Annual review 2024 in Hamburg: July to September | NDR.de – News

As of: December 27, 2024 10:33 a.m

In July 2024, Taylor Swift will come to Hamburg and delight her fans. The Blue Mosque is closed and the citizens decide to partially sell HHLA in the port to a Swiss shipping company.

The NDR Hamburg Journal looks back on the past year in four parts. What moved the people of Hamburg in 2024? Here you can find the most important events from politics, sport and culture.

July: Fatal accident on Jungfernstieg and Taylor Swift fans take over Hamburg

July 1st: It is an accident that leaves many people in Hamburg stunned and angry: In the middle of the city center, an 18-year-old man accelerates a 600-horsepower SUV, plows through the outdoor terrace of a restaurant and pushes a pickup truck along the sidewalk. “At that moment my heart sank because there is usually a lot of pedestrian traffic here,” says an eyewitness. An uninvolved Hamburger Hochbahn employee, father of two children, is hit by the car and later dies in hospital. It is unknown why the 18-year-old raced across the sidewalk.

July 5th: After five years of construction, the Green Bunker on Feldstrasse opens. What was once the largest anti-aircraft bunker of the Second World War has become a spectacular place to experience.

July 13th: Concrete is also being greened in Stellingen: just after five years of construction, the A7 disappeared under the almost one kilometer long cover.

July 14th: In the evening, ballet director John Neumeier will say goodbye at the Nijinsky Gala. He directed the Hamburg Ballet for 51 years and led it to the top in the world. Now he says goodbye to the audience in a moving event at the Hamburg State Opera.

July 23rd: Taylor Swift gives her first concert in Hamburg. Wherever she appears, fans gasp. The “Swifties,” as they call themselves, are a global community. “Everyone is connected to everyone, we all look really hot,” said one Swiftie. “I can’t even realize that it’s going to start soon and we’re about to see Taylor, that’s still totally unreal for me,” said another fan. Whether it’s up close or just as a listening experience in front of the Volksparkstadion: It’s fine the concert highlight of the year in Hamburg.

July 24th: Hundreds of police officers are searching the Blue Mosque on the Outer Alster and other locations of the Islamic Center (IZH). The mosque will be closed. For more than 60 years it was the center of Shiite Islam in Germany. According to the reasoning, the IZH violates the constitutional order in Germany. “This day is good for our urban society. “In recent years it has been unbearable to read the reports from the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution on the activities of the Blue Mosque and its connections to the regime in Tehran,” says Hamburg’s First Mayor Peter Tschentscher (SPD) about the closure. The IZH later sued against his ban.

August: Four Olympic gold medals for Hamburg and the “Rickmer Rickmers” shines in new splendor

August 1st: Hamburg is getting a Uwe-Seeler-Allee, directly at the Volksparkstadion. HSV is given the house number 9 based on the shirt number of its greatest idol.

August 8th: Another child drowns in the Elbe. Her sister wanted to save the 10-year-old, but in vain. Even after two days of intensive searching around the Falkensteiner Ufer, the girl cannot be found. There are always complaints about a ban on swimming in the Elbe – this time too.

August 10th: Hamburg athletes can bring home four medals from the Olympic Games in Paris, including in beach volleyball, hockey and golf. Hamburg can make good use of its success; the Hanseatic city would like to apply for the 2040 Olympic Games.

August 12th: The “Rickmer Rickmers” is back at the Landungsbrücken. Before that, she went to the Norderwerft for a treatment, which confirmed that the 130-year-old lady was in almost youthful condition. Only six coats of paint are necessary. After this make-up, the ship is more beautiful than ever and tells the story of Hamburg’s rise to become a world port from its berth at the jetties.

August 14th: A tragic accident occurs in Langenhorn. After successfully moving in, five men and a woman take a break on the balcony on the third floor. But it folds down. “We brought the washing machine and refrigerator upstairs and then we wanted to have a smoke on the balcony and then it just folded away and we all fell down three floors,” said one of those who were there. After a week, a 27-year-old moving helper succumbs to his injuries.

August 24th: The Hamburg artist Jan Delay is celebrating his anniversary at the trotting track: 25 years of solo career. With his band Beginner, he made hip-hop big in Germany in the 1990s.

August 27th: A two-year-old child dies in an accident in Billstedt with a total of seven injured. The cause of the collision could have been an illegal car race.

September: MSC deal in the port and a Günther Netzer turns 80

September 5th: The citizens agree to the controversial one in the first reading Partial sale of HHLA to the world’s largest shipping company MSC. “There is not a single port practitioner who has told you that your naive idea is correct. We all told them, be careful,” says Norbert Hackbusch (Die Linke), one of the opponents of the deal, in the citizenry. Many HHLA employees feel betrayed by the Senate and vow revenge in the next general election.

September 9th: A dispute between two students triggers a major police operation in Eidelstedt. One of them had previously shown a weapon. It later turned out it was a toy gun.

September 13th: A truck runs over a cyclist again: a 71-year-old woman dies on the tree wall. With a total of ten victims, Hamburg sadly continues to lead the country in the number of cyclists killed in road traffic.

September 14th: Football legend Günther Netzer turns 80. He became manager at HSV in 1978 – even though he didn’t actually want the job. “I said, I can’t do that, give me your stadium newspaper, I can do that,” Netzer explained at the time. Günther Netzer was a star back then and was welcomed in Hamburg like a savior. And he delivered. With him at the helm, HSV experienced its most successful years to date. He became German champion three times, as well as winning the European Cup in 1983.

September 26th: The 32nd Hamburg Film Festival starts under new management. The German-French Malika Rabahallah takes over from Albert Wiederspiel after 20 years. The expert with a strong passion for films will lead the film festival into a successful future. “I love that moment where it goes black and then it starts. And you get involved in experiencing a story. I find that fascinating,” says Rabahallah in an interview.