Christopher Street Day Parade in Hamburg

We experienced Christopher Street Day in Hamburg rather by chance. On our way to Denmark, there was already heavy, slow-moving traffic and repeated jams on the motorway long before Hamburg. According to the traffic forecast, this would continue all the way to the Danish border. So we decided to exit in Hamburg, use the rest of the day for sightseeing, and stay overnight there.

From the Landungsbrücken, our path first led us along the Elbe promenades to the Speicherstadt and Hafencity with the Elbphilharmonie. After a break at the Magellan Terraces, we then headed towards the city centre – passing numerous Instagram selfie hotspots. During the car journey, we had heard on the radio about the up to 250,000 expected visitors for the CSD. However, we thought the parade would have long been over by the afternoon. So we were surprised to hear loud music just before the City Hall and to encounter the colourful, imaginatively and dazzlingly dressed, dancing and celebrating spectators and participants. The entire city centre around the Binnenalster was filled with music and people. The relaxed, joyful atmosphere also rubbed off on us.

Thus, we experienced the venerable, Hanseatic-distinguished city of Hamburg in a special, almost frivolous way that day. This gave us beautiful impressions of a vibrant city, beyond visiting the usual sights. Nevertheless, after a while, we had had enough of the noise and hustle and bustle. Then we had to search for a long time to find a quiet, secluded café for a refreshing break. We found one at the Bleichenfleet and watched in amazement the particularly diverse mix of passing residents and visitors to the city due to the CSD. Later, our path led us back via the Michel to the Landungsbrücken, where we took the ferry over to the car park at the musical theatres. There was a brief discussion when entering the shuttle ferry, as we could not show musical tickets. However, with reference to the paid parking ticket, we were allowed to cross. We finally stayed there overnight to experience the impressive panorama at sunset and sunrise.