With my love for train and subway travel, I have a favorite subway line
in my hometown Hamburg, Germany: the U3 Hamburg U-Bahn. The most scenic
section IMHO is in-between the stations Baumwall, Landungsbrücken and
St. Pauli. There the train goes above ground and rewards you with
fantastic views of the Hamburger Hafen (Hamburg Harbor or Port of Hamburg).
U3 Hamburg U-Bahn (Subway), Germany – In Another Minute (Week 293)
When I traveled to Germany this past week to visit my family and
catch up with friends, I took the opportunity to take a quick ride on
the U3 subway to record the view of the Hamburg Harbor for you.
It
was a grey but bright day (as is so typical for Northern Germany), so
only one direction of shooting worked out because in the other direction
the sun turned everything else into silhouette.
Unfortunately, this
means that this video couldn’t feature the old harbor buildings with the
entrance to the Alte Elbtunnel (Old Elbe Tunnel) that greets you when
you emerge from below ground between the St. Pauli and Landungsbruecken
stations. But I figured I’ll be back to Hamburg a lot more in the
future, and one of these days I’ll shoot a fully dedicated video of the
harbor, not just a drive-by shooting.
A few facts… The U3
Hamburg U-Bahn train started running in 1912, which makes it Hamburg’s
oldest city train track. The U3 train line is about 20 km (12.5 miles)
long and is often referred to as a Hochbahn (Elevated Train) because
most of the 26 stops along the circular U3 train line are actually above
ground. However, the U stands for U-Bahn or Untergrundbahn, which means
subway. Other areas it connects are downtown, the upscale Eppendorf
neighborhood and the outlying neighborhoods of Barmbek and Wandsbek,
where I was born.
The Hamburger Hafen (Port of Hamburg) is located
on the Elbe River, a little over 100 km south-east of the North Sea.
It’s Germany’s largest, Europe’s second largest and the world’s 15th
largest sea port. By the way: ich liebe den Hamburger Hafen!!!
On a side note: later that day, I witnessed and filmed an action in the Münzviertel (a Hamburg neighborhood) by the koZe
(Kollektives Zentrum = collective center). This group of Hamburg
activists are currently occupying (aka “squatting” in) an abandoned
school building, which is scheduled to be torn down in order for a
private developer to put up some fancy buildings.
The associated local activists include my father, Günter Westphal,
who is a social artist heavily involved in the neighborhood. They would
like to see this city-owned area and the future buildings to remain
public and cater to the needs of the community instead of the growth of
personal wealth of private developers. The occupied building currently
houses a bike workshop, a coop, creative work spaces, and most
importantly, housing for refugees. On Thursdays, they have bar night,
where my dad, a few friends and I got to drink beers and talk about how
we can make this world a better place. I met so many inspiring people
that night and couldn’t have been more proud of my father, who turned 73
a few days later! At some point, I will publish a video of the koZe
action I recorded that day. It’s the least I can do to support koZe and
my father’s work.
The song in this video is “Sailor’s Lament” by Jason Shaw of Audinautix.com. He has made this and many other instrumental songs available via a CC BY 3.0 license. Thank you, Jason!
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| Rickmer Rickmers in the Port of Hamburg – seen from the U3 U-Bahn subway line |