhallen art center, lead past the HafenCity to the landing bridges and beyond the Elbmeile restaurant and shopping area next to the fish market, all the way to Övelgönne.

Hamburg doesn't just focus on urban development. Some 1.6 billion euros were invested in cultural buildings until 2020. An outstanding example is the Elbphilharmonie. Others include the modernization of the Deichtorhallen art center and two newly constructed musical theater venues. The Bucerius Art Forum (pictured) is currently being extended and a harbor museum is also planned.

For years, the Elbe river islands were dominated by dreary high-rises and decaying factory buildings. Wilhelmsburg was seen as a troubled district. The International Building Exhibition Hamburg has also been active here: hotels and new apartments were constructed, old buildings redeveloped. Today the multi-cultural district is popular especially with young families and students.

A new district is also emerging in the Mitte Altona area. The Hamburg-Altona railway terminus is to be shut down and the rail tracks removed. The current local train station Diebteich is to be turned into a major rail station. Thousands of apartments are to be built on the area that will become available as there is a permanent demand for accommodation in popular Hamburg.