Speicherstadt, Warehouse district in HafenCity, Hamburg, Germany
The Speicherstadt is a connected area of brick warehouses and waterways located in Hamburg-Mitte between several canals. The buildings stand directly at the water, with bridges and narrow lanes linking the individual storage blocks together.
Construction started in the 1880s and continued for several decades to create a duty-free storage area. Later the district lost its trade function and became a protected ensemble of culture and housing.
The storage floors still carry the scent of coffee and spices that soaked into the wooden beams over decades of use. Visitors can explore several museums and workshops that show how dock workers sorted goods and merchants inspected cargo.
Walking through the area, visitors can cross many bridges and see the waterways from different angles. In the evening the lighting creates a different mood when the facades are illuminated.
Beneath the buildings lie thousands of oak pilings in the river bed that carry the weight of the brick structures and have remained stable for over a century. This construction made it possible to build directly at and over the water without the foundations giving way.
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