The Hamburg harbor barge is a type of small, motorized inland waterway vessel that was developed to carry out various auxiliary transport tasks in the port of Hamburg between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This type of ship experienced its heyday from the 1920s to the 1960s. With the structural changes in port operations away from general cargo handling and the rise of container handling, they largely lost their importance for the port industry. Today, many visitors to Hamburg know the barges as vehicles for harbor tours and excursions on the Lower Elbe and in the Speicherstadt. (Wikipedia)