Stefanie Wodrig
Head
Unit Baltic Sea cooperation
City of Hamburg
Germany
Why is Hamburg so actively participating in Baltic Sea cooperation, even without being located directly on the Baltic Sea? Indeed: Hamburg’s parliament - the Bürgerschaft - is an active member of the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference and the Southern Baltic Sea Parliamentary Forum. The city is not only a member of the Union of the Baltic Cities but is also involved in shaping the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region by implementing the Baltic Sea Strategy Point and has long been responsible for co-coordinating the policy area of education. Through the INTERREG Baltic Sea program, numerous actors from Hamburg are actively shaping multilateral Baltic Sea cooperation by working together on common solutions for shared challenges (such as Hamburg administration, port of Hamburg, scientific institutions, civil society, enterprises etc). Hamburg is also a member of the STRING network, which includes cities and regions along the Hamburg-Oslo corridor. In this short article, I get to the bottom of the question of why the Baltic Sea.
How Hamburg is part of the Baltic Sea Region
Even though the Elbe, on which Hamburg is situated, flows towards the North Sea and takes most ships leaving the port of Hamburg with it, Hamburg would be inconceivable without the Baltic Sea region. The Hanseatic city, which proudly bears this past in its name (the official name is the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg), was an early interface between the Baltic and North Seas. Before Hamburg’s great fire in 1842, which destroyed a large part of the city center, these Hanseatic traces were very visible: the city also resembled its partners Lübeck, Riga or Tallinn aesthetically. During the Cold War, this city suffered greatly from the fact that it was no longer possible to maintain links with eastern partners in the Baltic Sea region. In the middle of the ice-cold war, Hamburg entered into a city partnership with Leningrad against the wishes of the Bonn government. That was in 1957, a little more than a decade after the Leningrad blockade. When the Iron Curtain fell, the port of Hamburg flourished. Even today, Hamburg is still a gateway to the Baltic Sea region: if you want to go north, you first have to cross the Elbe, best in or near Hamburg. And many of the major container lines still end in Hamburg, the third largest port in the EU. From here, the goods are loaded onto smaller ships and transported via the Kiel Canal to the Baltic Sea ports. Even without a direct hydrological connection, close social, economic and political ties have existed for centuries.
Hamburg’s future with the Baltic Sea region
But the most interesting thing is that Hamburg and the Baltic Sea region will move even closer together. In a couple of years, you can take the train through the Fehmarnbelt tunnel to reach the Öresund even faster. If you look at the map from above, Copenhagen is about as far away from Hamburg as Berlin. Berlin can already be reached in under two hours, but the train to Copenhagen currently takes around five hours. The tunnel under the Fehmarnbelt promises to shorten the journey time considerably. The Öresund will therefore soon be very close. Not surprising, the Hamburg government was an early supporter of the construction of a tunnel through the Fehmarnbelt.
It is fair to say that Hamburg’s future will also depend on its relations with the Baltic Sea region: On the climate-neutral energy that comes from the north as well as on the innovative strength that the EU Baltic Sea states have. Hamburg, one of sixteen federal states in Germany’s federal system, has ambitious climate targets, but also a lot of industry and a huge port to decarbonize. The port area is also one of Europe’s largest industrial areas. For a few years now, the buzzword has been hydrogen. Although hydrogen is also to be produced locally, it is clear to everyone that Germany will have to import a lot of green hydrogen. The North Sea and Baltic Sea will therefore become production centers for this green hydrogen.
Hamburg’s science is globally oriented, but being embedded in a strong regional innovation landscape makes Hamburg as a location even more attractive. Many of the EU’s Baltic Sea states are pioneers of innovation. This can be seen, for example, in the degree of digitalization of public administration, from which Hamburg can learn something. The regular exchange with our partners in the Baltic Sea region means that Hamburg is constantly questioning itself and its practices. If a solution has proved successful elsewhere, this example can provide important impetus for change in Hamburg. The same applies in reverse, of course.
How things could continue
A lot has changed in the Baltic Sea region since the beginning of 2022. Peace has disappeared. Much is reminiscent of a new edition of the Cold War. The extent to which this happens is beyond the control of a city like Hamburg. However, the question of how the EU’s Baltic Sea states can stick together in this difficult situation and still address the challenges facing everyone is a different matter. In this sense, Hamburg can contribute to a resilient Baltic Sea region with its dynamism and size.