warehouse district

Speicherstadt (meaning "warehouse city" - warehouse city) is the largest warehouse complex in the world, covering an area of 260,000 square meters. It was built on the river Elbe from 1883 to the late 1920s on thousands of oak trees as a free economic zone in the port of Hamburg. Speicherstadt's beautiful neoclassical brick architecture makes an interesting contrast with the modern steel and glass constructions of neighboring HafenCity.

In 1888, Emperor Wilhelm II inaugurated the Speicherstadt on Emperor's Day on October 29, although only the first building was completed by then. Interrupted by World War I, construction of Speicherstadt was completed only in 1927. During World War II, Operation Gomorrha destroyed the western part of Speicherstadt, after which it was rebuilt in 1967. 1 January 2013 marked the end of an era when the Speicherstadt free economic zone, which covered almost one-fifth of the entire Hamburg port area, was dissolved.

Today, Speicherstadt hosts a wide range of recreational activities. Miniatur Wunderland, a huge model railway system, is extremely popular with all ages. The Hamburg Dungeon offers intrepid travelers a spooky ride into Hamburg history. The Deutsches Zollmuseum (German Customs Museum) tells the story of customs and smuggling, while the Museum Internationales Maritimes Hamburg offers thousands of ship models and maps for visitors to view. The Automuseum Prototyp boasts rare prototypes from 70 years of automotive history, and Kaffeerösterei is all about coffee. The former coffee warehouse turned into a coffee shop offering coffee flavors and roasted beans from around the world.

There's a lot to see beyond the old warehouses. In the long canals between the old storage buildings, visitors can catch smaller ships passing through the area. When it opened in 1866, Sandtorkai was the first modern pier in the city where ships could be unloaded directly from the dock. Today, Sandtorkai is home to the Traditionsschiffhafen (traditional ship harbour), where you'll find 20 different historic ships.

Location: Brook, 20457 Hamburg