Hamburg - a Musical Visit by the Elbe

Warm greetings from Hamburg. That was a small but fine detour, of course with the aim of seeing a musical. One of my favorite musicals &Juliet was brought to Germany, the spoken text translated, songs still in English. More on that later.

Upon arriving at the train station, I first made my way from Altona towards St. Pauli.

I must say, St. Pauli would be my district. Very artistic and lots of street art. I felt right at home with all its small shops and restaurants, and the hostel where I stayed was quite pleasant, and I had a four-bed room all to myself for the night.

Right around the corner lies Hamburg's famous Reeperbahn. On this street stands the Stage Operettenhaus, the theater where the musical is performed. With plenty of time before the show, I leisurely explored the area around the Reeperbahn.

Now I got to see &Juliet for the fifth time, so I can truly count it as one of my favorite musicals. This time, however, in German!

I must honestly say that I preferred the play entirely in English. However, I believe that this was also very much due to the leading actress. Unfortunately, it was the understudy, whom I did not find so convincing that day. Nevertheless, they really handled the overall performance well; the spoken text and the transitions to the individual songs were well done, and the costumes and good cheer brought by the familiar pop songs were also contagious.

The next day, I had a bit of time before the train left Hamburg again. I used this time to see Hamburg from above. For that, I walked to the green bunker.

The Green Bunker is a bunker from World War II. Reopened in 2024, it is now a city garden in St. Pauli, towering over many adjacent buildings. Before its reopening, the bunker was elevated by five floors (20m in total), and you can walk up many, many steps around the bunker. Essentially, this staircase is a huge spiral staircase that encircles the entire bunker. Besides the garden, there are also a few shops, restaurants, and cafés, a hotel, as well as a hall that is used for sports, concerts, and events.

I was there shortly after it opened, so I was almost alone at the top and could enjoy the beautiful view without long lines.

With the view over Hamburg in my memory, I took the train back to Magdeburg and Berlin, but more on that later.