Blankenese

History

Blankenese has a long history as a fishing village along the Elbe River.

In 1060, Archbishop Adalbert of Bremen built a provost's residence at the site of an older settlement at the hill Süllberg. Later the counts of Holstein built a castle. Both were destroyed through Hamburg.

Until 1927 Blankenese was an independent town in Holstein and then it was merged into the town Altona by law. In 1938 Altona was merged into Hamburg with the Greater Hamburg Act.

During World War II, the suburb held a Luftwaffe Officer Cadet camp, which became HQ 85 Group Signals for the Royal Air Force in 1945.

Nowadays, it is regarded as one of Germany's most affluent neighborhoods.

Origin of the name

Blankenese comes from the Low German blank ness, meaning white promontory in the Elbe river.

Geography

According to the 2006 records of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holsteins' statistical office, Blankenese comprises a total area of 8.3 square kilometres (3.2 square miles).

Blankenese is located south of Sülldorf, east of Rissen and west of Nienstedten. To the south is the widest point of the river Elbe (2.8 km) which provides various tourist and recreational opportunities as well as a view of the Airbus plant.

The stunning views from the river-facing portions of Blankenese have resulted in highly desirable properties and expensive real estate prices. The steep hillside residences boast many tiny, pedestrian-only streets and 4,864 stairs. The Strandweg is home to the Strand Hotel, built in 1902, as well as several other cafes and restaurants. There are two lighthouses, a Roman garden, a doll museum and many parks and walking trails in Blankenese.

Parks

Demographics

In 2006 there were 13,011 people living in Blankenese. The population density was 1,577/km² (4,084/sq mi). Of the total population 16.7% were children under the age of 18, 24.2% were 65 years of age or older, and 10.2% were immigrants. 189 people were registered as unemployed. In 1999 there were 6,990 households out of which 16.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 47.1% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 1.97.

Education

There are 4 elementary schools and 4 secondary schools: Marion Dönhoff Gymnasium, Gymnasium Blankenese, Bugenhagenschule am Hessepark and Gesamtschule Blankenese.

Sports

Since 1997 the cycling world elite annually drives through Blankenese on the course of the EuroEyes Cyclassics (until 2005 HEW Cyclassics, until 2015 Vattenfall Cyclassics), the only German World Tour race. The streets of Blankenese are usually included in the course several times, as the drivers have to go across the notorious hill of Waseberg, which is also located in the quarter, three times. It is the main difficulty within the race.

The football clubs of SV Blankenese (founded in 1903) and FTSV Komet Blankenese (founded 1907) have a long tradition in the quarter.

Infrastructure

A local office of the main district office Altona called Customer Centre Blankenese is located at Sülldorfer Kirchenweg 2. The local quarter court Amtsgericht Hamburg-Blankenese is located at Dormienstrasse.

The Honorary Consulate of the Kingdom of Morocco (Al Mamlakah al Maghribiyah) established in Hamburg in 1960 is located on the street In de Bargen.

Commerce

Blankeneser Landstrasse and Blankenese Bahnhofstrasse form the main intersection of commercial activities in Bankenese. While the shops, banks and post office are open normal business hours from Monday through Saturday, the popular public farmer's market is only available on Tuesday, Friday & Saturday.

Health systems

The hospital Tabea GmbH, located at Kösterbergstrasse, has 32 beds and specializes on hip and knee surgery and varicose vein surgery.

There are 73 physicians in private practice and 5 pharmacies.

Transportation

Blankenese is serviced by the rapid transit system of the S-Bahn with the Blankenese station and several buses of the public transport organisation. According to the Department of Motor Vehicles (Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt), there were 6,333 private cars registered (486 cars/1000 people). In summer 2008, the main train station in Blankenese has been completely rebuilt.

Blankenese's waterfront is serviced many times a day by various water shuttles. There are many buoys in the river to help guide all sizes of watercraft, since this part of the river has many shoals and is subject to the tides.

Lighthouse

There are two lighthouses, the Blankenese Low Lighthouse, with a height of 42m and 3 Platform decks for visitors at Strandweg, and 40m high Blankenese High Lighthouse at Bauerspark. Both form a line together to Elbe River for incoming ships.

Waterworks

On the hill of Baursberg the waterworks of the same name is located since 1859, supplying the western suburbs of Hamburg and also the nearby town of Schenefeld.

Wrecks

The hulls of the following two sunken vessels are located outside the main international shipping strait. They had been earmarked for removal as they may pose a hazard to recreational marine traffic. However they afford scenic views and are popular with the locals, hence were allowed to remain there:

Polstjernan

The remains of the four-masted Finnish powered schooner Polstjernan (Polar Star), which caught fire on 20.10.1926 in today's Kiel Canal and was towed away by the Blankenese-based salvage company Harmstorf. Location: By the bank called Falkensteiner Ufer, house no. 26. UTM coordinates: 5934830.59 N, 552083.28 E The wreck can be reached at low tide without getting your feet wet. Its cargo of wood caught fire when an engine exploded while passing Kaiser Wilhelm Canal (today's Kiel Canal). She was then, a few days later, towed to Blankenese, where she was temporarily moored. Her insurers disputed responsibility for the wreck and it remained lying there ever since. As the wreck tended to float in flood conditions it was weighted down with scrap metal from submarine parts after World War 2 and has since been used as a breakwater.

Uwe

A few meters from the Polstjernan lies what is left of the barge Uwe, sunk there in 1975 after colliding against the coaster Wiedau. The Uwe was torn into pieces and while most of these chunks had eventually been towed into the harbor, it became apparent its stern was too heavy, and was left between the Polstjernan and the Lighthouse of Blankenese, where it remains to this day.

Notable people

Web presence

Blankense has its own website which posts recent pictures and news events for its residents.

Additionally, one can view live webcam feeds from up and down the Elbe River, starting with the harbor all the way to Cuxhaven. These webcams allow virtual visitors of Blankenese to watch the many commercial container and pleasure ships travel up and down the Elbe in real time.

Twin towns – Sister cities

Blankenese is twinned with: