Hamburg as a Colonial Metropolis: Tracing Footsteps and Research Findings. As Germany's most important port, Hamburg was also a central colonial metropolis. For centuries, the gateway to the world was a gateway to the colonial world. Trade relations existed with colonial powers and colonies, involving both colonial goods and people. This history has left its marks. Hamburg is filled with (post-)colonial memorial sites that are not only interesting for the city's history but also provide insights into the history of colonial globalization. The memorial sites examined range from imaginative worlds like the figure of the Hanseatic merchant to institutions of colonial economy and politics such as the port or the chamber of commerce, individual companies like the Woermann Group, and areas of science, culture, and art, such as the Museum of Ethnology (now MARKK) or the Hagenbeck Zoo with its ethnological exhibitions. The history of individual monuments, such as the large Bismarck statue at the port or the Askari reliefs, is also explored. Supplemented by biographical sketches, it becomes clear what colonialism meant for Hamburg, but also what Hamburg meant for colonialism.