Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 09.djvu/549

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495
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HAMBURG. 495 HAMBURG. mncy. The public library contains over GOO.OOO volumes and 5000 manuscripts. The Kunsthalle, or public .Trt gallery, is an imporlaiil cdilice in early Italian Renaissance, its collection of painl- ing.s" is extensive but third-rate. The Natural History Museum is excellent, as is also the In- dustrial Art Museum. An observatory, botani- cal museum and gardens, a fine zotUogical muse- um, and State laboratory, are among many other institutions o£ a scientific or educational nature; there are also several theatres and a great num- ber of public gardens and places of amusement. The first German theatre for opera was estab- lished in Hamburg in 1078. The geographical situation of Hamburg makes it the commercial emporium of Northern Europe. Through the Elbe, with its lunnerous branches and canals, ships leaving Hamburg can reach the heart of Germany; it is also the terminus of seven lines of railway, which furnish direct com- munication with all the German cities. In 1888 Hamburg became a member of the German Cus- toms Union. Tliis stimulated its trade still fur- ther, and about 1890 new docks were constructed at Cuxhavon for ocean steamers, involving an ex- penditure of S40,000.000. The dock and harbor facilities are the most complete in the world ; vessels drawing 23 feet can go up the harbor at high tide. The number and tonnage of vessels entering the port in the last years of the last three decades of the nineteenth century were as follows: 1880. about COOO ships, of 2,800,000 tons; 1800. about 8000 ships, of over 5.000,- 000 tons; IBOO. I.S.IOO ships, of 8.000,000 tons. The number of vessels and the tonnage of the mercantile navy of Hamburg surjjass that of Holland. In 1880 Hamburg "had 475 ships, of 230,000 tons; in 1890, 587 ships, of 53S.000 tons; in 1900, 792 ships, of 993,000 tons. In 1900 the imports of Hamburg bv ssa. river, and land were valued at about .$951,000,000: tie exports, .$285,- 000.000. The leading nations in respect to the amnunf of exports and imports are Great Brit- ain and the United States. In 1893 the im- ports from Great Britain amounted to S93.762.- 766, the exports to $93,137,778. In the same year imports to the value of $42,047,698 came from the United States, and the exports were $39,410,896. But in 1900 the United States outstripped Great Britain in imports, the re- spective figures being $114,954,000 and $108,052,- 000. In the amount of exports the figures were $103,530,000 for Great Britain and $52,598,000 for the United States. The chief articles of im- port and export are foodstufTs and raw ma- terials. Manufactured articles constitute about one-fourth of the total value. Hamburg is one of the largest coflfee marts, and in money-ex- change transactions is among the foremost cities of the world. It is also one of the principal emigration ports of Germany. 405.998 persons having left during 1891-95, of whom 356.365 were bound for the United States. Among the principal industries are cigar-making, sjjirit and sugar refining, brewing. meat-curing, machine and ship building, coffee-roasting, chocolate manufacture, flour-milling, manufacture of furni- ture, pianos, leather, ivory, and celluloid, etc. The city-State of Hamburg constitutes one of the States of the German Empire. Its oflScial name is the Free and Hansa City of Hamburg (Freie- und Hansa-Stadt Hamburg). Its con- stitution is democratic. The executive power is vested in a Senate of eighteen members, chosen for life by the two governing bodies. One-half of the Senators must have studied law or finance, and seven of the remaining nine must be mem- bers of the merchants' guild. The Senate elects a first and a second burgomaster from its own members, for a term of two years. The legisla- tive power is confined to the House of Burgesses, consisting of 160 members, who are elected for six yearSj one-half retiring every three years. The Senate, however, has a veto power in all matters except those pertaining to taxation and revenue. In case of a deadlock between the two bodies, the 'matter is referred to a joint arbitra- tion board, or to the Supreme Court of the Ger- man Empire. The administration of the city-State is divided into several departments, each being presided over by a Senator. The chief departments are: 1. The Board of Healtli— (Mediclnal-Collesiura). 2. Board of Public Works— (Bau-Di,"|iutation). 3. Police Board — (Polizei Beliorde). 4. Board of Charities — (,rmen-Deputatiou). 5. Prison Board — (Gt^fancniss-Deputatioii). 6. Department of Finanr-e — (Finanz-Deputation). 7. Harbor Administration — (Haft^n-Verwaltung). 8. Board of Education — (Oberschulbehiirde). Hamburg is the seat of the upper Hanseatie court and of the three provincial courts of Bre- men, Hamburg, and Liibeek. It sends three mem- bers to the Imperial Parliament at Berlin. Hamburg virtually has a municipal fire-insur- ance institution, making insurance compulsory for every householder; it also subsidizes a pri- vate employment bureau, and maintains a mu- nicipal pawnshop, established in 1650. Tlie debt is hea-j-. but is largely ofi'set by productive inib- lie property, as, for instance, the harbor and its equipment. The debt has latterly grown rapidly, and amounted to about $105,500,000 at the close of 1900. In 1902 the expenditures amounted to $25,500,000; the revemies, $9,000,000. Of the expenditures $5,000,000 went for ]Hiblic build- ings. $5,300,000 for the service of the debt, $4,- 200.000 for the police department, and $2,750,- 000 for education. About $600,000 of the reve- nues is earned by the municipal lottery. The population of the city has more than doubled within the thirty years 1871-1900. hav- ing risen from 339,000 "to 700.000. Hamburg is the largest city, according to population, in Gei-manv. next to Berlin. The total population of the city-State in 1900 was 768,349, nearly all Protestants. Somewhere between 805 and 811 Charlemagne founded the castle of Hamburg as a defense against the heathen Slavs. In 831 an episcopal see was erected there (soon to be united with that of Bremen), and Hamburg became a centre of civilization for Northern Europe. The town was repeatedly burned and plundered by Norse- men, Danes, and Slavs. In 1189 it received im- portant commercial privileges from Frederick Barbarossa. By treaties with Liibeek an<l Bre- men, in 1241 and 1249. it initiated the Hanseat- ie Leatrue (().v. ). From that time it increased rapidly in wealth and commercial ini]¥irtance, augmenting its territory by the purchase of the township of Ritzebiittel. at the mouth of the Elbe (where the harbor of Cuxhaven is now situ- ated), and several villages and islands in the vicinity of the town. Under the protection of the German emperors. Hamburg' soon became powerful enough to defend itself and its com-