About Hamburg

Situated on the River Elbe and around the Alster lakes, Hamburg is considered to be the most beautiful city in the heart of Europe. With its port and a dynamic economy, the international trading metropolis is one of Europe’s fastest growing metropolitan regions. Its international range of sport and culture along with its shopping and leisure facilities, fairs and festivals, as well as varied, vibrant nightlife, attract millions of visitors year after year.

The city’s abundance of water makes it ideal for rowing. Mainland Europe’s first rowing club was founded in Hamburg in 1836, ‘Der Hamburger Ruder Club’. This marked the birth of rowing as a sport in Germany. In April 1853, Hamburg’s second rowing club was founded as the ‘Germania Ruderclub’. Birth clubs merged in 1934 to become the ‘Hamburger und Germania Ruder Club’. With over 700 members it is now Germany’s largest rowing club and also the world’s second oldest, after Leander Boat Club in Henley. Today, Hamburg’s rowing tradition flourishes in 20 rowing clubs with more than 5,000 active members. Germany has a population of approximately 81,471,834 (July 2011) of which 4.3 million people live in the city-state of Hamburg and the surrounding metropolitan region.