.hamburg Domain
Germany's Port City Gets Its Own Domain
Register your .hamburg domain from just £69.99/yr. Free DNS management, email forwarding, and 10GB mailbox included with every domain.
This domain has registration restrictions
Only registrants who can demonstrate an economic, cultural, historical, social or other connection to the Hamburg metropolitan area may hold a .hamburg domain, and the domain has to be put into use within 12 months. Read the full eligibility rules.
What is a .hamburg domain?
The .hamburg domain represents Germany's second-largest city and Europe's third-busiest port. Hamburg is a major hub for logistics, media (home to Der Spiegel and many publishing houses), and a growing tech startup scene. Managed by Hamburg Top-Level-Domain GmbH, .hamburg gives local businesses a web address that carries the city's weight. It is a community extension: the holder has to be able to show an economic, cultural, historical or social connection to the Hamburg area, and the registry can delete a domain that cannot.
Who should register .hamburg?
Hamburg-based businesses, logistics and shipping companies, media publishers, and startups in Hamburg's tech scene.
Why choose .hamburg?
- Represents Germany's second-largest city
- Strong logistics and media industry ties
- Growing tech startup ecosystem
- Carries Hamburg's commercial weight
Who runs .hamburg, and since when
Registry data from the .hamburg delegation record held by IANA, which maintains the internet's root zone. Eligibility comes from the registry's own policy, and the prices are ours.
- Extension type
- Generic (gTLD)
- Registry operator
- Hamburg Top-Level-Domain GmbH
- The organisation that runs the extension
- In the root zone since
- 2014
- Delegated 22 May 2014
- Who can register
- Requires a demonstrable connection to the Hamburg metropolitan area
- Checked against the registry's own policy
- Our price
- £69.99 a year
- Ex VAT. Renews at the same price
The Hamburg connection rule behind every .hamburg domain
Buy this one on the strength of the city and you will miss the part that costs money. The .hamburg domain is what ICANN calls a community based top level domain, and the registry states it plainly: names may only be registered by a limited group of registrants, and their use is subject to conditions too.
The group is anyone who can demonstrate an economic, cultural, historical, social or other connection to the metropolitan area of Hamburg. Hamburg Top-Level-Domain GmbH lists three ways to show it: a residence or second home, office, place of business, branch or permanent establishment in the metropolitan area; a contact listed in the Whois database with a domicile there; or other appropriate proof, such as an employer's certificate, enrolment at a school or college, or a birth certificate. That second route is the practical one for a British company, because your Hamburg agency or local partner can be the contact that qualifies the registration.
Nothing is checked when you order. No proof is required to apply, and the registry checks at its own discretion afterwards. If your details are incomplete you get 14 days from being notified to correct them, and if you still do not meet the conditions the domain is deleted, with fees already paid not refunded. There is also a use requirement most city extensions do not have: the domain must be put into use within 12 months, and where you publish a website its content has to relate directly to the authorisation you registered under.
At several times the cost of a .co.uk every year, this is a badge you have to both qualify for and use.
Who is allowed to register .hamburg?
Only registrants who can demonstrate an economic, cultural, historical, social or other connection to the Hamburg metropolitan area may hold a .hamburg domain, and the domain has to be put into use within 12 months.
- Who qualifies
- Any natural person, legal person, organisation or association of persons who can demonstrate an economic, cultural, historical, social or any other connection to the metropolitan area of Hamburg. It is a community extension, so the connection is the entry condition rather than a preference.
- How you show it
- A residence or second home, office, place of business, branch or permanent establishment in the metropolitan area; or a contact listed in the Whois database with a domicile there; or other appropriate proof such as an employer's certificate, enrolment at a school or college, or a birth certificate. The registry publishes the eligible postal codes as a separate document.
- Nothing is checked up front
- No proof is required to apply for or to register the name. The registry keeps the right to check the registration and the authorisation at its own discretion later, and anyone may have a holder's compliance tested through a dispute process.
- You have to use it
- The domain must be put into use within 12 months of registration, and if you publish a website on it the content has to relate directly to the authorisation you registered under. Parking it indefinitely is a breach of the registration conditions rather than a neutral holding position.
