Hamburg locals insist the Elbphilharmonie is not really their city's landmark. That honour belongs to St. Michael's Church, known affectionately as "Michel," whose green copper steeple has watched over the harbour since the eighteenth century. Visitors often assume the building dates from 1751. But a fire in 1906 gutted much of it. What stands today is a faithful Baroque reconstruction, with some original interior surviving the flames.

Michel's musical pedigree runs deep. Georg Philipp Telemann composed a piece for its groundbreaking, and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, one of Johann Sebastian's twenty children, served as organist here and now rests in its crypt. Johannes Brahms was baptized at the marble font, held up by three small angels.

VoiceMap's self-guided audio tours use Michel as a waypoint on Hamburg's harbourfront routes, tracing how the church's music, fire and faith shaped a city built on shipping and sailors.