Germany Guide
Hamburg
Altona
A little pleased with its prosperity perhaps, Altona is the Schanzenviertel gentrified. It is the first in the series of ever more exclusive districts west of the centre, an erstwhile working-class district of immigrant settlers that has been colonized by Hamburg's Schickie-mickies (yuppies) and, with them, all the requisite fashion outlets, interiors stores and bars – a sort of Hamburg-style Notting Hill. At least part of the appeal is that Altona retains the feel of the separate town it was until the Nazis dragged it within Hamburg's jurisdiction in 1937. Before then, the free city of Altona was an upstart to its larger neighbour, an irritating one, too, since it poached Hamburg trade when Napoleon mounted a continental blockade against England in 1806. Aristocratic street Palmaille provides evidence of the past as a Mediterranean-style esplanade – its Neoclassical villas in smart creams and greys are the legacy of shipping magnates and heads of trading dynasties, its name is that of palla a maglio, Italy's take on croquet. Just east, Altonaer Balkon offers sweeping views of shipping along the mighty Elbe at the outer edge of Hamburg's port.