Hello and welcome to the "Freiwillige Feuerwehr (FF) Winterhude", which means "Volunteer Fire Departement Winterhude". On this page we would like to introduce our city, our district and our station.

Hamburg: Gateway to the world

The Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (in German: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg) is the largest city in Northern Germany and after Berlin the second largest city in Germany with a population of approximately 1.8 million. The Metropolitan Region of Hamburg counts more than 5 million inhabitants.
Hamburg is especially shaped by water: The River Elbe with its tributaries Alster and Bille determines the townscape. Hamburg is home to the second largest port in Europe. Therefore merchant navy and international trading are the most important commercial sectors. For that reason Hamburg also carries the byname Gateway to the World (in German: Das Tor zur Welt).
It is also the water that turns Hamburg into one of the most beautiful cities. By damming up the River Alster two artificial lakes were created in the center of the city. The much smaller Inner Alster (in German: Binnenalster) and the Outer Alster (in German: Außenalster) not only attract tourists but also the residents of Hamburg. On the weekends hundreds of sailing dinghies are populating the Outer Alster, jogers are circling the lakes and many people are strolling along the promenade and are taking sunbaths on the green meadows. From the Outer Alster there are many canals reaching into the nearby quarters.

Winterhude

One of these quarters is Winterhude. It is located north of downtown. The origin of the name Winterhude is not quite clear. It is supposed that it was a place where boats and ships had been kept over the winter.
Today Winterhude is mostly a residential area. Along the Outer Alster you will find luxurious mansions. A few steps away from the waterfront a mixture of old apartment buildings, some of them several hundred years of age, modern homes and small businesses are creating the view of Winterhude.
Another major part of our quarter is the City Park (in German: Stadtpark). It is a 148 acre municipal public park which includes an English Garden, several meadows for recreation and sports, some forest areas with ponds and swamps, the old water tower which is housing a spectacular planetarium, an artificial Lake and a public swimming bath. The open air stage is hosting international and national music acts.

Hamburg Fire Department

The Hamburg Fire Department (in German: Feuerwehr Hamburg) is a combined Fire Department. There are 2.300 professional firefighters staffing 23 Fire Stations and 32 Ambulance Stations. And there are 2.600 volunteer firefighters housed in 87 volunteer stations in nearly every quarter of Hamburg. The Hamburg Fire Department handles about 250.000 emergency calls per year. Most of the emergencies (roughly 215.000) are medical calls.
Many fire calls and rescue operations are handled by both the paid and the volunteer crews in cooperation. Small emergencies are handled either by the paid staff or the volunteers.


Winterhude Fire Station
The Winterhude Fire Station (FF Winterhude) is an all volunteer station housing two Rescue-Engines and a Rescue Boat. It is part of the Hamburg Fire Department. Our station was founded in 1972 by transforming a civil protection unit into a Fire Station. Today about 40 firefighters are handling around 300 calls per year. Our Fire District covers the quarters Winterhude, Barmbek and Uhlenhorst, an area with a population of approximately 100.000.



Emergency Calls in Germany

The emergency number for Fire and EMS calls is, like in most European countries, 112.
The Police are reached by calling 110.
In most cases the calls also can be taken in English.