Speicherstadt and Kontorhaus District

Although my uncle is living in Hamburg and I had been several times, I only visited the Speicherstadt and nearby Kontorhouse distric in July 2019 and March 2016.

It is quite interesting that the whole district has been closed for public a few decades ago and a big fence went around it. As Hamburg in no Freihafen anylonger, this beautiful distric can be enjoyed by everyone and recently the marvelous Elbphilarmony was added.

There is quite a lot of tourist things to do: Hamburg Dungen, The miniature railway museum, coffee roastery etc. etc. or you just stroll arond like we did both times. The district lack authenticity, since a lot of stuff was rebuild or put in between. However, the Chilehouse makes the WHS that remarkable. It is probably the best expressionst architecture I have seen so far, at least in Europe. Nice, nice!

On the occasion of World Heritage Day 2017 I decided to visit my home town’s world heritage site: the Speicherstadt and the Kontorhausviertel. Leaving my office at Gänsemarkt I crossed Jungfernstieg and the Rathausplatz and headed for the Chilehaus. From there I went on into the Speicherstadt and ended up at Landungsbrücken. Had the weather been better I would have hopped onto a harbour ferry to Övelgönne. To me this is a great walk and comes highly recommended if you are ever in the area.

Both the Speicherstadt and the Kontorhausviertel signify a major change in urban planning for Hamburg. The island the Speicherstadt was built on used to be a residential area for poor families working in the harbour. All of them were evicted from the inner city to make room for progress. If you want to see how it looked like before, there is a tiny row of houses near the Michel (Krämergasse) that should give you a bit of an impression.

The Kontorhausviertel buildings, too, are pure office building separating work from living. The development continued over the decades and nowadays the inner city of Hamburg is mostly devoid of people at night, a bit frightening if you ask me.

As such I am not sure the change these buildings heralded was a change for the better. Indeed, if you are in the Speicherstadt you can cross into the neighboring Hafencity and see how city planning has changed. The Hafencity houses both apartments and …

It looks like I am the first reviewer to have visit this site since it was inscribed and I can report that I didn't spy a UNESCO logo or information board anywhere (though that doesn't mean there isn't one). I spent a night in Hamburg in January 2017 and stayed in a waterfront hotel in the inscribed area.

The warehouses, which display a definite coherence of style, stand testament to the development of large-scale international trade in the wake of the Industrial Revolution.

My overall impression was of a pleasant enough place but not a terribly exciting World Heritage Site compared with others. Of the 105 I have so far visited it is most similar to Liverpool.

Both parts of the nomination, the Speicherstadt and the Kontorhausviertel, are easily covered by foot and can be visited in a short few hours. I started my tour with the two most emblematic buildings of the Kontrohausviertel: Chilehaus, which used to be an independent candidate for a WHS, and the neighbouring Sprinkerhof. In fact, the entire district is small and can easily be covered. In fact, it is difficult to spend a lot of time at the Kontorhausviertel because it still fills its original function as a business district. All buildings are occupied by offices and unfortunately you cannot get into most of the buildings. I did manage to get into the Chilehaus to discover a doorway reminiscent of the Bauhaus architecture. It greatly reminded me of the Bauhaus University in Weimar. All buildings in the district are made of the typical red bricks and many are covered with traditional marine motives. Both of these trait link the modern architecture to Hamburg's past. Despite being modern for their time and architecturally impressive I did not find the buildings very appealing.

The nearby Speicherstadt was largely destroyed in WWII so most of what we can visit now is a post-war reconstruction. You can read about it in a trail with explanatory plaques going through the complex. Only the central blocks were reconstructed apart from the oldest one which is outside the core zone and now houses the Maritime Museum. Similar to the Kontorhausviertel, the Speicherstadt preserved its original function, albeit …

I have visited Hamburg several times and a stroll through the Speicherstadt and the Kontorhaus district was always a must. The Chilehaus is an iconic building of Brick Expressionism, an architectural style particularly prevalent in the north of Germany and in the Ruhr area. The view from the east to the sharp tip and the curved façade along the Pumpen street are amazing. Despite the size, it is an elegant building, reminiscent of a palace. The Chilehaus is still used as an office building, so best to visit on a weekday when the staircases are accessible. Stairs, floors and other interior details have been preserved in the style of the 1920s. But until now there are no guided tours. The other houses of the Kontorhaus district (Kontorhaus is an old German word for office building) are less spectacular but still worth seeing, the proposed area includes also the Sprinkenhof, Mohlenhof and Messberghof buildings.

Just a stone's throw away is the Speicherstadt (photo), older than the Chilehaus and different in style, but no less outstanding. The warehouses are also built of brick, it's fun to explore the details of the façades, the small towers and gables with winches. Originally the warehouses were built for the trading of coffee, tea and spices, today they are mainly used by carpet traders, but there are also museums and other tourist attractions. You can get an impression of the interior when visiting the Speicherstadt Museum or the Spice Museum. After dark the Speicherstadt gets a …

I visited these sites in Hamburg in October 2014. They are truly unique and in my humble opinion deserve inscription as they truly possess OUV. The best way to visit the Speicherstadt is by going on a harbour cruise. The red brick wharfs and metal winches of the Speicherstadt are HUGE and are just a pleasant stroll away from the Chilehaus. The Chilehaus is a true architectural gem and just opposite is a modern glass/metal replica building. It really is reminiscent of New York not Europe! Nearby is the Chocoversum, a chocolate house and museum worth visiting not only for the information provided!

These groups of buildings in the harbour area of Hamburg are probably the most promising entry on the current German tentative list. The sites are easy to access in the south of the city, both by car and public transport.

I started my visit at the Chilehaus, a marvelous structure that lies at the heart of the Kontorhaus District. It’s a 10-story building that is shaped to fit an irregular area between two streets. Just a touch of Chicago or New York, transferred to northern Europe.

The other early 20th-century office buildings in the Kontorhaus District, such as the Sprinkenhof, are not bad either. They have really massive fronts and are made out of brick.

Speicherstadt, the other part of this TWHS, lies about 1km away. This is the former warehouse district, “the world's largest remaining warehouse complex from the late 19th and early 20th century”. I can’t think of a similar WHS, except for Liverpool which has a very different feel and architectural style though.

Goods like cacao, tea and coffee were stored and handled here in Speicherstadt. All buildings are 7 or 8 stories high, and the warehouses were fitted with lifting gear on the outside. This is still visible. Since the 1980s the area has lost its original use, and the warehouses were taken over by no less than 220 carpet shops (run by Iranians). This is still the most prominent use now, although the carpet trade seems to have slowed down also.