European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 19, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Ii Waltl r a truly International Cool and closed with scandinavian flair by Kevin Robinson staff writer there s something about Hamburg with its half timbered houses canals and Northern culture that makes it seem More scandinavian than German. Known for centuries As the Crown jewel of German ports Hamburg has always seemed detached from the mainstream of cities such As Frankfurt Bonn Stuttgart or Munich. And its people seem to prefer it that Way. Native hamburgers Are said to be shy about Selling their City As a tourist attraction. Hamburgers can appear to be Quot very arrogant people Quot said Christopher Heilmann a local tour guide who moved there almost 20 years ago. Quot they feel the City s Beauty Speaks for  Susanne Dibelka a 30-year-old theology student has lived in Stuttgart and Bonn. She moved to Hamburg in 1968 and still finds it hard to get used to the Quot Cool and closed Quot Demeanour of the people. However she still ranks Hamburg As one of her favorite cities. Quot the sky. You have so much sky Here not like some places where there Are so Many mountains Quot said Dibelka whose family came from Berlin. Quot you can walk beside the River and there is nature a lot of Green everywhere. But at the same time this is a big town. There is so much  Many diverse cultures coexist in Hamburg a City second in Germany Only to Berlin in population. A casual observer would think Many of its 1.7 million people Are More characteristic of its Northern european neighbors Denmark Sweden and Norway. Quot i be never seen so Many blonds in my life Quot said Pam Westerman a fifth Grade schoolteacher from Arlington a. There is also a Large Muslim Community estimated at 80,000 people and a growing number of transplanted East germans other europeans and africans from Ghana and Nigeria. Its 88 foreign consulates rank the City As one of the Mist significant consular cities in thebus seaport marked by diversity world. This diplomatic connection and the City a importance As Germany s no. 1 seaport and overseas Trade centers validate it As one of Europe s True International cities. For More than 800 years Hamburg has used its location a about 60 Miles from the North sea coast along the Elbe River a As a Bridge for Trade from Northern Europe to Germany. The City s formal name is the free hanseatic City of Hamburg. What s in a name in this Case it aptly describes the City s past and maybe the reasons Why native hamburgers exude such a pass nonchalance. In 1321, Hamburg joined the North German City league known As the Hansa or the hanseatic l eague. Hamburg and the nearly port cities of Limbock and Bremen formed the Backbone of this multinational economic Alliance that controlled North and Baltic seas trading from Belgium to Russia. Through the centuries i Lamburg kept its distance irom local politics finally in 1888, the City gave up some of that Freedom when it Tell under Gorman customs and track Laws. Still it maintained a Small free Trade one exempt from customs and taxes. Being a free City however never shielded Hamburg from the slings and arrows of historical misfortunes a the City was occupied by Denmark and twice by France under Napoleon. A in 1842, a fire destroyed a third of Hamburg including Many of its warehouses and its medieval churches. A in 1892, a cholera epidemic killed almost 9,000 people. A world War ii devastated about 60 percent of the City nearly 90 percent of the i Lamburg  Altona. Today i lambing and its main outlying suburbs have the political c lout and Independence enjoyed by Germany s is other Stales. Although i Lamb tigers will be the last to Tell son the City s tourist attractions Are As impressive As its sovereignty. A Good place to Start is the main train station or i Laupot Hahnhold Loi ated downtown in the St. Geog District. More than 800 trains come and go through its underground stations. In the upper level then arc shopping malls restaurants and so Venu stands. Across the Stu get from the Tiam station is the German t Heater lot i ont Inducil on a age a it Hamburg is filled with people from around the world. Here Jesus a Turk works at a vegetable stand near the train station. Half timbered trading houses line a canal in the heart of Hamburg. A amps photos by Dave Casey novem i a 11, 1w2 stripes Magazine