| HafenCity
reveals new museums and attractions
Hamburg’s
new HafenCity waterfront complex reveals more each month as the
transformation continues. It now boasts new museums and attractions
as well as bars, restaurants, parks and gardens linked to Hamburg’s
city centre.
Kultur Compagnie,
one of the preserved old buildings on the waterfront, has been
transformed into the Prototyp car museum. Here car enthusiasts
can see Hamburg’s very own Chrome Jewels - a collection
of classic racing and sports Porsches - and a live workshop where
old wrecks are lovingly restored.
Kaispeicher
B is another old building offering a new experience to visitors.
It took three years to restore and convert into the International
Maritime Museum of Hamburg - leaving the building’s distinctive
architecture untouched.
Each of the
museum’s ten floors has a theme. Floor 6 is dedicated to
the exciting history and exploration of the deep sea whereas floor
8 illustrates the development of marine paintings from the 16th
century to the present day.
The Institute
of Navigation and Marine History, with its extensive library and
archive, is also accommodated in Kaispeicher B and its adjacent
building.
Exhibits from
Prof. Peter Tamm’s private collection, mainly ship models,
design plans of vessels and a multitude of nautical instruments,
paintings and drawings are on display.
Some 3,000
years of maritime history will be on display through an evocative
collection of 26,000 model ships, more than 2,000 films, 1.5m
photographs, 120,000 books, 5,000 paintings and drawings and 40,000
ship design plans.
There is a
fascinating tableaux of nautical uniforms and equipment from down
the centuries. Kaispeicher B houses a museum shop and a café
for visitors to browse through and enjoy.
The shop and
café has on the one side the museum bridge, a new pedestrian
crossing that leads to the Brooktorhafen harbour, and on the other
side the museum’s entrance piazza and the Magdeburger Hafen
harbour promenade.
The Traditional
Ship Harbour is another of HafenCity’s new developments
which opened during the autumn of last year.
This area of development consists of spacious waterfront promenades
and curved pontoon walkways - twelve meters wide – stretching
over 340 m through the historic Sandtorhafen harbour basin. These
walkways – covering an area of 5,600 m2 – rise and
fall with the tides and offer unrestricted access to the water
24 hours a day and linked to dry land by historic bridges. Two
pavilions accommodate the harbour master’s office and public
restrooms. A further eight pavilions will soon be complete, for
cafés, kiosks and restaurants.
The Traditional
Ship Harbour acts as a counterpart to the Magellan Terraces and
the soon-to-be-completed Sandtorpark, creating an architectural
triad. The harbour operator is the Hamburg Maritime Foundation,
which also maintains some of the permanently moored exhibits:
around 20 lavishly restored and fully seaworthy sailing ships
and steamers are on show, and there will be scheduled trips with
historic vessels from the Traditional Ship Harbour.
HafenCity
Terminal at the Ueberseequartier: the pearl of the HafenCity
The HafenCity Terminal will combine cruise and hotel
facilities under one roof. Its spectacular architectural design
in the form of a wave, by Italian architect Massimiliano Fuksas,
reflects the building’s prominent position along the banks
of the River Elbe.
The cruise
terminal takes up the two lower floors of the building facing
the river. To the north is a bus terminal and there is an underground
car park.
Start
of Construction: September 2007
End of Construction: 2011/2012
Gross Floor Space: 3,000 m2 on two floors
Parking Space: Underground garage (two floors,
7.200m2); Bus parking space (3.000m2); Taxi row
Berths: Two berths (each 250m, back-to-back).
This facility will be able to handle QM2 and Freedom of the Seas
Transport: Bus stop and subway connection (U4)
Altona
berth expansion begins
The expansion of the berth in Altona, designated for the use of
cruise vessels with a length over 300m, has started. It is anticipated
that the terminal for handling ships will be completed at the
end of the year although ships will be able to berth towards the
end of this summer. For the berth development, the alignment of
the terminal infrastructures, the development of the surrounding
area including access roads, parking spaces and public areas,
the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg is contributing an investment
of around 30 million Euros.
AIDA
Cruises kick off the season
It is anticipated that there will be six maiden calls this season
to the Hamburg Cruise Center. On 18 March the newly constructed
AIDAluna, the new ship from AIDA Cruises, will begin
the season. The cruise company has also selected Hamburg to be
the home port for two of its cruise vessels: AIDAcara
and AIDAaura. |