- If you do not qualify
- The registry notifies you and your registrar, and you have 14 days from that notice to correct your entries. If the conditions are still not met the domain name is deleted, and registration fees already paid are not reimbursed.
Rules taken from the .hamburg registration policy. Registry policy can change, so check before you buy if the answer matters to you.
Not sure whether you qualify? Ask us before you order and we will check the registry rules with you. We would rather answer the question than take an order the registry will refuse.
Is .hamburg the right choice for you?
We would rather sell you the right extension once than the wrong one twice.
.hamburg works well if
- You trade from an address in the Hamburg metropolitan area and want a domain that says so before anyone reads a word of the page.
- You run logistics, shipping, media or agency work where the city name is part of how clients describe what they need.
- You are a UK business with a Hamburg branch, permanent establishment or local partner who can stand as the qualifying Whois contact.
- You want a short, unmistakable local name where the .de equivalent went years ago.
Look elsewhere if
- You have no Hamburg connection at all. You can order one today, and the registry can delete it later and keep what you paid.
- You want to park it as an investment or a brand defence. The 12-month use requirement makes that a breach of the conditions.
- Cost matters. This is one of the dearer extensions we sell and it renews at that price every year, for a domain that means nothing outside northern Germany.
No Hamburg address or local contact? A .com carries no eligibility test and nobody can take it back on a policy check. See .com pricing.
.hamburg vs .com: which should you register?
The trade-off here is meaning against certainty. A .hamburg tells a local audience exactly where you are and comes with conditions attached to that claim. A .com tells them nothing and asks nothing of you.
Pick .hamburg when the city is part of what you sell, when your customers are within the metropolitan area, and when you can point at the address, branch or local contact that qualifies you. Pick .com when your reach is wider than one city, when the name has to work in English as well as German, or when you want an address that cannot be challenged by anyone with an opinion about your local credentials.
Where both matter, the sensible arrangement is the .com as the permanent address and the .hamburg as the local site that is actually published and maintained. That satisfies the use requirement and leaves your main domain out of reach of an eligibility dispute.
| .hamburg | .com | |
|---|---|---|
| Who may register | Only with a Hamburg connection | Anyone worldwide |
| Proof at registration | None required, checked later | None, ever |
| Use requirement | In use within 12 months | None |
| If you do not qualify | Deleted, fees not refunded | Not applicable |
| Annual cost | High | Low |
.hamburg domain questions, answered
What people ask us before registering a .hamburg domain.
Can't find what you're looking for?
Ask us directlyNo, but you do need a connection to the Hamburg metropolitan area that you could demonstrate if asked. The registry accepts a residence or second home, an office, place of business, branch or permanent establishment there, a Whois contact with a domicile in the area, or other proof such as enrolment at a school or college. A UK company with a Hamburg partner or agency usually qualifies through the contact route.
Yes, and the policy sets out how. If the details you gave do not allow the registry to check your authorisation, it notifies you and your registrar and gives you 14 days to correct them. If the conditions of registration are still not met, the domain name is deleted and registration fees already paid are not reimbursed. Anyone can also ask for a holder's compliance to be examined through a dispute process.
It reaches well beyond the city boundary, and the registry defines it by postal code rather than by description. Hamburg Top-Level-Domain GmbH publishes the eligible postal codes as a separate document alongside its registration policy, which runs to dozens of pages of ranges covering the surrounding districts. If your address sits near the edge of the region, check the list before you order rather than after.
Not within the rules. Because this is a community extension, the policy requires the domain to be put into use within 12 months of registration, and any website you publish on it has to have content directly related to the authorisation you registered under. A parked page or a plain redirect is not what the registry means by use, so treat this extension as something you launch rather than something you sit on.
Included with Your .hamburg Domain
DNS Management
Full DNS zone editor to manage A, CNAME, MX, TXT, and all record types.
Email Forwarding
Set up professional email addresses and forward to any inbox.
Auto-Renewal
Never lose your domain with automatic renewal protection.
Free 10GB Mailbox
One 10GB mailbox (POP3/IMAP) included with every domain, on any TLD.
Other Geographic Domains Extensions
Register your .hamburg domain today
Secure your .hamburg domain from just £69.99/yr. Free DNS management, email forwarding, and 10GB mailbox included.
