The oldest historic traces of settlement in Frankfurt are to be found near here， on the hill where the cathedral stands - safely above flood level on the banks of the Main. The Frankfurt “Messen”， or trade fairs， once used to be held here on the Romerberg. Merchants used to travel to Frankfurt to the Fair in Frankfurt as long ago as the 11th century， and there has also been a Spring Fair ever since 1330.
The Emperor Friedrich II had granted the city a special Trade Fair privilege in 1240， which placed the traders， and their valuable goods， under his protection. At the times when the Fair was being held， the hostels and vaulted cellars with their shops on the ground floor were in short supply all around the Romerberg. In addition to the coarse local cloth they also sold fine lace from France and spices from overseas.
Although the town square on the Romerberg has long since lost its leading position as the trade fair center to more modern facilities， with giganticgigantic adj.巨人般的， 巨大的 exhibition halls， it still draws millions of visitors during Advent with its traditional Christmas Market. A magnificent Christmas tree， 26 to 30 meters tall， stands out against the romantic background formed by the facades of the Romer or， depending where you are looking from， by the eastern side， with its charming halftimbered gables.
Port of Hamburg
汉堡港
汉堡是德国最大城市和港口。位于易北河下游，阿尔斯特河和比勒河汇合处，距北海110千米。港口面积100平方千米，其中水域面积37.8平方千米，陆域面积62.2平方千米，码头全长65千米，共有大小码头63个，如石油、煤炭、矿物、谷物、食品和集装箱等各种专业码头。有500多个泊位，是一个河港和海港兼有的港口。
易北河通海主航道13~16米，港区水域深广，可同时停泊250多艘大型海轮作业。每年迎接1.8万艘船只出入港口，有定期航线300多条与世界1300多个港口相联系，年货物吞吐量6300多万吨。港口设备现代化，装卸效率高，泊港作业时间短，基本是港等船，很少出现船等港的现象。因此汉堡港有“快港”的美称。
货物存放、仓储设施条件完整，有18万平方千米的库存房，各种不同种类的货物都有专门仓库和装卸设备。例如，专门装卸鱼类的码头，码头旁建有冷库存，使渔轮能迅速卸货，养活停靠时间，保持鱼的鲜度。
汉堡港也是目前世界上最大的集装箱港口之一，有18个集装箱码头，22台集装箱起重机，年集装箱装卸量125万标准箱。汉堡港设有16.2平方千米的自由港区，经营转口贸易，特别是为斯堪的纳维亚和中欧地区各国货物的转口。
汉堡港转口货物约占年吞吐量的三分之一，所以汉堡又是一个转运港。进口的货物主要是石油、原料食品及嗜好品；出口的产品主要有机器、电子产品、燃料油等。
Hamburg Harbour is accessibleaccessible adj.易接近的， 可到达的， 易受影响的， 可理解的 for even the largest container giants， which can load up to 18 containers next to one another.
Hamburg，s impressive harbour area， covering approximately 100 km2 comprising manufacturing industry and river traffic， can be observed in few other places in the world. Numerous large and small harbour basins are places of work for more than 140，000 workers： cargo terminals， warehouses， goods sidings and a large number of companies such as shipyardsshipyard n.造船所 (Blohm + Voss is the one remaining large shipyard)， oil refineries (declining in importance)， the largest European copper works， as well as steelworks and aluminium works. These port industries have the advantage that their raw materials can be transported directly to the work place by ship.
Current farmland south and west of the harbour (circa 1，200 hectares) is earmarked for future harbour basins， warehouses， and firms. The residents of these districts (Moorburg， Altenwerder and Francop) are opposed to such plans.
The harbour is currently in the process of a continuous adaptation to the demands of modernization and rationalization. The disappearance of the traditional harbour scene is most visible where container ships unload their cargo. The extensive Container Centre of Waltershof， covering an area of 3 km2 has hardly anything in common with the former traditional port. It is here that the moderization of cargo transport is most conspicuous. The port of Hamburg with its modern harbour facilities is able to handle the very largest of ships efficiently. The expensive ship lay days are minimalized The heart of the harbour is the Free Port which is one of the oldest and largest facilities of its kind. Inside the duty free area shipping and cargo are excluded from customs formalities. Here all cargo can be stored， traded， inspected， treated and processed for as long as required.
West of the Norderelbbrücken (Kleiner Grasbrook) is the traditional enclave of the Czech Republic. In Moldauhafen with its Prager Ufer and Melniker Ufer (Ufer=bank/shore) and in Saalehafen are situated the berths of the Czech Elbe cargo ships， and a hotel ship. On the Halleschen Ufer the harbour administative offices of the Czech inland shipping are situated.
The port of Hamburg is by far the most important in Germany and one of the leading sea goods transhipmenttranshipment (=transshipment)转运， 转船 centres in the world. It is the gateway to markets in northern， central and eastern Europe， the bridge between the Continent and overseas， as well as being the most important foreign port for Scandinavia and central/eastern Europe for container traffic.
Just some 100 km away from the sea， the Hamburg Elbe Harbour is accessible even for the largest container giants， which can load up to 18 containers next to each other. The despatch terminals with a handlinghandling n.处理 adj.操作的 capacity of over 2500 TEU (TwentyFoot Equivalent Units) containers in less than 24 hours ensure that they can leave the harbour within one day.
Over 36 million tonnes of bulk cargo are handled by the port of Hamburg： oil， coal， ore， cereals， oilseed， feed， fertilisers and a lot more. Hamburg is one of the most important paper transhipment centres in Europe， the biggest trading place for raw pharmaceutical materials and the biggest carpet - trading and warehousing centre in the world is to be found in the Hamburg free port， to name just a few superlativessuperlative adj.最高的.
And not to be forgotten： Hamburg is the largest import harbour for coffee and one of the leading spice transhipment centres in the world. For raw cocoa Hamburg is the numberone transit port in Europe. An amazing fact： Hamburg Harbour has for years been the main transhipment centre for tea in Europe， well ahead of Rotterdam. The U.S.， Canada and even the British get their tea from Hamburg！
Cologne Cathedral
科隆大教堂
科隆大教堂位于莱茵河畔，人口不到100万的科隆是以大教堂而闻名于世的。这幢大教堂一直是游客向往的名胜。到科隆的人必去参观大教堂，因为它不光历史悠久，而且它的建筑风格和格局是那样具有魅力，致使每一位游客流连忘返。
