The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Hamburg, Germany.
Prehistory and early settlement
13,000 BCE – People are living in the area of present-day Hamburg by the end of the Paleolithic period. 4th–3rd millennium BCE – Neolithic farming communities sometimes settle on the higher ground between the Alster and Elbe rivers; pottery and a stone axe from this period have been found at present-day Domplatz. 7th–8th century CE – A Saxon settlement develops on this higher ground, up to above the surrounding lowlands. 8th century CE – The settlement is fortified with a defensive ditch and wooden barrier.
Early medieval Hamburg
Early 9th century – The fortified settlement develops into the Hammaburg, with a settlement of craftspeople and merchants and an early harbour. 831–834 – Hamburg becomes the seat of a Christian diocese and a base for missions into northern Europe. Ansgar, a Benedictine monk and missionary, becomes its first bishop. 845 – Vikings attack Hamburg, destroying the settlement, its fortifications and church. Ansgar and other residents flee. 900 – A new and larger fortification is built at the Hammaburg site, and the settlement and harbour continue to develop. 10th century – The new Hammaburg grows to about across, with a population of only a few hundred people. 1021–1023 – The Neue Burg is built southwest of the Hammaburg near the present-day Nikolaifleet, becoming a new fortified centre. Excavated timbers from its walls allow its construction to be dated to between 1021 and 1023. Early 11th century – The Hammaburg is abandoned as the Neue Burg becomes the main fortified centre. A new defensive earthwork, the Heidenwall, is built across the eastern side of the settlement.
High medieval Hamburg
1072 – Hamburg is attacked and badly damaged during an uprising by the Obotrites, a Slavic people living east of the city. Early 12th century – New residents arrive as Hamburg recovers. Political control passes to the counts of Schauenburg and Holstein. 1188 – Count Adolf III of Schauenburg establishes the Neustadt, or "new town", beside the older settlement. Merchants and craftspeople are encouraged to settle there with trading, market and tax privileges, helping Hamburg develop as a port and trading centre. 1189 – A charter dated 7 May and attributed to Frederick Barbarossa grants Hamburg important trading rights, including freedom from customs duties on the lower Elbe. The surviving charter is a 13th-century forgery made to record and expand Hamburg's claimed privileges. Its date is still used to mark the traditional birthday of the Port of Hamburg. Prior to 16th century 1189 - St. Peter's Church built (approximate date). 1190 – Alster dam installed. 1201 – Hamburg occupied by forces of Valdemar II of Denmark. 1223 – Archbishopric relocated from Hamburg to Bremen. 1241 – Lübeck-Hamburg alliance established. 1248 – Fire. 1256 – St. Catherine's Church active (approximate date). 1284 – 5 August: Fire. 1286 – 24 April: acquires rights to maintain permanent fire on Neuwerk. 1299 – 1 November: allowed to build a fortified tower, the new work (Neuwerk). 1310 – completion of the Great Tower Neuwerk. 1329 – St. Mary's Cathedral consecrated. 1350 – Black Death. 1356 – (feast) begins. 1375 – Grocers' Guild formed. 1390 – Public clock installed (approximate date). 1410 – Constitution of Hamburg established. 1412 – . 1418 – St. Peter's Church rebuilt (approximate date). 1479 – (public library) established in the Town Hall. 1491 – Printing press in operation. 1500 – City expands its borders.
