A construction site as a show place.

Prestigious project in the middle of the city: The port city of Hamburg is one of the largest construction projects in Europe. Even now, many tourists, in order to evaluate the progress - and the new landmark of the Hanseatic city.

 

Hamburg - It is Saturday afternoon, in the boiler house in Hamburg's warehouse district, it will be tight. This is often the case. Always clock by 15, there is the shore leave, a free guided tour of the port city, Hamburg's most beautiful building site. In the boiler house, where the electricity for the electrification of the Speicherstadt was produced, the Information Center of HafenCity GmbH - and a model of urban development project.

Thorsten Gödtel starts ashore is always there, also because the model makes good show, where the Port City is located: south of the warehouse district, just 800 meters from the Hamburg City Hall. The Michel - Hamburg's previous landmark - is from there to see, if not just too many cranes obstruct the view. Central would be difficult, especially not for a project of this size. The Port City has an extension of 3.3 kilometers and a total area of 157 hectares. "The site is 15 times as large as the Potsdamer Platz," says Gödtel. As then in Berlin-Mitte and built the site to "review body" was, as was already huge.

So far, only ten percent of the works in HafenCity implemented. The rest has yet to come - until 2025. Four years ago, the first inhabitants recovered. "1500 people live here today," says Gödtel, 190 companies have already been recovered. " A dental practice, there are already two bakeries, a kiosk. An all-day opened after the summer holidays. A basketball court is ready, the Boule at the Marco Polo Terraces is often used. A total of 5500 homes for 12,000 people will be there once, 40,000 will work there.

Site as a tourist magnet

The Port City is not just an urban development project. It also attracts thousands of tourists, not only because it is a series of new attractions such as the International Maritime Museum in the old Kaispeicher B. Hamburger come so often gone to nachzugucken, which has done: Several buildings have finally, after the very different architectural designs.

Tens of kilometers long public promenade. No building stands right on the water, always, visitors can walk between them. A pedestrian area is managed by the city to the memory of the Elbe. Hamburg's new cruise terminal will then get his place, at the berth is a hotel with 400 rooms planned.

Directly behind the boiler house is the Sandtorkai. Here is last year the port for "traditional ships' emerged. In winter, some of them moored. "In summer there are 20-30," says Gödtel. A pontoon in the middle of the harbor basin is now ready to deal with the tide rises and falls. The life on the water not only has its charms, but also risks: If the storm surge is always walks again under water. The inhabitants have nothing to fear. All buildings are on concrete pedestals flut safely constructed. Café on the ground floor are equipped with flood gates - as long as the water in front of the door, they remain closed.

The land corridor ends at one of the most unusual, and - because of the costs - most controversial projects: the Elbphilharmonie. The Kaispeicher on the future concert hall of Hamburg emerges is already gutted. "A car park and a concert hall in the body shop are done," says Torsten Gödtel. The glass construction that is still lacking.

Two more concert halls, a hotel and 40 condominiums will be in place. More than twice as high, the "Elphi", when it is finished and at the highest point 110 meters into the sky - as Hamburg's new landmark.