bing of evacuation vessels at the end of the war.
Hamburg surrendered without a fight to British Forces on 3 May 1945. After World War II, Hamburg was in the British Zone of Occupation and became a state of the then Federal Republic of Germany in 1949. In 1961, the Beatles became famous by playing music in clubs in Hamburg. On 16 February 1962, the North Sea flood of that year caused the Elbe to rise to an all-time high, inundating one-fifth of Hamburg and killing more than 300 people.
The Inner German border � only 50 kilometres (30 mi) east of Hamburg � separated the city from most of its hinterland and further reduced Hamburg's global trade. Since German reunification in 1990, and the accession of some Central European and Baltic States into the European Union in 2004, the Port of Hamburg has restarted ambitions for regaining its position as the region's largest deep-sea port for container shipping and its major commercial and trading centre
