2. The St. Pauli Landungsbrücken [A] with the Cap Arcona leaving the harbour. The Alter Elbtunnel [B] is inserted.
The Old Elbe Tunnel was built 1908-11 and has a length of approx. 1,475 ft. (450 m). The two tubes are 20 ft. (6 m) in diameter.
The tunnel, 69 ft. (21 m) below the river level, connects the centre of Hamburg to the docks on the south side of the Elbe, though is today mostly a tourist attraction.

3. The St. Pauli Landungsbrücken [A] and the Alter Elbtunnel [B] with the Cap Arcona leaving the harbour.

4. The Überseebrücke [C] with one of Hamburg-Süd's Monte class of ships.

5. The Überseebrücke [C] with the Kehrwiederspitze [D] in the background; tower of the St. Pauli Landungsbrücken [A] in the foreground.
The ships are the Wilhelm Gustloff (see 8. below) and Cap Arcona.

6. The Kehrwiederspitze [D] as seen from the Überseebrücke [C].
The Monte Rosa (13,882 grt, 524 ft. long) was one of five sisters built 1924-31.
She was the last to enter service on Hamburg-Süd's route from Hamburg to the ports of La Plata.
During WW2, she acted as a troop ship and later a hospital ship.
After having been damaged by a mine she was seized at Copenhagen by the British at the end of the war.
Renamed Empire Windrush she became a troopship again, managed by the New Zealand Line.
She eventually sank in the Mediterranean following an explosion in the engine room in 1954.

7. The Robert Ley (27,288 grt, 669 ft. long) was named for the leader of DAF - Deutsche Arbeitsfront (German Labour Front) and put in service in April 1939.
Owned by DAF and managed by Hamburg-American Line, she was intended for cruising arranged by the "KdF - Kraft durch Freude" ("Strength through Joy"),
an organization within DAF aimed at keeping the workers happy by giving them free or subsidized holidays.
During the war, the Robert Ley was an accomodation ship at Gotenhafen (Gdynia).
Towards the end of the war she participated in evacuating Germany's eastern territories.
She was destroyed in an air attack on Hamburg in March 1945 and a few years later broken up in Britain.
Click for larger view (detail)

8. The Wilhelm Gustloff (25,484 grt, 684 ft. long) was the first KdF-ship, completed in 1938 and managed by Hamburg-Süd.
As her near-sister, the Robert Ley, she became an accomodation ship at Gotenhafen (Gdynia) during WW2.
While evacuating refugees and wounded from the eastern parts of Germany towards the western parts,
she was torpedoed by a Soviet submarine during the evening of January 30, 1945.
The sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff may have been the worst disaster in the history of shipping, claiming the lives of an estimated 9,000 people or more.
Click for larger view (detail)

9. The St. Louis (16,732 grt, 574 ft. long) sailed on her maiden voyage from Hamburg to New York for Hamburg-American Line in 1929.
During WW2 she was a naval accomodation ship at Kiel, but was badly damaged by bombs in 1944.
After the war she was towed to Hamburg and used as a hotel until 1950. She was broken up a couple of years later.
See this page for another view of the St. Louis.

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All postcards above were published by Verlag Hans Andres, Hamburg, and are courtesy of Zbigniew Soja via Anne Soja.

*

To Hamburg-American Line (HAPAG).
To Hamburg-Süd.

*

The www.bildarchiv-hamburg.de website has thousands of old and new photos of Hamburg, including many of the harbour.

You may use my images on another website.
Then please credit them as being from the collection of Björn Larsson,
and preferably provide a link to my Introduction page.
Thank you!
Please note that an image of a brochure or other item provided by another collector
may not be used without prior permission from its owner.

This page last updated May 3, 2009.