When you think of nature, high mountains, exotic beaches or dense rainforest come to mind, as well as animals and plants that astonish us. But nature is not just out there, it is in our immediate neighborhood and it is an indispensable part of the cities in which we live. With a good 1.8 million inhabitants, Hamburg is the second largest city in Germany, but due to its area of ​​around 750 square kilometers, it is one of the most sparsely populated metropolises in the world.

Hamburg's animal world has much more to offer than the well-known Alster swans, the city's "animal figurehead", and the red deer in Duvenstedter Brook. Animals live almost everywhere. Some are difficult to spot, such as adders and sand lizards. Others, on the other hand, who are less sensitive and can adapt more easily to the conditions in the Hanseatic city, sometimes look for quite unusual living spaces. Some gray geese breed year after year on balconies and a roof terrace with a view of an Alster canal. And foxes have dug a burrow on the airport grounds. They are welcome there, as they keep birds away from flight operations. The film shows the most unusual places in the city, where eagle owls breed, seals rest on sandbanks and beavers surf in the tidal current of the Elbe.