Hamburg`s HafenCity, an urban development project known throughout Europe, is a real highlight of the city. The late Henning Voscherau, former First Mayor of Hamburg, is considered one of its main initiators and a forecourt at the HafenCity University (HCU) is named after this major personality of local politics. His professional experience as a notary public ensured that he was also very familiar with the Hanseatic property market.
Apart from the mega project by Uniball-Rodamco-Westfield still under construction in the Überseequartier, the HafenCity to the west of the HCU is now an almost fully developed city district. Together with the World Heritage Site status of Speicherstadt, it represents a major tourist magnet.
But a foray into the district east of the HCU is still a bit more of an adventure . Here, the overall urban vibe is of freshly occupied residential blocks, construction sites and undeveloped plots. But the world in the former Baakenhafen is changing almost daily. At least every week a new storey is added on many Construction sites. Supermarkets Edeka and Aldi seemed to spring up like mushrooms practically overnight and are now tenants on the still evolving Baakenallee. Close by, a rather exclusive fitness club has appeared. The playgrounds and sport fields already established some time ago on the man-made "Mount Baakenhafen" are considered some of the most attractive in the city. To the east, the crowning glory of the former docks will be the already well advanced development, "The Edge". The final keystone of the district is the futuristic station junction Elbbrücken, a particularly impressive glittering backdrop during the hours of darkness. But wait - of course that`s not quite right. Just beside the eastern entrance to the station, designed by Gerkan Marg, work has been underway for over a year now on the foundations for the Elbtower. Even on Instagram, this 245 metre-high skyscrapper is being excited marketed. After all, the third highest building in Germany will soon be built here - the counterpart to the Elbphilharmonie.
Very few tourists - or local for that matter - continue on from the station over the Freihafenelbbrücke to Veddel. To the west of the southern end of the bridge, the former warehouse have been flattened. Here, too, the ground level is being raised by earth deposits to futureproof the area against sea level rises and storm tides. Over the next few years, this is to become the new city district of Grasbrook. To the south-east, across the train tracks, a district dominated by brick tower blocks defines the skyscape. The district of Veddel was established at the end of the 1920s in line with the plans prepared by senior planning director Fritz Schumacher. Passing through this district is like entering another world. It has been many years since the remaining bank branch, the Hamburger Sparkasse, closed its doors here. The only supermarket serving the residents, still almost five thousand people according to official records, is the Discounter Penny, and that was closed for a while due to fire damage. As a temporary solution, expensive kiosks and convenience stores took over providing for the mainly immigrant local residents. Veddel is an island, the district seems cut off, somewhat bleak and colourless. Hopefully the Grasbrook designers have planned for the upgrading and improved urban integration of Veddel.
But there are also bright spots. Just a hundred metres from Veddel station, in the former emigration halls of shipping giant HAPAG, is a museum ensemble that is well worth a visit. And for those eager for even more adventure, from here you can take a one kilometre walk to the Energieberg covered wind turbines. Once a gigantic mountain of rubbish, it has now been through an apparently fairly successful rewilding process. Recently a sort of skywalk was established on the mount. Several hundred metres long. Great views of this city of contrasts. Sadly, the view is obscured by a non-transparent parapet for young children. But maybe someone has an innovative idea to improve this? At the bottom of the mount is the huge factory premises of Aurubis. Their core business is copper refining. An economic heavyweight with high energy needs. What does the future hold?
mow