Hamburg’s Binnenalster with its characteristic 60-metre-high fountain is a meeting place for young and old. When the ice layer on the Binnenalster is at least 20 cm in winter, it is opened to the public for ice skating. In the past, freight traffic entered the city via the Alster to the north and the dammed Alster lakes. Then, in 1250, a dam was built to dam up the waters of the Alster for mill purposes. This created the Binnenalster, which is no deeper than three metres. Where the Alsterhaus stands today, there used to be the first “water art”, through which Hamburg’s old town was supplied with water.
