The trade of Hamburg received its first great impulse in 1783, when the United States, by the treaty of Paris, became an independent power. From this time dates its first direct maritime communication with America. Its commerce was further extended and developed by the French occupation of Holland in 1795, when the Dutch trade was largely directed to its port. The French Revolution and the insecurity of the political situation, however, exercised a depressing and retarding effect. The wars which ensued, the closing of continental ports against English trade, the occupation of the city after the disastrous battle of Jena, and pestilence within its walls brought about a severe commercial crisis and caused a serious decline in its prosperity. Moreover, the great contributions levied by Napoleon on the city, the plundering of its bank by Davoust, and the burning of its prosperous suburbs inflicted wounds from which the city but slowly recovered. Under the long peace which followed the close of the Napoleonic wars, its trade gradually revived, fostered by the declaration of independence of South and Central America, with both of which it energetically opened close commercial relations, and by the introduction of steam navigation. The first steamboat was seen on the Elbe on the 17th of June 1816; in 1826 a regular steam communication was opened with London; and in 1856 the first direct steamship line linked the port with the United States. The great fire of 1842 (5th-8th of May) laid in waste the greatest part of the business quarter of the city and caused a temporary interruption of its commerce. The city, however, soon rose from its ashes, the churches were rebuilt and new streets laid out on a scale of considerable magnificence. In 1866 Hamburg joined the North German Confederation, and in 1871, while remaining outside the Zollverein, became a constituent state of the German empire. In 1883-1888 the works for the Free Harbour were completed, and on the 18th of October 1888 Hamburg joined the Customs Union (Zollverein). In 1892 the cholera raged within its walls, carried off 8500 of its inhabitants, and caused considerable losses to its commerce and industry; but the visitation was not without its salutary fruits, for an improved drainage system, better hospital accommodation, and a purer water-supply have since combined to make it one of the healthiest commercial cities of Europe.
Further details about Hamburg will be found in the following works: O. C. Gaedechens, Historische Topographie der Freien und Hansestadt Hamburg (1880); E. H. Wichmann, Heimatskunde von Hamburg (1863); W. Melhop, Historische Topographie der Freien und Hansestadt Hamburg von 1880-1895 (1896); Wulff, Hamburgische Gesetze und Verordnungen (1889-1896); and W. von Melle, Das hamburgische Staatsrecht (1891). There are many valuable official publications which may be consulted, among these being: Statistik des hamburgischen Staates (1867-1904); Hamburgs Handel und Schiffahrt (1847-1903); the yearly Hamburgischer Staatskalender; and Jahrbuch der Hamburger wissenschaftlichen Anstalten. See also Hamburg und seine Bauten (1890); H. Benrath, Lokalführer durch Hamburg und Umgebungen (1904); and the consular reports by Sir William Ward, H.B.M.’s consul-general at Hamburg, to whom the author is indebted for great assistance in compiling this article.
For the history of Hamburg see the Zeitschrift des Vereins für hamburgische Geschichte (1841, fol.); G. Dehio, Geschichte des Erzbistums Hamburg-Bremen (Berlin, 1877); the Hamburgisches Urkundenbuch (1842), the Hamburgische Chroniken (1852-1861), and the Chronica der Stadt Hamburg bis 1557 of Adam Tratziger (1865), all three edited by J. M. Lappenberg; the Briefsammlung des hamburgischen Superintendenten Joachim Westphal 1530-1575, edited by C. H. W. Sillem (1903); Gallois, Geschichte der Stadt Hamburg (1853-1856); K. Koppmann, Aus Hamburgs Vergangenheit (1885), and Kammereirechnungen der Stadt Hamburg (1869-1894); H. W. C. Hubbe, Beiträge zur Geschichte der Stadt Hamburg (1897); C. Mönckeberg, Geschichte der Freien und Hansestadt Hamburg (1885); E. H. Wichmann, Hamburgische Geschichte in Darstellungen aus alter und neuer Zeit (1889); and R. Bollheimer, Zeittafeln der hamburgischen Geschichte (1895).
HAMDĀNĪ, in full Abū Maḥommed ul-Ḥasan ibn Aḥmad ibn Ya‘qūb ul-Hamdānī (d. 945), Arabian geographer, also known as Ibn ul-Ḥā‘ik. Little is known of him except that he belonged to a family of Yemen, was held in repute as a grammarian in his own country, wrote much poetry, compiled astronomical tables, devoted most of his life to the study of the ancient history and geography of Arabia, and died in prison at San‘a in 945. His Geography of the Arabian Peninsula (Kitāb Jazīrat ul-‘Arab) is by far the most important work on the subject. After being used in manuscript by A. Sprenger in his Post- und Reiserouten des Orients (Leipzig, 1864) and further in his Alte Geographie Arabiens (Bern, 1875), it was edited by D. H. Müller (Leiden, 1884; cf. A. Sprenger’s criticism in Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenländischen Gesellschaft, vol. 45, pp. 361-394). Much has also been written on this work by E. Glaser in his various publications on ancient Arabia. The other great work of Hamdānī is the Iklīl (Crown) concerning the genealogies of the Himyarites and the wars of their kings in ten volumes. Of this, part 8, on the citadels and castles of south Arabia, has been edited and annotated by D. H. Müller in Die Burgen und Schlösser Südarabiens (Vienna, 1879-1881).
For other works said to have been written by Hamdānī cf. G. Flügel’s Die grammatischen Schulen der Araber (Leipzig, 1862), pp. 220-221.
(G. W. T.)
HAMELIN, FRANÇOIS ALPHONSE (1796-1864), French admiral, was born at Pont l’Évêque on the 2nd of September 1796. He went to sea with his uncle, J. F. E. Hamelin, in the “Vénus” frigate in 1806 as cabin boy. The “Vénus” was part of the French squadron in the Indian Ocean, and young Hamelin had an opportunity of seeing much active service. She, in company with another and a smaller vessel, captured the English frigate “Ceylon” in 1810, but was immediately afterwards captured herself by the “Boadicéa,” under Commodore Rowley (1765-1842). Young Hamelin was a prisoner of war for a short time. He returned to France in 1811. On the fall of the Empire he had better fortune than most of the Napoleonic officers who were turned ashore. In 1821 he became lieutenant, and in 1823 took part in the French expedition under the duke of Angoulême into Spain. In 1828 he was appointed captain of the “Actéon,” and was engaged till 1831 on the coast of Algiers and in the conquest of the town and country. His first command as flag officer was in the Pacific, where he showed much tact during the dispute over the Marquesas Islands with England in 1844. He was promoted vice-admiral in 1848. During the Crimean War he commanded in the Black Sea, and co-operated with Admiral Dundas in the bombardment of Sevastopol 17th of October 1854. His relations with his English colleague were not very cordial. On the 7th of December 1854 he was promoted admiral. Shortly afterwards he was recalled to France, and was named minister of marine. His administration lasted till 1860, and was remarkable for the expeditions to Italy and China organized under his directions; but it was even more notable for the energy shown in adopting and developing the use of armour. The launch of the “Gloire” in 1859 set the example of constructing sea-going iron-clads. The first English iron-clad, the “Warrior,” was designed as an answer to the “Gloire.” When Napoleon III. made his first concession to Liberal opposition, Admiral Hamelin was one of the ministers sacrificed. He held no further command, and died on the 10th of January 1864.