Superlative, yes, but Hamburg is the second-smallest German state, after Bremen. Like Bremen, it is a city-state. It is located in the north of the country on the Elbe River.

It is also the country's second-largest city and the economic and cultural center of northern Germany.

Some 1.7 million people from 180 nations live in Hamburg. After Germans, most of the inhabitants come from Turkey, Poland, Serbia and Afghanistan.

Gateway to the world

Hamburg is often called the Gateway to the World. The city's seaport is the third largest in all of Europe. Some 150,000 people live and work here. A tour can give a good impression of just how busy and enormous Hamburg's port really is. In fact, the port is becoming a new center for business, living and culture in the city.

The flowing Alster River is dammed up to form an enormous artificial lake in the middle of the city of Hamburg. Known simply as the Alster, the lake is a popular leisure spot. Hamburg's old town center is crisscrossed with countless canals and waterways, which themselves are traversed by more than 2,500 bridges.

Tourist attractions include the Rathaus, or City Hall, and the well known landmark, the Michel Church. In addition, the Chilehaus, a historic office building in the form of a ship, and the Speicherstadt, or old warehouse district, make for great sightseeing. Of course, no visit to Hamburg would be complete without having a look at the famed red light and nightclub district, the Reeperbahn.

Hamburg's cultural scene is also booming. The city is known as the capital of musical theater in Germany, with more than 20 theaters offering a variety of performances.

Germany's media metropolis

The Ohnsorg may well be Germany's best-known theater. It has taken on the cause of preserving lowlands-German language, and therefore its performances are held entirely in the Low German dialect.

The first public opera house in Germany was founded in Hamburg in 1678. Today, the city's museums and galleries are home to a lively art scene.

Hamburg is Germany's media metropolis. It is the home of famed weekly political magazine Der Spiegel, the newspaper Die Zeit, and numerous publishing companies and other media concerns. Some 130,000 people are employed in the media sector.