This is the story of Hamburg, Germany, one of the biggest harbors in the world. It is the story of merchants and pirates, of immigrants and soldiers. Traveling back to year 1189 and then continuing on to the present, this documentary describes the rise and fall of the Hanse, its development to a world harbour after the discovery of America and its rapid turnover of goods during the Industrial Revolution. With high-quality re-enactments, top experts’ interviews, rarely-seen archive material and the latest on computer animations, the correlation of world history up to the present time will be explained.