Geography and urban development of Dresden past 60 years has made Dresden the fourth largest urban area in Germany after Berlin, Hamburg, and Cologne. The most important river in Dresden is the Elbe river, the only navigable body of water to flow through the city. There are also a number of tributaries such as the river Weißeritz. The nearest German cities are Chemnitz (80 km to the southwest), Leipzig (100 km to the northwest) and Berlin (200 km to the north). The Czech capital Prague is about 150 km to the south; the Polish city of Wrocław is about 200 km to the east. There are
Accession of Hamburg to the German Customs Union (Zollverein) very vigorously against such ideas. It invoked the free-trade argument that every protective tariff is an unjust burden on the many to benefit the few. In this case, in favour to the union vessels, to which all the consumers of imported articles, as well as the exporting producers, would have to pay monopoly prices for sea transport. The Hamburg Senate did not wish to know anything about a common flag either: it was in the interests of the Hanseatic cities that they retain their own flags, and thus present themselves abroad as neutral trade republics, even if German states went