OTHER FOCAL POINTS
THE OLYMPICS
In the concept of the
Free and Hanseatic City
of Hamburg for the 2024
Olympic Games, the exhi-
bition halls and the CCH
were envisaged as compe-
tition sites for more than a
dozen sports disciplines.
However, in the Olympics
referendum on 29 No-
vember 2015, a majority
voted against Hamburg’s
bid to host the Games.
ANNIVERSARY
Six-hundred and fifty years
of trade fairs in Hamburg
were celebrated in 2015
with a series of public lec-
tures at the University of
Hamburg, an ecumenical
worship service held in St.
Michael’s Church, a large
exhibition and many other
activities. In 1365, Emperor
Charles IV had granted a
charter to hold trade fairs
to the city, which makes
Hamburg one of the oldest
trade fair cities in Germany.
Detailed information on the
history and recordings of
the lectures are available at:
SEA-WATCH
A refugee boat with shoes
and items of clothing left
behind attracted attention
at the hanseboot in au-
tumn 2015. The dinghy,
with 121 people on board,
had been rescued in the
Mediterranean just weeks
before by the civilian res-
cue ship, the MS Sea-
Watch. The Sea-Watch
Association had been es-
tablished in 2014 when a
number of families from
the State of Brandenburg
privately purchased and
fitted out a boat for rescu-
ing refugees in the Medi-
terranean Sea. Since the
beginning of 2015, the
crews of the just over 20
metre-long Sea-Watch,
made up exclusively of
volunteers, have rescued
several thousand refugees
from mortal danger. At
the hanseboot exhibition
they reported on the dra-
matic situation of the peo-
ple in the refugee boats
and asked for support.
Meanwhile, a second ship
owned by the private aid
organisation, the Sea-
Watch 2, now also per-
forms rescue missions on
the Mediterranean.
11
HAMBURG MESSE UND CONGRESS Annual Report 2015