Hamburg 2010. 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
Postage stamps and postal history of Hamburg which belonged to Denmark at that time, was delivered by a Hamburg postal agent, as there was a Hamburg postal agency on Heligoland. On 1 January 1852, Hamburg joined the German-Austrian Postal Union. Since 1866, Hamburg was part of the North German Confederation, which took over the postal service in the North German Postal District on 1 January 1868. The first postage stamps of the Hamburg City Post Office were introduced on 1 January 1859. They were rectangular and in the middle was the coat of arms of the city, overlaid with the value number. Below that is the word