36

FOREIGN TRADE ZONES

sccurs. A great many factors have combined to contribute to Ham®
burg’s present commercial position. Its situation near the mouth of
Germany’s second largest river makes it a logical transshipment point
for goods going by water down the Elbe from the vast hinterland
served by that river, and no small part of such traffic originates in
Czechoslovakia. As ocean-going vessels can navigate to Hamburg;
it is the logical point to transfer goods from river barges to ocean-going
ships. The Elbe is navigable for 867 kilometers, as far as Melnik in
Czechoslovakia.
The first historical mention of Hamburg occurs in connection with
the campaigns of Charlemagne, whose armies crossed the Elbe in 804
and took possession of a castle located in what is now the old part of
the city. The historical development of this port, though extremely
interesting, is too lengthy to find a place in this report. It may be of
interest, however, to mention that in the twelfth century it first
became of some importance commercially because of the development
of Lubeck on the Baltic, which necessitated the existence of a North
Sea port to work in connection with it. In view of the comparative
unimportance of Lubeck to-day it is interesting to realize that his”
torically Hamburg’s commercial activities originated merely as aft
adjunct of Lubeck in order to handle trade passing from Baltic ports
through Lubeck, to North Sea ports. It was at this time (1189) that
the city secured from Friedrich Barbarossa a charter by which it wa?
granted complete exemption from the payment of customs duties on
the lower Elbe. This might be called the origin of the free-harbo?
idea. At the same fime Hamburg took upon itself the duty of reg”
lating the course of the river for purposes of navigation, and through
out the centuries the channel has been continually dredged and
lighthouses maintained throughout the length of the river from
Hamburg to the sea, a distance of 65 miles, solely at the expense of
Hamburg. It was not until April 1, 1921, that Hamburg turned over
to the National Government the duty of keeping the Elbe fro?
Hamburg to the sea in a navigable condition.
Hamburg’s foreign trade was greatly enhanced through its membe’”
ship in the Hanseatic League, that famous association of commerci
cities, the recognized head of which was Lubeck. Although ths?
league had, to all intents and purposes, ceased to exist by the beg?
ning of the eighteenth century, the tradition of that great organizatio?
has been kept alive by Hamburg, Lubeck, and Bremen, and the
official title of Hamburg is still “Die freie und Hansastadt Hamburg
(the free and Hanseatic city of Hamburg). Until Hamburg united
with the several German independent principalities in forming the
Empire of Germany, it was an independent city, and even to-day te
city government has a great many characteristics of a sovereign an
independent state. For example, it has its own Auswiirtigess®