Rainbow over the harbour of Hamburg

by Silva Wischeropp

This enchanting scene, shortly after a heavy summer rain at the port of Hamburg, was taken on 4 September 2016 in the early evening hours with the Nikon D90 camera.

The Port of Hamburg is an open tidal harbour on the Lower Elbe in the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. It is the largest seaport in Germany and the third largest in Europe after the port of Rotterdam and the port of Antwerp. In terms of standard container throughput figures for 2020, its four container terminals make it one of the 20 largest ports in the world.
The origins of the Port of Hamburg date back to the 9th century. However, due to an imperial charter, the date of foundation is considered to be 7 May 1189, which is celebrated every year with a multi-day festival, the Port Birthday. From the middle of the 19th century, it was expanded to its current size with numerous harbour basins and quays. Since the 1970s, it has undergone massive restructuring in terms of land use and labour due to the increasing use of containers in commercial shipping.

The Port of Hamburg is located on the Lower Elbe and around 100 kilometres from the mouth of the Elbe into the North Sea at Cuxhaven. It is nevertheless considered a seaport, as seagoing vessels with a draught of up to 15 metres can call at it. This is made possible by regular dredging and deepening of the fairway. By utilising the tidal waves, a ship draught of 13.8 metres is possible, or 15.1 metres with the guidance of the Upper Harbour Office when entering at the height of the tide. Seagoing vessels with a draught of up to 12.8 m can reach the harbour regardless of the tide. It is worth noting that the average tidal range at the St. Pauli gauge has doubled in the 20th century with an average movement of 3.63 metres.