The Mönckebergstraße ends at Hamburg's impressive city hall ("Rathaus"). It was built in 1897 out of sandstone in neo-Renaissance style, including a 112 m tower. Inside there are several magnificent halls used for representative purposes and sittings of government and parliament. These can be visited in guided tours (M-Th 10AM-3:15PM, F-Su 10AM-1:15PM, half-hourly in German, hourly in English and French. Closed during official events. Admission is €3 for adults, €2 for Hamburg Card holders and €0.50 for children).
The building behind the city hall is Hamburg's House of Commerce ("Börse"). Between the buildings, there is a little place called Rathaushof with its fountain Hygieia-Brunnen. The place in front of the city hall is the Rathausmarkt, hosting many events especially in summer.
Binnenalster on a sunny day
North of the Rathausmarkt, you find white arches at a canal called Alsterarkaden. The whole area behind is full of indoor shopping arcades. The most well-known one is the Hanse Viertel.
Following the canal to the right and crossing the traditional shopping road, Jungfernstieg, you quickly get to the artificial lake Binnenalster. Boat tours take you to the even bigger artificial lake, Außenalster, directly behind the Binnenalster with lots of sailing boats in summer.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Hamburg
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Hamburg - updated Apr 2024
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Hamburg Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
