Altona, Hamburg surrounding cities) with the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg in 1938. On 1 February 2007 the "Ortsämter" (precincts) in Hamburg were dissolved. In Altona the precincts of Blankenese, Lurup and Osdorf had existed and had local offices. On 1 March 2008 the Schanzenviertel neighborhood, which had spanned across parts of the boroughs of Altona, Eimsbüttel and Hamburg-Mitte, became the Sternschanze quarter, the entirety of which is now in the Altona borough. The border of Altona to the south is the River Elbe, and across the river the state Lower Saxony and the boroughs Harburg and Hamburg-Mitte. To the east
Accession of Hamburg to the German Customs Union (Zollverein) by Hamburg. Thus Hamburg consumers had lower prices than consumers within the union. The German imperial constitution of 1871 brought no change in the legal situation of Hamburg and Bremen. Article 34 (and related provisions) went into the new constitution. After Hamburg had agreed to the constitution of the North German Federation, negotiations were held between November 1867 and March 1868 on the size of the free area. It was agreed that this would cover the Hamburg urban area, but not the outlying areas, including Ritzebuttel, Bergedorf and the Vierland (which were a condominium with Lübeck until January 1868), Waldvörfer,