Fleetschlösschen, Cultural heritage monument in HafenCity, Germany
Fleetschlösschen is a red brick building with a grey slate roof, standing on stone pillars above a stone embankment at Brooktorkai/St. Annen Bridge. Its front facade has four arched windows with white frames on the upper level and two pointed arches on the lower level, supported by two thick grey columns with green capitals. Above the windows, metal letters spell "FLEETSCHLÖSSCHEN"; the roof has two small dormers and two brick chimneys, and an arched doorway sits on the right side.
The Fleetschlösschen was built at the end of the 19th century as the second building of the Speicherstadt complex, in the neo-Gothic style typical of the ensemble, directly on the Fleet. It first served the customs authority as an office for checking barges and registering goods carried from large sailing ships to the merchants' warehouse floors. When most of the harbour moved to the south bank of the Elbe, the Hamburg fire brigade used it as a fire watch, and it later became a public toilet and then a coffee stall for dock workers.
The name Fleetschlösschen, "little fleet castle", comes from its position directly on the Fleet. The brick building is in the neo-Gothic style of the Speicherstadt, not neoclassical. It has served as a café and pub since 2004, when the free-port boundary moved and civilian use became possible; before that it was a customs post, fire watch, toilet building and coffee stall for dock workers.
The building sits at the corner of Brooktorkai and the St. Annen Bridge, with its three pillars rising straight from the Fleet, so it is reached on foot from both banks. Since 2004 it has operated as a café and pub; the premises were renovated in 2017 and reopened in early 2018 as a Daniel Wischer branch.
The structure houses a historical clock rescued from demolition at the former Department of River and Port Construction building. This clock displays the time daily and thus connects the history of old Hamburg with life today.
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