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
Accession of Hamburg to the German Customs Union (Zollverein) Accession of Hamburg to the German Customs Union (Zollverein) The accession of the city state of Hamburg to the Customs Union in 1888 (along with Bremen) was the culmination of a project for the economic and monetary union of Germany, stretching back to 1819. In that year Schwarzburg-Sondershausen joined Prussia’s internal customs union, the first other state to do so and the first of many to follow. When the German Customs Union (Deutscher Zollverein) was initially formed, in the 1830s and 1840s, the motives of the states in joining did not include any particular desire to unite with others to