Since June 1 2000 DESY is hosting a big exhibition about high energy physics, the free electron laser and the laboratory. The exhibition is located right next to the DESY site, within easy walking distance. The welcome reception will be held at the exhibition, so participants will have a chance to see it. If you like to learn more about this event check out the DESY EXPO page .
DESY is the main german laboratory for particle physics. You can find out more about the lab, its mission, the experiments at DESY and the people working there by visiting the DESY home page (for a flashier but so far only german version of this page go here )
Problems finding your way around in Hamburg? Check out the interactive City-Map
Main Sights close to DESY:
DESY is located in a western suburb of Hamburg. The main Hamburg sights are in the center of town, about a 20-30min bus and/or train ride from the laboratory. The western part of Hamburg is known for its beautiful parks, some of which are very close to DESY, its beautiful promenade along the ELBE river, and its abundance of fancy (expensive) suburbs. The most prominent among these and well worth a visit is Blankenese, about 10km west of DESY on the shore of the ELBE river. Take an evening stroll in the "Treppenviertel" of Blankenese, and you might (assuming the weather collaborates) think you are somewhere much more south than Hamburg. Walk through the beautiful parks like the Jenish park or the Hirsch Park, all of which are easily reached from DESY by bus or even by foot, and experience the way afluent Hamburg merchants lived during the 18th and 19th century. A nice and cheap way to see some of the sights west of Hamburg is to take bus number 36 from the Altona trainstation towards Blankenese. This bus takes you along the famous Elbchaussee, past some of the biggest villas in this area, all the way to Blankenese. From there you can either walk through the Treppenviertel to the Elbe, or take one of the "Bergziegen" (small busses which run from the Blankenese S-Bahn station to the Elbe river) to reach the Strandweg, the small road running along the Elbe and a place of some nice restaurant with local cuisine.
Even further to the west Rissen is amongst the most expensive places in Hamburg to live. The first city outside the city of Hamburg boundaries is Wedel. Wedel is best known for its old market place, west of the modern town center, and for its "Schiffsbegruessungsanlage". Whenever a ship passes Wedel inbound the national flag of the ships home country is raised, then dipped, and the national anthem is played (Wedeler Faehrhaus, at the harbour of Wedel, about a 15min walk from the Wedel S-Bahn Station).
Going from DESY in the opposite direction one quickly reaches Ottensen
and Altona, two very lively and interesting city quarters. Lots of people,
lots of shopping opportunities, lots of nightlife, lots of ethnic restaurant
make the area around the Bahnhof Altona an interesting place to explore.
Before reaching the proper center of Hamburg, St Pauli and its (in)famous
Reeperbahn is of course a must for every Hamburg tourist. Many shows run
on the Reeperbahn and its sidestreets every night.
The official center of the city is around the Binnenalster, close to
the Hauptbahnhof and the "Rathaus" (the city hall of Hamburg). The main
shopping district is the Moenkebergstrasse, but there are many sidestreets
with interesting shops etc in this area as well. Quite a few museums are
crowded here, in particular the Kunsthalle (art galery with everything
from ancient to very new), or the "arts and craft museum" (Museum for Kunsthandwerk).
Before reaching the Hauptbahnhof the S-Bahn stops at the "Landungsbruecken",
the place from where in the first half of the 20th century the big passengerships
used to depart for overseas. The bridges are still there, but are used
only for the occasional cruise ship, and local harbour traffic. Very popular
with visitors is climbing the tower of the church St. Michaelis (simply
called Michel) from which you have on clear days a great view of the city
and the harbour. Also worthwhile is a visit to the old Elbe-tunnel, which
was build at the beginning of the last century, and connects the city of
Hamburg with the main part of the harbour.
From there you may take a sight seeing tour of the harbour with one
of many independent tour operators. A much cheaper way to see some of the
harbour from the water is to take one of the boats of the hamburg public
transport service (HVV), which depart from the Landungsbruecken to "Teufelsbrueck"
or "Finkenwerder" (an island on the other side of the Elbe river). In fact
to get back from the center to DESY you can take the boat to Teufelsbrueck
(you need to change in Finkenwerder), then take a bus to the Othmarschen
Train Station, where you change busses again and continue to DESY (Bus
Nr. 167).
Hamburg has many interesting museums and art exhibits. Check the local Hamburg pages for information. Close to DESY two museums in the Jenish park are worth a visit: the Barlach house (exhibits of works of art by Barlach, a famous german sculpturer), and the Jenish house.
RESTAURANTS around DESY :
we just listed some restaurants which are reachable more or less
within 30 minutes
by bus.
DESY Bistro Onsite in Building 9a is open from 17:00 until 23:00.
Don Quichotte - pub/restaurant
Osdorfer Landstraße 162a, 22549 Hamburg, Tel. 80 1304
Bus 186 + 187 (Notkestraße) direction RISSEN/ISERBROOK
EINSTEIN -Bistro/restaurant
Bahrenfelder Chaussee 45, 22761 Hamburg, Tel. 890 70 701
BUS 111 or 188 (Trabrennbahn Bahrenfeld - close to DESY -reachable
via 187 (Notkestraße with
the direction Bf.Altona) or directly from Luruper Chaussee - sidegate
DESY.
Restaurant is close to the bus-stop : "Von-Sauer-Straße"
Königliches Proviantamt -
restaurant
/Winecellar
Bahrenfelder Chaussee 49 , 22761 Hamburg, Tel.: 89 17 12
also reachable via BUS 111 or 188 The restaurant is on the
right side coming from DESY very
close to the bus-stop "Von-Sauer-Straße"- it is placed
in an old factory area.
Graceland Southern Cuisine
- restaurant - very often visited by DESY Guests !
Stresemannstraße 374, 22761 Hamburg, Tel.89 96 31 00
BUS 111 from Trabrennbahn Bahrenfeld
This is a small number of well known restaurants -
please, have a look at the
HERMES Homepage
there
are some more restaurants and pubs listed.