Speicherstadt & Kontorhaus District
Speicherstadt und Kontorhausviertel
The world's largest warehouse complex, with red-brick Gothic warehouses reflected in the canals; together with Chilehaus, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Speicherstadt was built between 1883 and 1927 as the warehouse district of the Hamburg Free Port. Rows of neo-Gothic red-brick warehouses stand on oak piles, linked by canals and iron bridges. They once stored coffee, tea, spices and Oriental carpets. In 2015 it was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site together with the Kontorhaus District to the north, whose 1920s brick Expressionist office buildings are led by the ship-prow-shaped Chilehaus. The best photo spot is Poggenmühlen Bridge, near the Wasserschloss, and the warehouse façades are beautifully lit after dark. Inside the warehouses are now mostly museums, coffee roasteries and exhibitions, such as the German Customs Museum, the Spice Museum and the Hamburg Dungeon. You can ride a small flat-bottomed boat along the canals, though only at high tide. It is an easy walk, and combining it with Miniatur Wunderland and the Elbphilharmonie makes a good half-day outing.
Opening hours
Neighborhood open all day
Nearby sights
- HafenCity
- Hamburg Dungeon
- Miniatur Wunderland
- St. Nikolai Memorial
- Hamburg Rathaus
- International Maritime Museum
- Elbphilharmonie
- St. Petri Church