16th–18th centuries
1510 – Hamburg becomes an imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire. 1529 Protestant Reformation. Council of citizens established. Johanneum (college) founded. 1536 – Hamburg joins Schmalkaldic League. 1558 – Hamburg Stock Exchange established. 1567 – Trade with the Company of Merchant Adventurers of London established. 1590 – Berenberg Bank founded. 1615 – City walls extended around Hamburg-Neustadt. 1619 – Bank of Hamburg founded. 1630 – Bremen–Lübeck–Hamburg defensive alliance formed. 1654 – in use. 1663 – Erbauliche Monaths Unterredungen magazine begins publication. 1665 – Hamburg Chamber of Commerce founded. 1669 St. Michael's Church built. (ship) launched. 1678 – Oper am Gänsemarkt (opera house) opens; premiere of Theile's opera Adam und Eva. 1679 – Coffee house in business. 1705 – Premiere of Handel's opera Almira. 1710 – established. 1712 – Plague. 1735 – (business library) founded. 1762 City occupied by Danish forces. St. Michael's Church built. 1765 (arts society) and Patriotic Club founded. Komödienhaus (theatre) built. 1767 – Hamburgische Entreprise (theatre) established. 1778 – Hamburger Ersparungskasse (bank) established. 1787 – City directory published. 1789 – Clubbs der Freundschaft founded. 1790 – United States consulate established. 1792 – formed. 1799 – H. J. Merck & Co. in business.
19th century
1800s–1840s 1805 – (education society) founded. 1806 – 19 November: French occupation of city begins. 1810 – Hoffmann und Campe publisher in business. 1811 9th French-Polish Uhlan Regiment founded in Hamburg. City becomes capital of the French Bouches-de-l'Elbe department. 1813 Siege of Hamburg. Hamburg Women's Association established. 1814 – Hamburg Citizen Militia and Hamburg Police formed. 1815 – 8 June: City becomes a member state of the German Confederation. 1821 – Lehmann's botanical garden established. 1823 Hospital built in St. George. Altona Observatory founded by Heinrich Christian Schumacher. 1825 – February flood of 1825. 1827 – City Theatre opens. 1828 – Hamburg Philharmonic Society formed. 1833 – Rauhes Haus founded. 1834 – Johanneum building constructed. 1835 – Coat of arms of Hamburg redesigned. 1838 – English Church built. 1839 – Verein für Hamburgische Geschichte (local history society) founded. 1840 Gymnasium founded. Population: 136,956. 1841 – Circus Gymnasticus opens. 1842 Exchange built. 5–8 May: Great Fire of Hamburg. 1843 Thalía Theatre built. established. 1845 – shopping arcade built. 1846 – Berliner Railway Station established. 1847 Hamburg America Line in business. Patriotic Club building constructed. Pestalozzi-Stiftung Hamburg founded 1848 – in business. 1849 newspaper begins publication. St. Peter's Church rebuilt again.
1850s–1890s 1850 – Kunsthalle (art gallery) opens. 1855 – January: Flood. 1856 – North German Bank and Union Bank established. 1859 built. Hamburg Frauenchor (women's choir) founded. 1861 Museum Godeffroy opens. Population: 178,841. 1863 newspaper in publication. Zoological Garden of Hamburg opens. Rebuilt St. Nicholas' Church dedicated. 1865 Lübeck–Hamburg railway begins operating; Lübecker Railway Station established. (bridge) built. 1866 Horsecar tram begins operating. (railway station) established. 21 August: City becomes part of the North German Confederation. 1867 – Trabrennbahn Bahrenfeld (horse racetrack) built. 1868 – St. Georg becomes part of city. 1869 – Horner Rennbahn (horse racetrack) and Kunsthalle built. 1871 City becomes part of the German Empire. Population: 240,251. (education society) branch established. 1872 – Venloer Railway Station established. 1873 Photographic Society founded. Frei Hafen bridge constructed. 1874 – Hagenbeck's zoo opens. 1877 Ohlsdorf Cemetery established near city. Blohm + Voss shipbuilders in business near city. 1878 – Museum for Art and Industry founded. 1879 headquartered in Hamburg. Holsten Brewery in business. 1880 – Steinway & Sons piano factory in operation. 1883 – Speicherstadt (warehouse district) construction begins in the Port of Hamburg. 1887 newspaper begins publication. Sport-Club Germania Hamburg founded. Central post office built. 1888 Hamburg joins German Customs Union. Harbourworks and iron bridge constructed. Free Port opens. 1889 – 15 May: Exhibition of Trade and Industry opens. 1890 German East Africa Line (shipping company) in business. May: Gas-worker strike. Population: 323,923. 1891 – Natural History Museum built. 1892 . German Open Tennis Championships begin. Hamburger Dom (funfair) relocated to Heiligengeistfeld fair ground. 1894 – St. Pauli becomes part of city. 1896 November: Dockworker strike. (fish market) rebuilt. 1897 – Hamburg Rathaus (city hall) built. 1898 – Hamburg-Altona railway station opens. 1899 – (library) founded. 1900 Institute for Maritime and Tropical Diseases opens. Shipbuilding school founded.
