Flying (almost) on the water is Matthias
Neumann on his SUP race board. The
managing director of the Hamburg event
agency Act-Agency is the organizer of the
German SUP World Cup. Almost every day
he paddles from Winterhude down to the
Binnenalster and back. With his high
frequency of paddle strokes, he is very fast
and probably the fastest stand up paddler
on the Alster. His head is always pointing
straight forwards and t-shirt dripping wet
with sweat. boutiques, the Hamburg Alex restaurant
and many tourists are to be found on the
front. Anyone who visits Hamburg
somehow lingers here and looks at the
120 swans or, better, feeds them. At all
corners of the Binnenalster, up to the town
hall the swans try to grab bread, cake or
other from the tourists. Incidentally the
swans are in charge of a ‘swan father’
employed by the town who is also
responsible for bringing the animals to
winter quarters every year.
In 1836 the first rowing club was founded
in Hamburg and today there are ten
rowing clubs located on the banks. The
number of SUP rental stations is
increasing. Directly on the eastern Alster
Canal SUP-legions.com has its centre. We
come paddling past there, listening
because the event site is celebrating its
18th birthday and Chris the owner
spontaneously invites us for a beer. Our
SUP boards are stowed by staff on the
shore and we get an exclusive tour of his
event area. SUP-legions.com offer
beginner courses, sun downer tours and so
on. Chris’s 50 SUP boards are all on the
water on warm summer evenings. On
‘Isekai’ and ‘Stadtparksee' there are also
opportunities for SUP courses and rentals
– perfect for every tourist. The hotel Vier Jahreszeiten (translated:
Four Seasons), on the Binnenalster is one
of the most elegant hotels in the world. It
is 120 years old and in the basement you
can eat Japanese in Nikkei Nine.
The Binnenalster
The ‘Binnenalster’ is the traditional
turning point for stand up paddler. The 18-
hectare water makes a much busier
impression than the quieter and more
spacious Aussenalster. Because
Hamburg's boulevard with high-end
The Binnenalster empties at the Hamburg
City Hall and on the opposite Alster-
Arkaden with retail and cafes and
restaurants. The focal point is the water
fountain with its 60-metre high splashing
jets. The attraction is also a welcome
cooling – a shower from above, for every
stand up paddler, at least in warmer
temperatures.
Eat and drink
There are countless possibilities for eating,
drinking and lingering along the
Aussenalster and Binnenalster. At this
point, however, two special tips: A
beautiful cafe represents the cliff
(http://alster-cliff.de/site) on the west bank
of the Aussenalster. Cafe Canale
(https://www.cafecanale.de) is also
recommended.
s
t
a
n
d
u
p
p
a
d d
l
e
m
a
g
u k
36