61st FEFPEB congress 2008 > Introseite > Startseite
Undiluted pleasure on the river Alster
Today, one of Hamburg’s landmarks is on the programme. Most of Hamburg’s citizens don’t even realize that that’s what it is, because it belongs to Hamburg just as naturally as the “Michel” spire and the “Reeperbahn” fun park.
The Alster area is a favoured destination for outings and leisure pursuits. This beautiful waterscape lies smack in the centre of Hamburg. The Aussenalster alone occupies more than 160 hectares and is almost completely surrounded by greenery. Naturally, this attracts many walkers. The Aussenalster is also ideal for joggers. Really keen ones even run the 6km loop a few times. Those who like water sports can row, paddle or even sail on the Alster. The biggest park of the Aussenalster is the Alsterpark, where you can also admire a number of sculptures. The Alster is divided into the smaller Binnenalster and the bigger Aussenalster. This area is surrounded by canals and small waterways, the Fleete and all of this – in the centre of Hamburg!
In order to admire these treasures from the water, we have chartered a stylish riverboat. We welcome you at the hotel and then stroll to the nearby Alster jetty.
The cruise on the Alster canals shows Hamburg from a totally different side: lovingly maintained country houses with their parks, modern dwellings, allotments and naturally wild shore areas float past within reach. Only a short distance from the city centre, you experience the green idyll of the Alster’s residential areas. Our staff and the captain can tell you many things about these dwellings, the parks and the Alster itself.
But what would a cruise be without a little hands-on experience of the Alster atmosphere?
Tea tasting on the Alster
During this cruise, your guests will enjoy a local speciality – a tea tasting on the water:
One of the best-known tea traders in Hamburg is waiting for us. Under his auspices, participants will learn the noble art of tea tasting. Naturally, our tea trader will pass on much useful knowledge concerning the origin and quality of the different types of tea.
The end of the cruise takes us back to the vicinity of the hotels and we stroll back the last short distance on foot.
Following the art track through Hamburg
The Hanseatic city of Hamburg boasts an impressive history, where the arts are well represented. The second biggest city of Germany offers its guests and inhabitants a wealth of public attractions, sights and interesting venues.
Today, we want to offer your guests an extensive view of the most stunning sides of our city. Let us talk again about the impressionist painter Max Liebermann.
People in cafés, beer gardens, the view of the Elbe river (even in the rain), country houses in their parks and the game of polo which was all the rage during his time – all this has been painted in masterly fashion by Max Liebermann. “I have painted for 20 years in and of Hamburg” wrote Liebermann in 1911 “and I hope that those who contemplate [these paintings] feel some of that love and admiration which I have for Hamburg and its citizens”.
100 years ago (in July and August of 1902) Max Liebermann came to Hamburg as a guest of Alfred Lichtwark. He made sketches and studies for works which he afterwards completed in his Berlin atelier, including the famous one of the Jacobs Restaurant terrace. Altogether 23 works were conceived and all of them – paintings, pastels and drawings – were purchased by the Hamburg Kunsthalle museum. Lichtwark was pleased “as this offers to those who are not familiar with Liebermann’s art a chance to discover, and established friends of his art can indulge in the pleasures of rediscovery”.
