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) not in itself mean that it must also be outside the tax frontier. For example, the Imperial Stamp Duty, which was not a consumption tax, was applied in the Hanseatic states as well as the Customs Union. For consumption taxes the Hanseatic cities were treated like other foreign states. The brandy or sugar supplier in the Customs Union received an export remuneration upon dispatch to Hamburg. This was passed on to the Hamburg consumer who received the Customs Union product free of Customs Union tax and, the reduction was not negated by any high import tariff or consumption tax levied