The Dockland at the harborMemorial of the Prussian Regiments (IR31, RIR31 and L31)
Altona (German:[ˈaltonaː]ⓘ), also called Hamburg-Altona, is the westernmost urban borough (Bezirk) of the Germancity state of Hamburg. Located on the right bank of the Elbe river, Altona had a population of 270,263 in 2016.
From 1640 to 1864, Altona was under the administration of the Danish monarchy. Altona was an independent borough until 1937.
Because of severe restrictions on the number of Jews allowed to live in Hamburg until 1864 (with the exception of 1811–1815),[3] a major Jewish community developed in Altona starting in 1611, when Count Ernest of Schaumburg and Holstein-Pinneberg granted the first permanent residence permits to Ashkenazic Jews.[4] Members did business both in Hamburg and in Altona itself. All that remains after the NaziHolocaust during World War II are the Jewish cemeteries, but in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, the community was a major center of Jewish life and scholarship. Holstein-Pinneberg and later Danish Holstein had lower taxes and placed fewer civil impositions on their Jewish community than did the government of Hamburg.
History from 1918 to 1945
During the Weimar era following World War I, the town of Altona was disturbed by major labor strikes and street disorders. Inflation in Germany was a major problem. In 1923, Max Brauer, the mayor of Altona, directed that town personnel should be paid in part with gas meter tokens, as the tokens did not lose value from inflation.[5]
The most notable event at that time was the Altona Bloody Sunday (German: Altonaer Blutsonntag) on 17 July 1932, when 18 people were killed, all but two by police, during a violent clash between Nazi marchers and members or supporters of the Communist Party.[6] In 1938, the Greater Hamburg Act removed Altona from the Free State of Prussia in 1937 and merged it (and several surrounding towns) with the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. After police raids and a special court, on 1 August 1933, Bruno Tesch and others were found guilty and put to death by beheading with a hand-held axe.[7][8]
Modern history
In the 1990s, the Federal Republic of Germany reversed the convictions of Tesch and the other men who were put to death, clearing their names.
On 1 February 2007, the Ortsämter (district offices) in Hamburg were done away with. In Altona, the districts of Blankenese, Lurup and Osdorf had existed and had local offices. On 1 March 2008, the Schanzenviertel neighborhood, which had spanned parts of the boroughs of Altona, Eimsbüttel and Hamburg-Mitte, became the Sternschanze quarter, the entirety of which is now in the Altona borough.[9]
Commentators and politicians, including former member of the Hamburg ParliamentStefanie von Berg [de], have noted that neighborhoods in Altona is diverse in terms of social conditions. Von Berg noted that poverty present in the Lurup and Osdorf quarters contrast with the affluent Blankenese and Nienstedten quarters within the borough.[11]
Geography
Aerial view of Altona from the South. In the foreground the Elbe quays.
The border of Altona to the south is the River Elbe, and across the river the state of Lower Saxony and the boroughs of Harburg and Hamburg-Mitte. To the east is the borough of Hamburg-Mitte and to the north is the borough of Eimsbüttel. The western border is with the state of Schleswig-Holstein. According to the statistical office of Hamburg, Altona has an area of 77.5 km2 or 29.9 sq mi in 2006.
Quarters
Politically, the following quarters (German: Stadtteile) are part of Altona borough:
In 2018, Altona had a population of 274,702 people. 18.0% are children under the age of 18 and 17.9% are 65 years of age or older. 16.2% are immigrants. 5.0% of people are registered as unemployed. In 2018, 53,4% of all households are single-person households.[citation needed]
There are 195 kindergartens and 31 primary schools in Altona as well as 879 physicians in private practice, 254 dentists and 60 pharmacies.[12]
Politics
Subdivisions of Altona
Simultaneously with elections to the state parliament (Bürgerschaft), the Bezirksversammlung is elected as representatives of the citizens. It consists of 51 representatives.
George Jarvis (Philhellene) (1797–1828), was the first of the American Philhellenes who took part in the Greek Revolution 1821–1829, general of Greek army, born in Altona.
^Jewish Encyclopedia: Hamburg. "In 1619 ... it was agreed that, in consideration of a payment made for their protection, the Jews should be tolerated in the town as strangers, though they were not to be allowed to practise their religion publicly". "In 1648 the council of aldermen issued an order expelling the German Jews ["Hochdeutsche Juden"] from the town. They moved to Altona, and were required to pay a monthly tax". "In 1697 the freedom of religious practice which the congregation had obtained was disturbed by hostile edicts of the aldermen, and the Jews were extortionately taxed. On this account many of the rich and important Portuguese Jews left Hamburg, some of them laying the foundation of the Portuguese congregation of Altona." (Jewish Encyclopedia)
^Lowenthal, Marvin (1977), The Memoirs of Glückel of Hameln, New York: Shocken Books, pp. 5–10, ISBN978-0-8052-0572-5
^Verg, Erich; Verg, Martin (2007), Das Abenteuer das Hamburg heißt (in German) (4th ed.), Hamburg: Ellert&Richter, p. 158, ISBN978-3-8319-0137-1
^Source: statistical office Nord of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein (2018)
^Source: statistical office Nord of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein (2006)
^Fock, Gustave; Hamburgs Anteil am Orgelbau im niederdeutschen Kulturgebiet (Hamburg's share in organ building in the Low German cultural area) 1939 p.369 (online)
