Hamburg

Hamburg – the Hanseatic gate to the world

Hamburg is undoubtedly the metropolis of northern Germany – and not just because it opens the Hanseatic gate to the world of the south and all large magistrals A 1 and A 7 lead via Hamburg either to Schleswig-Holstein or to Lower Saxony, but above all because Hamburg belonged to Schleswig-Holstein well into the 19th century and – apercu the history of golf – most Hamburg golf clubs are found upon Schleswig-Holstein land. One can hardly have a golfing trip to the north without visiting the metropolis upon the Elbe. Hamburg lives from and with its surroundings. From a golfer’s perspective, this is shown again and again.

If there has ever been a secret capital city for golf in the Federal Republic of Germany, then it must be Hamburg, the “Hanseatic Gate to the World”, not least of all also to the golfing world. Not just because the German Golfing Association was founded there. No, Hamburg has within its city boundaries three golf courses and quite nearby upon Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony land, with over 20 more golf courses, such a multitude of golf courses as scarcely another city in Europe.

That has the advantage that the appeal of Hamburg emanates far into the surrounding areas – and that also includes the eastern, northern and western parts of Schleswig-Holstein and the southern part of Lower Saxony.

There are quite beautiful jags from which the Hamburg golfing crown is composed: The clubs in Treudelberg, Waldhof, Hoisdorf, Walddörfer, upon the Wendlohe, Ahrensburg, St. Dionys, Lüdersburg Castle, Gut Kaden, Holm, Falkenstein and still many others offer more than 300 fairways and greens.

As in the past, the most well-known is certainly Falkenstein upon the banks of the Elbe, one of three courses which are found within the city itself. The Hamburg Falkenstein Golf Club (18) is over 100 years old, it has a great tradition and natural beauty – an idyll right in the middle of a metropolis. Where else would you still find something like that today?

Almost precisely on the opposite side, in the northern section of the city, another jewel was created during the 1990s, the only golf resort of the metropolis of millions – the Marriott Treudelberg Golf Resort (19). With 71 bunkers, water hazards, biotopes and 25,000 qm of newly planted trees, the player is offered a challenging course in typical Northern German gently rolling terrain. Here in the Alster Valley, one can live well, relax, play magnificent golf – combing a visit to a world city with world-class golf and a holiday ambiance. It is quite seldom to find such a combination which has been created for both business and holiday travellers.

Between Falkenstein (18), a masterpiece of English golfing architecture and Treudelberg (19), Hamburg offers even more. There is the large harbour, one of the largest in Europe, and the city never sleeps. Included in the nightlife is the world-famous Reeperbahn (quite nearby, upon the Graswarder) where once the pirate Klaus Störtebeker was executed), there are Hagenbeck’s Zoological Gardens – traditional and of a high quality. The cultural scene of the Hanseatic city – Hamburg is the largest musical city in Europe – with its theatres and museums, it enjoys worldwide fame (from the St. Pauli Theatre directly upon the Kiez via the Thalia Theatre to the Ernst German Theatre or Ohnesorg Theatre).

Whoever wishes to experience Hamburg’s shopping offerings can do well in the city around the Binnenalster [Inner Alster, name of artificial lake], Jungfernstieg, Ballindamm and Mönckebergstraße and in the many galleries and passages. Whoever goes shopping in Hamburg can forget about New York, Milan or London. Hamburg is always worth a trip!

And then there are still many opportunities to combine all these experiences with golf. To Hamburg’s north and east – all in Schleswig-Holstein – there are the golf clubs Walddörfer (20) with its narrow course which is sometimes quite windy, the Hoisdorf Golf Club (21) not far from the Hamburg Ahrensburg Golf Club (22), a champion golf course with great athletic challenges. In addition, there is an 18-hole champion course in Jersbek (23) which was designed around the 400-year-old estate and the Sülfeld Golf Club (24) which has 27 holes. We complete the Northern part of the Hamburg area with the Waldhof Estate (25), a magnificent 18-hole golf course with two completely different faces upon the front and back nines.

In the western part of the Hanseatic city, very close to the airport but already upon Schleswig-Holstein land, there is the Auf der Wendlohe (26) golf course, a top-class 27-hole course. The Hamburg-Holm Golf Club (27), likewise with 27 holes, lies close to the Holm sand dunes and offers additional variety in play with sometimes thick and old groves of trees and well-placed hazards.

West of Hamburg, in the Haseldorf Marsh between the Elbe and the Pinnau, the Haseldorf Estate Golf Club (28) offers another attractive 18 holes as well as the Pein Estate (29), an 18-hole golf course which is top-level from natural, biological and athletic perspectives and is character-ised by many water hazards, doglegs, trees, groves and biotopes.

With a slope of 131, the Wulfsmühle Estate (30) offers its 18 holes upon an athletic level. The An der Pinnau Golf Club (31) between Quickborn and Pinneberg distinguishes itself through its broad fairways with many water hazards and large old trees which loom over the fairways. A particularly special challenge is the island green of hole 15.

Quite near to Alveslohe is the Kaden Estate Golf Club (32), a large golf course with 27 holes where each year the Pro European Championships are held together with the Deutsche Bank Open. Upon the Kaden Estate, the Geldadel, there follows the Breitenburg Castle Golf Course in Itzehoe (33). Here, one finds golf in pure culture in a noble ambiance and upon 27 beautiful fairways. Through the various types of landscape and places, the play here is quite varied and interesting. Lush flora and an old grove of trees characterise the image and one can see the very impressive 500-year-old Breitenburg Castle upon holes 6 and 14.

In Glückstadt, one again reaches the Elbe and thus a small harbour city which has all kinds of historical accents. Glückstadt was planned in 1616, then built and, 30 years later, was already the second-largest city of Denmark which was expanded by the city of Altona in 1643. The Baroque brilliance of the founding years still radiates today – Glückstadt is today part of Schleswig-Holstein while Altona (together with St. Pauli) has become one of the largest districts in Hamburg. This is how the times have changed.