Reconnecting across the Iron Curtain: Hamburg’s Policy of the Elbe

ABSTRACT After 1945, the Iron Curtain cut off half of the hinterland of Germany’s largest seaport, Hamburg. Located in the middle of Europe, the city found itself at the periphery of the Federal Republic and Western Europe. The political and economic elites of the city-state conceived the Policy of the Elbe to deal with this situation. Its proponents pursued apolitical strategies to reconnect it to Eastern Europe despite political obstacles and against national foreign policy principles. This article sheds light on the ideas and practices of a city forced to redefine its position in Cold War Europe.