Once upon a time, Europe’s second largest port (and ninth in the world) was few people’s idea of cool. But these days, in addition to a commercial powerhouse it’s also become something of a draw for visitors, who can take boat tours from the St. Pauli Landungsbrücken (St. Pauli Piers), reachable via Hamburg’s Underground (U-Bahn).
And one of the city’s most popular attractions is now the Fischmarkt (Grosse Elbstrasse 9), a street market adjacent to the port where every Sunday from 5 to 9:30 AM (from 7 AM in winter) where in addition to fishmongers calling out their wares you can find locals shopping for flowers, produce, clothing, and more, as well as taking in some live pop and rock music.
What’s more, in the last decade or so, the Speicherstadt, an old zone of red-brick warehouses on a pair of islands in the Elbe, has been undergoing massive redevelopment (due to continue for another few years yet). Despite a few recent bumps due to the European economic crisis, it’s been transformed into HafenCity, more than two square kilometres (495 acres) of shops, hotels (such as the acclaimed 25Hours Hotel), restaurants, art galleries, and nightspots, as well as flats and offices both private and government (the district is also served by a new U-Bahn line).
Some of the architecture you’ll find here is among Europe’s most innovative (and like any of this type, occasionally not without controversy). Exhibit A is the home of the Elbe Philharmonic Hall (pictured here), an interesting project designed by the firm of Herzog & de Meuron, and likely to finally wind up in 2016 or 2017 after years of delay and cost overruns.
Read more in our post Happening Hamburg: Hafen City and Sankt Pauli.
Comments