Old Elbe River Tunnel

The Alter Elbtunnel is a pedestrian and vehicular tunnel that runs underneath the Elbe River. It was built in 1911 as one of the first underwater tunnels in Europe. The tunnel allowed thousands of workers to easily travel from the main part of Hamburg across the river to the docks and shipyards. The tunnel is now open mostly to pedestrians. The tunnel begins with a 26 meter descent into the earth. For cars they have old wooden elevators that carry the cars down one by one, but I took the long flight of stairs. Once you are below the ground you travel 400 meters under the river through a tiled tunnel. On the other side, I went up almost an identical cavern and emerged into an industrial shipyard. It was interesting to see the city from another perspective. I also through in a picture of one of the many shipping canals that is full massive chunks of ice that ripple with passing of the barges and cargo ships.

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