20th century
1900–1945 1901 – Civil law courts built. 1904 – American Businessmen's Club of Hamburg founded. 1905 – Population: 802,793. 1906 Hamburg Hauptbahnhof (railway station) opens. Altona-Hamburg railway begins operating. 1907 Tierpark Hagenbeck (zoo) established. Stadion Hoheluft (stadium) opens. 1908 Hamburg Colonial Institute established. Music Hall inaugurated. Simplo Fullfeder pen company relocates to Hamburg. 1909 – Hotel Atlantic in business. 1910 – Sportplatz at Rothenbaum opens. 1911 – Hamburg Airport and Elbe Tunnel open. 1912 Hamburg U-Bahn begins operating. Hamburg-Bergedorf Observatory dedicated. Hamburg-Mannheimer Insurance Corporation in business. 1913 3 April: Vaterland passenger ship launched. Gewerkschaftlich-Genossenschaftliche Versicherungsaktiengesellschaft (insurance firm) in business. 1914 – Hamburg Stadtpark (park) opens. 1918 Hamburg Kammerspiele (theatre) founded. Hamburger Volkszeitung newspaper begins publication. 1919 – University of Hamburg and Hamburger Sport-Verein established. 1921 – Consulate of Poland founded. 1922 – Museum of Hamburg History opens. 1923 – Labour and Socialist International founded in Hamburg. 1924 Nordische Rundfunk radio begins broadcasting. Chilehaus built. 1925 Helms-Museum and Hamburg School of Astrology established. Population: 1,079,126. 1926 – Botanischer Sondergarten Wandsbek (garden) established. 1930 Planten un Blomen (park) created. Population: 1,145,124. 1933 Nazis seize control of the city and Carl Vincent Krogmann becomes mayor. Hamburger Flugzeugbau (aircraft company) in business. Fuhlsbüttel concentration camp founded. 1934 Bürgerschaft abolished. Gau Hamburg established. Transmitter Hamburg-Billstedt begins operating. 1937 major expansion of the land of Hamburg per the Greater Hamburg Act: the cities Altona, Wandsbek, and Harburg-Wilhelmsburg join and the cities Geesthacht and Cuxhaven (including Neuwerk) leave the territory of the Land Hamburg. 1938 – Neuengamme concentration camp established by SS. 1939 – Bombing of Hamburg in World War II begins. October 1940 – The Kinderlandverschickung begins evacuating Hamburg schoolchildren, often together with their teachers, to areas considered safer from air raids. About 150,000 Hamburg children take part in the programme between 1940 and 1945. 1940 – April: Oflag X-D prisoner-of-war camp for Allied officers established. 1943 May: Langer Morgen forced labour camp for men established. 7 August: Main base of the 2nd SS construction brigade (forced labour camp) relocated from Bremen to Hamburg. 1944 April: 2nd SS construction brigade relocated to Berlin. 8 June: Hamburg-Wandsbek subcamp of the Ravensbrück concentration camp established. The prisoners were mostly Polish and Soviet women. July: Hamburg-Veddel subcamp of the Neuengamme concentration camp established. The prisoners were Jewish women. 1 September: Hamburg-Wandsbek subcamp of Ravensbrück reorganized into a subcamp of the Neuengamme concentration camp. 12 September: Hamburg-Langenhorn subcamp of the Neuengamme concentration camp established. The prisoners were Jewish women. 13 September: Hamburg-Neugraben and Hamburg-Sasel subcamps of the Neuengamme concentration camp established. The prisoners were Jewish women.