Last summer my wife and I spent a week in Hamburg. She went for an academic conference - I went to carry our bags and to explore the city of Hamburg.
There has been human settlement in Hamburg, as with many places, for thousands of years. Nomadic hunters were in the area from at least 8,000 BCE. More permanent settlements were established by Saxon tribes in the 4th Century (CE / AD). However it was with the establishment of the 'Hammaburg', a massive fortress, by Louis the Pious (a son of Charlemagne), that Hamburg as a town came into existence.
Hamburg sits today on a branch of the great European river, the Elbe. The Hammaburg, and the town that grew around it, sat on a hill overlooking the Alster, a river which runs for 53 km, is dammed within the city to form the Außenalster and Binnenalster lakes, before meeting the Elbe. The fortress was located south of today's church of St Petri.
On one of my days in the city, I visited the Hamburg-Museum. It is WELL worth a visit. I particularly liked the models of the town as various periods (see the example above). It's website is http://www.historische-museen-hamburg.de/en/en [English version - see the tabs]
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