History      Join us for a trip to the past.

Odour Control

Back in the 18th century Neustadt was not exactly a sought-after neighbourhood, not least because of the intense odours emanating from numerous workshops and factories. (more…)

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Space for Poets and Researchers

Apart from the spirit of trade, Hamburg has traditionally embodied a spirit of free thinking which has attracted poets and thinkers through the ages. In addition, many sons and daughters of Hamburg have had a major influence on subsequent generations. The celebrated poet Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock lived here. The adventurer Friedrich Gerstäcker and the physicist Gustav Ludwig Hertz spent their childhood years in the Passagenviertel. (more…)

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Feinkost Michelsen

Opened more than two centuries ago, L.W.C. Michelsen is Hamburg’s oldest delicatessen. Initially selling both basic and luxury foods, the firm later also operated a restaurant and contributed to the city’s rich gastronomic offerings for many decades. Today its speciality foods can be bought both in selected delicatessen stores and over the Internet. (more…)

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From Horse Buses to Electric Trams

As of the middle of the 19th century, horse-drawn buses and trams helped manage the steadily growing volume of urban traffic. The electric tram phased in from 1894 connected the Rathausmarkt, Poststrasse/Königstrasse and Gänsemarkt stops until 1978. Today no public transport runs along this route and the only way to get from Rathausmarkt to Poststrasse is on foot. (more…)

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Clean Sweep

From the 19th century a sewage system designed by William Lindley brought cleanliness and hygiene to the district. (more…)

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Elegance and Avant-Garde

»Sillem’s Bazar« was the name of an arcade located at the corner of Grosse Bleichen and Jungfernstieg from 1843 to 1881. Comprising a hotel and a shopping passage, it was modelled on similar arcades in such major European cities as Paris and London. As such, Sillem’s Bazar was the first major shopping passage built in 19th century Germany. (more…)

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Telegraph Technology

Up until 1866, Germany was served by an increasingly confusing array of postal services operating side by side. In Hamburg, early attempts were made to pool their service facilities in a single place and to streamline the overall system. A new postal building constructed by architect Alexis de Chateauneuf between 1845 and 1847 was distinguished by Tuscan arches and elements in late northern gothic style. An optical needle telegraph, considered a modern communications technology in its time, was installed in the tower. (more…)

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Dining & Dancing

In the early years of the 20th century, the Trocadero was arguably the most exquisite restaurant and night club in all of Hamburg. Its dome ceiling was as spectacular as its entertainment programme. The discreet access through a street-facing bookstore building chimed with the Hamburg mentality, which prefers classy understatement and eschews overt flamboyancy. (more…)

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Kaisergalerie – majestic not only in name

The Kaisergalerie sits on the site of the former Jenisch-Palais, where the Hamburg government hosted a dinner for emperor Wilhelm I in 1881. His imperial highness was accompanied by numerous princes and members of the nobility. In 1907 this prestigious house was replaced by the no less splendid complex occupying the site to this day. The historic occasion of the imperial visit lives on in the word »Kaiser« (»emperor«) in the »Kaisergalerie« name. (more…)

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Historic Office Building

Hamburg has traditionally embraced modernity and has undergone numerous phases of new construction and reconstruction. Following the Great Fire of 1842, a new architectural style known as »post-fire architecture« was adopted, combining the modern historicist round arches with a classicist vocabulary of forms. Downtown architecture in those days was dominated by the typical Hamburg “Kontorhaus”. Many of these characteristic office buildings have survived to this day. (more…)

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Powering Up

Electricity, the sign of the modern age, brought about radical changes in 20th-century day-to-day life. (more…)

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»Twee Kisten Rum«

The Richard-Ohnsorg-Theater was domiciled in the Kaisergalerie for 75 years. This popular local institution performed plays in northern German dialect in this small venue. (more…)

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Law Office of Dr. Herbert Ruscheweyh

The Australhaus building of 1904 housed the law offices of lawyer and Social Democratic politician Dr. Herbert Ruscheweyh, a declared opponent of the National Socialists, who served as chairman of the Hamburg parliament until 1933. He defended numerous victims of political persecution. (more…)

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Hello America

Around 1900 the Neustadt district was a melting pot of innovations and home to a wide variety of lifestyles. Foreign consulates, import and export firms, government agencies as well as commercial baths operated side by side. The Trocaderohaus, Schümanns Austernkeller and other dance halls appealed to a bourgeois clientele, who, in turn, made the area attractive to exclusive clubs and associations such as the German American Club of Hamburg. (more…)

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Technically Advanced Office Building

The 1909 refurbishment by architects Leon Frejtag and Hermann Wurzbach turned »Streit’s Kontorhaus« (today known as Streit’s Hof) into a technically advanced office building. The marble staircases were complemented by a paternoster as well as an electrically powered passenger and freight elevator with push button controls. The entire building was fitted with modern lighting and all rooms were connected to a central hot water heating system, with tenants benefiting from decentralised heating controls in all offices. (more…)

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The Jewel among Hamburg’s Shopping Passages

When architects Meinhard von Gerkan and Volkwin Marg set out to create a completely new shopping mall in the late 1970s, they took the inspiration for their design from the Hanseatic League, the late-medieval alliance of Northern European merchant guilds. It did not take long for the Hanseviertel shopping gallery to be referred to as the »jewel of Hamburg’s shopping passages«. (more…)

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Urban Oases

Today’s shopping passages present themselves as small oases for the senses creating moments of bliss and catering to exclusive needs. (more…)

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