Hamburg, Germany's largest port, lies at the mouth of the Elbe to the North Sea. The city, raised from the ruins after the destruction of World War II, boasts a restored, medieval Old Town with numerous churches and the oldest stock exchange building in Germany.
In 1943, Hamburg was severely damaged by an Allied raid. Although its buildings were carefully rebuilt after the war, these losses are visible in the urban tissue to this day. The Old Town extending over the Alster River is surrounded by modern housing estates. A large part of the historic buildings with characteristic North German medieval houses and the town hall from the end of the 19th century were rebuilt. Towers of Gothic and Baroque churches that form a characteristic panorama of the city rise up among the houses. Among them is the destroyed tower of the church of St. Nicholas, who was left in the condition of the end of the Wony as a monument.
A big attraction of the city is one of the oldest zoos in the world, in which several thousand animals from around the world live on large catwalks. Hamburg can also boast of the largest model of the world of Miniatures Wunderland, in which 11 km of tracks were run and the landscapes and buildings of several European countries were restored.
