Hamburgers in Hamburg
The Swan Father makes an offer you can't refuse, while we ponder the true meaning of a St. Pauli Girl.
I knew very little about Hamburg when we stepped off the ship in Germany. I’d never been there before. My main associations about the city were that the Beatles got their start playing in Hamburg’s dive bars.
One of the first things we saw when we went ashore today was a sign for “Hamburgers” which I’m pointing to in the photo above.
As the day wore on, we learned that in German, the word “Hamburger” refers to people from the city of Hamburg. If you want to order a burger here, however, you use the German word frikadelle.
In English, of course, “hamburgers” are a popular fast food sandwich. While this “meat on a bun” item is an American creation, the name “hamburger” takes its inspiration from a ground beef entree from Hamburg.
It’s all a bit confusing, but there you go!
Coming from the Arctic Circle, Larry and I were surprised by the chill we felt in Hamburg. Despite walking through piles of snow in Norway, it was only here that we felt truly chilled on this trip.
Unfortunately, the local Christmas markets were closed, but the city still exuded a festive atmosphere as we wandered around, and we noticed several stalls selling "Glühwein," Germany's take on mulled wine.
While I love mulled wine, I didn't feel like having alcohol so early in the morning, so we warmed our cockles with coffee, instead.
Hamburg’s HOHO
To get an overview of the city, we took a Hop-On Hop-Off (HOHO) bus tour. To me, a HOHO bus is like flipping through a magazine before deciding what you’d like to settle down and read.
On a cold and drizzly day like we had in Hamburg, we didn’t do a lot of “hopping off.” It was much more cozy to stay on and view the city’s streets and canals from inside the bus.
Hamburg’s Swan Father
One thing we learned during our HOHO bus tour, is that Hamburg has a city official called the Swan Father. As the title implies, this person is in charge of the city’s swan population.
Hamburg locals (aka Hamburgers) have such deep affection for the swans inhabiting the lake in their old city center that they relocate them to a heated indoor facility every winter.
Not only is it illegal to harm these cherished birds, but even insulting a swan is considered an offense!
Hamburg’s Red Light District
As expected, the HOHO bus tour included a stop by the legendary bars where the Beatles got their start, performing long before they became international superstars. These venues are right by Hamburg’s red-light district, St. Pauli. I’d heard of “St. Pauli girl” beer before, but had never thought about what, exactly, a St. Pauli girl actually was.
From playful puns to over-the-top slogans, the signage in St. Pauli made us snicker. It seems to be a neighborhood marching to the beat of its own drum, much like the Beatles themselves once did.