By Porter Lang
Look at the foundations first. The whole district stands on timber.
The clearance
Wikipedia says more than 20,000 people had to be relocated to build the Speicherstadt. HHLA, the port company, which has promotional interests, says construction began in 1883 after 1,000 houses and over 20,000 inhabitants were cleared from the Kehrwieder and Wandrahm quarters. Deutschland.de, a German government-backed portal, says it was built on the former Elbe islands of Kehrwieder and Wandrahm.
HHLA says the free port was inaugurated on 29 October 1888, with a ceremonial visit from Kaiser Wilhelm II. Wikipedia gives the free port designation as 1888 and the opening as 1888 too.
Building it
The dates differ by source. UNESCO gives a construction period of 1885 to 1927. Wikipedia says 1883 to 1927. HHLA gives three phases: 1885 to 1889 for the first 60 per cent of warehouse blocks, A to O; 1891 to 1897 for blocks P, Q and R; and 1899 to 1927 for blocks S to X, a phase interrupted by the First World War and inflation. HHLA says the complex stood at 24 warehouse units with around 300,000 square metres in 1927. UNESCO says 15 very large warehouse blocks, six ancillary buildings and a network of short canals, at 300,000 square metres. We show the counts as the sources give them.
The district measures 1,500 by 250 metres, with 26 hectares in all and 630,000 square metres of floor space, by Wikipedia’s count. Deutschland.de gives over 500,000 square metres of storage and office space and calls it the largest contiguous warehouse complex in the world. UNESCO’s own figures are 26.08 hectares with a buffer zone of 56.17 hectares. The floor-space numbers conflict: 300,000 (UNESCO and HHLA) against 630,000 (Wikipedia) against over 500,000 (Deutschland.de). We cannot say which counts what.
The piles
Wikipedia says the buildings rest on oak logs in timber-pile foundations and are faced in red brick in a Neo-Gothic design. Deutschland.de says the foundation is completely on oak piles. HHLA says that after the Second World War, blocks were restored with reused timber foundation piles. It says blocks A, B, C and J were largely not rebuilt. Wikipedia says about half the buildings were destroyed and that rebuilding was completed in 1967. HHLA says over 50 per cent were destroyed in air raids in 1943 and 1944.
What was stored
HHLA names tea, coffee, spices and oriental carpets as the main goods, with carpets dominant by the 1980s. Wikipedia says that as of 2005 the warehouses held one third of the world’s oriental rug production, plus cocoa, coffee, tea, spices, maritime equipment and electronics. Deutschland.de says goods were not only stored but cleaned, refined and processed on site.
The Speicherstadtmuseum, in Block L, which dates from 1888, was founded as a museum in 1995. The European Route of Industrial Heritage listing says it displays goods, tools and equipment from trades in the warehouses, including rubber, cocoa, tea, spices, carpets and, in particular, coffee. We have not checked the museum’s hours or exhibits today.
The office district
UNESCO lists the Speicherstadt together with the Kontorhaus District and the Chilehaus, inscribed in 2015 under criterion (iv) as examples of late 19th and early 20th century international trade architecture. The Kontorhaus District dates from the 1920s to the 1950s and has eight major complexes. Wikipedia says the Chilehaus was designed by Fritz Höger for the shipping magnate Henry B. Sloman, who made his fortune in the saltpetre trade with Chile. It was built between 1922 and 1924, is ten storeys high, and uses 4.8 million dark Oldenburg bricks on 16-metre-deep reinforced concrete pilings. The article describes a top reminiscent of a ship’s prow.
After the free port
HHLA says that in 1991, 3.3 hectares were privatised and the rest was designated a historic monument. It says the Speicherstadt lost its free port status on 1 January 2003, and that in 2008 the fashion industry became a major tenant, with about 30,000 square metres. Wikipedia lists the International Maritime Museum, the German Customs Museum and Miniatur Wunderland among the attractions. Deutschland.de says 800 floodlights light the district at dusk and that evening canal tours run on historic barges. We have not checked any of this today.
Who designed it
Wikipedia names the architect as Carl Johann Christian Zimmermann and the engineer as Franz Andreas Meyer. It says the district was listed as a heritage monument in 1991. ERIH, the European Route of Industrial Heritage, says the complex extends 1.5 kilometres and is built in Gothic red brick with decorative glazed terracotta figures. Deutschland.de says the warehouses are six to seven storeys tall.
The Chilehaus sits on about 6,000 square metres, according to Wikipedia. It names the sculptor of its decorative elements as Richard Kuöhl, and says a floating caisson was built to carry the heating equipment, as protection against flooding from the Elbe. ERIH says visitors can tour the district by tour bus or canal boat. We have not checked what runs now.
What it means for a visit
Our reading is that this is a place to see how a trade city built for goods. The warehouses are large because the point was storage and handling, though the sources also describe Gothic brick and terracotta figures. If you go, look at the brick and the water: both tell you how the building works. