Hamburg Hamburg Hamburg (; ; officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg; ; Low German/Low Saxon: "Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg") is the second-largest city in Germany with a population of over 1.8 million. One of Germany's 16 federal states, it is surrounded by Schleswig-Holstein to the north and Lower Saxony to the south. The city's metropolitan region is home to more than five million people. Hamburg lies on the River Elbe and two of its tributaries, the River Alster and the River Bille. The official name reflects Hamburg's history as a member of the medieval Hanseatic League and a free
History of Hamburg to the central government. The German constituent states were replaced in 1935 by regional districts (German: "Gau") led by Nazi Party officials who obeyed the central government's orders. On 16 May 1933 Karl Kaufmann (1900–1969) was appointed as "Reichsstatthalter" (imperial governor or imperial lieutenant) in Hamburg. The Hamburg Senate had resigned in March 1933 and the Hamburg Parliament elected Carl Vincent Krogmann (NSDAP) as mayor. In 1938 the city boundaries were extended with the Greater Hamburg Act to incorporate Wandsbek, Harburg, Wilhelmsburg and Altona. On 1 April 1938 Constitution of Hamburg was suppressed through an Imperial Law (German: "Reichsgesetz"), the