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60 free Hamburg trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Hamburg trivia quiz covers Germany's second city from the Hammaburg of 808 to the Elbphilharmonie: the Elbe and the port, Barbarossa's charter, the Hanseatic League, the Great Fire of 1842, the cholera of 1892, Operation Gomorrah, the 1962 flood and the two chancellors born here. It also takes in the Speicherstadt and Chilehaus, the Reeperbahn and the Beatles' Hamburg clubs, Brahms and power metal, Miniatur Wunderland, Hagenbeck's zoo, the Old Elbe Tunnel, HSV's 1983 European Cup, St. Pauli's skull and crossbones, and the city's food — Franzbrötchen, Labskaus, Aalsuppe and the Frikadelle that may have fathered the hamburger. Questions run from easy to expert with the difficulty shown on each one. Every answer has been checked against a primary reference and each question carries its citation. Enjoy this one? Try our Germany and Berlin quizzes next.
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Q 01Where does Hamburg rank among German cities by population?
Second
With over 1.9 million people it trails only Berlin, and its metro region tops 5 million.
Q 02On which river does the Port of Hamburg lie?
Elbe
Despite sitting 110 km from the North Sea, it counts as a seaport because it handles ocean-going ships.
Q 03Which two other German cities share Hamburg's status as a city-state?
Berlin and Bremen
It is bordered by Schleswig-Holstein to the north and Lower Saxony to the south.
Q 04Where did the Port of Hamburg rank among Europe's container ports in 2024?
Third
Only Rotterdam and Antwerp-Bruges handled more containers in 2024; the port is nicknamed Germany's Gateway to the World.
Q 05Which emperor ordered the castle built in 808 that gave Hamburg its name?
Charlemagne
The Hammaburg stood on rocky ground in a marsh between the Alster and Elbe as a defence against Slavic incursions.
Q 06Who is Hamburg's first bishop, known as the Apostle of the North?
Ansgar
He arrived in 834, and two years later Hamburg was linked with Bremen as a joint bishopric.
Q 07How many Viking ships reportedly sailed up the Elbe to destroy Hamburg in 845?
600
The town then had only about 500 inhabitants; Poles and Danes sacked it again in later centuries.
Q 08Which emperor granted Hamburg Free Imperial City status in 1189?
Frederick Barbarossa
The charter included tax-free passage down the Lower Elbe, and 7 May 1189 is still celebrated as the port's birthday.
Q 09Hamburg's 1241 alliance with which city is seen as founding the Hanseatic League?
Lübeck
In 1266 Henry III of England let Hamburg's merchants set up a 'hanse' in London, the first recorded use of the word.
Q 10What is the Matthiae-Mahl, first held in Hamburg in 1356?
The world's oldest ceremonial meal
It was a feast for Hanseatic cities on the first day of medieval spring and is still held every year.
Q 11What fraction of Hamburg's inner city was destroyed by the Great Fire of 1842?
About a quarter
It burned from 4 to 8 May, killed 51 people and left 20,000 homeless; the insurance losses gave rise to the reinsurance industry.
Q 12Where did the Great Fire of 1842 start?
A cigar factory on Deichstraße
Dry weather and shifting winds spread it fast, and collapsed buildings kept fireboats out of the canals.
Q 13Which epidemic killed about 8,600 people in Hamburg in 1892?
Cholera
It was the last major cholera outbreak in a big Western city, and the independent-minded city government handled it badly.
Q 21The Speicherstadt warehouses stand on foundations of what?
Oak timber piles
Built from 1883 to 1927 as a customs-free zone, it is the world's largest warehouse district on timber piles.
Q 22When were the Speicherstadt and Kontorhausviertel made UNESCO World Heritage Sites?
2015
The Kontorhaus district includes the ship-shaped brick Chilehaus of 1922.
Q 23The 1922 Chilehaus office building is famously shaped like what?
An ocean liner
Fritz Höger's brick expressionist masterpiece points its prow toward the harbour.
What does the name Reeperbahn literally mean?
Q 14What was the RAF codename for the July 1943 firebombing of Hamburg?
Operation Gomorrah
The firestorm spread from the main station and killed at least 42,600 civilians; a million more were evacuated.
Q 15Which occupying power's zone included Hamburg after its surrender on 3 May 1945?
Britain
The city gave up three days after Hitler's death and became a West German state in 1949.
Q 16How many people died in Hamburg in the North Sea flood of February 1962?
About 315
Police senator Helmut Schmidt overstepped his legal powers to call in the Bundeswehr, making his national reputation.
Q 17Which two future German chancellors were born in Hamburg?
Helmut Schmidt and Angela Merkel
Olaf Scholz was the city's mayor before becoming chancellor, and the airport is named after Schmidt.
Q 18Roughly how many bridges cross Hamburg's rivers and canals?
2,500
That is more than London, Amsterdam and Venice put together — the most of any city in the world.
Q 19Which Hamburg concert hall, opened in 2017, sits like a glass sail on an old warehouse?
The Elbphilharmonie
Herzog & de Meuron designed it on top of Kaispeicher A; costs ballooned from about €200 million to €870 million.
Q 20What was the final cost of building Hamburg's new sail-shaped concert hall?
€870 million
The 2007 estimate was €241 million; locals nicknamed the hall Elphi anyway.
Ropewalk
Rope-makers worked here after leaving the crowded Neustadt in the 1620s; today it is nicknamed 'die sündige Meile'.
Q 25In which Hamburg district is the Reeperbahn?
St. Pauli
It draws 25 to 30 million visitors a year and hosts Europe's largest club festival every September.
Q 26Which Große Freiheit venue did the Beatles play first on arriving in August 1960?
The Indra
They arrived early on 17 August 1960 and slept on the club's red leather seats.
Q 27Which Hamburg photographer inspired the Beatles' mop-top haircut?
Astrid Kirchherr
She was engaged to bassist Stuart Sutcliffe, who left the band to study art in Hamburg and died there in 1962.
Q 28Which famous St. Pauli music venue opened on Friday 13 April 1962?
Star-Club
It closed on New Year's Eve 1969, and its building burned down in 1987.
Q 29Which composer, born in Hamburg in 1833, grew up poor in the Gängeviertel?
Johannes Brahms
Mendelssohn was also born in Hamburg, in 1809, before his family fled to Berlin in disguise.
Q 30Which musical's 1986 German premiere began Hamburg's unbroken run of musical theatre?
Cats
Producer Stage Entertainment is based in the city, giving Hamburg Germany's highest density of musicals.