Words: Rob MacDonald
Photography: Barley Nimmo and Ryan Mason
From its origins as a Hanseatic trading hub to its modern cultural resilience, Hamburg's story is reflected in the football clubs that dominate the west of the city. Glory witnessed first-hand the parties at St. Pauli and the fervour of the now-notorious HSV pitch invasion as, following St. Pauli’s ecstatic promotion in 2024, it became a city boasting not one, but two Bundesliga teams. Not for the first time, Hamburg has risen.
It’s a city that thrums along in the background.
Hamburg doesn’t beat you about the head with its intrigue, but builds and builds until you find yourself in the middle of St. Pauli at 2am, having done 50,000 steps, feeling like you’ve had 50,000 pints, abroad but at home all at once.
Nestled on the Elbe and Alster rivers, the city’s origins date back to the ninth century when Emperor Charlemagne established a defensive fortress, the Hammaburg, to protect the Frankish frontier. The city flourished, joining the Hanseatic League — not a precursor to the Bundesliga, but a medieval network of towns that established commercial and defensive relationships — in the 13th century. Down the Elbe flowed merchants, migrants, missionaries and misfits, who combined to make Hamburg one of the League’s most powerful outposts.
Like many with a maritime heartbeat, it’s a city defined by contrasts. The port, still the third largest in Europe, has a worldwide outlook; the city’s creative scene remains uniquely its own. The opulence of Blankenese rubs shoulders against the raw magnetism of the Reeperbahn. Historic mercantile wealth collides with far-left expression. Markets coexist with museums and concert halls, heritage and history with stark reminders of how the city has had to rebuild.
And for all its wealth and influence, Hamburg has also suffered. The Great Fire of 1842 devoured a third of the city. A century later, Operation Gomorrah, a relentless World War II bombing campaign, left it smouldering. Both events changed the shape of the city’s skyline, its post-war rebirth in particular producing the neo-Renaissance Rathas, the now-UNESCO listed Speicherstadt warehouses and one of the jewels in the cultural crown, the Elbphilharmonie.
But, like anywhere Glory visits, we like to think the real soul of the city can be found on its terraces. Here, too, contrast is king — this is not a one-club city. It never has been. The dichotomy is real but it relates — the legacy of Hamburg (HSV) meets the rebellion of St. Pauli and together they form a heartbeat.
HSV (pronounced ‘hah-ess-fau’, if you’re going native) is the elder. The club traces its roots back to 1887 — SC Germania Hamburg, a predecessor of sorts, was the cradle of local football courtesy of a number of English expatriates, winning six early local championships and, with the storied Altona 93, becoming a founder member of the DFB in 1900. Alongside them were Hamburger FC, founded by students in 1888. As various clubs struggled to revive their fortunes after the First World War and in the aftermath of the 1918-19 Revolution, SC Germania and Hamburger FC were among those that merged to create HSV.
For decades, the club stood for tradition, consistency, and success. They won league titles, cups, and most famously, the 1983 European Cup, beating Juventus in Athens. HSV was synonymous with stability; the only club to never suffer relegation from the Bundesliga … until 2018 that is, when the clock stopped.
That clock — an iconic stadium fixture counting HSV’s uninterrupted years in the top flight — had ticked on, uninterrupted, for 55 seasons. Its silence upon relegation was more than symbolic. It marked the end of an era, not just for the club, but for Hamburg itself. The joy at their return, captured in this issue, shows just what it means to reclaim that element of their identity.
FC St. Pauli has cultivated a completely different narrative. Nestled in the beating heart of Hamburg’s red-light district, St. Pauli have toiled in obscurity for much of its existence. They emerged as a breakaway club from a gymnastics association in 1924, but in the face of the more bourgeois HSV, soon came to express the fierce, left-leaning character of the city's working-class quarters. Catapulted to international fame by the adopted skull-and-crossbones banners, leftist politics, and “kult” status since the mid-1980s, St. Pauli embodies a countercultural undercurrent that stretches far beyond the city.
The city is also home to a vibrant grassroots and lower-league culture. Clubs like Altona 93, SC Victoria Hamburg and SC St Georg are some of the oldest in Germany and carry their own significant histories and meaningful connections around the country and indeed the world.
And though historically underrepresented, the tide is turning on women’s football in Hamburg. Initiatives, investment, and a rise in attendance are paving the way for a more inclusive footballing future.
Hamburg packs a lot in but don’t be deceived — it is a large city and takes a while to get around. They have, at least, made it very easy for football fans. If you’ve got a ticket for a game, travel on public transport is free on matchday. The HSV match ticket is valid for one trip to and from the ground on the whole HVV network. To get there you need the S3 or S21 train lines from the city centre, while the 22 bus also goes to either Schnackenburgallee, about 10 minutes from the Volksparkstadion, or Stellingen, a stop before and 15 minutes away, but likely to be easier to navigate.
St. Pauli, too, at the time of writing include free public transport on the day of the game. On the U-bahn, it’s the U3 line to St. Pauli station, while several buses including the 112, 16, and 17, also stop at the St. Pauli station. It's a short three-minute walk from there to the Millerntor-Stadion.
Despite the gradual development of game-day hostelries near the Volksparkstadion, pickings are fairly slim — Unabsteigbar or the small beer trucks along the way provide the best and really popular options in the immediate vicinity of the ground. The place to be pre-match is in one of the many bars either side of the Reeperbahn. And of course, there’s the novelty for any British fan of being able to have a drink while you watch the game in the stands.
Like any port, Hamburg is a place of transience and travellers, but there’s a city beneath your feet that feels like it’s always been here, in one form or another, and always will be. Its football clubs, too, are grounding institutions and symbols of permanence. There’s a huge sense of anticipation in the city now that HSV are back at the top table – even in the second tier, 55,000 flocked to home games every other Saturday. Derby days beckon once more as Hamburg does what it has always done, and completes another cycle of reinvention.
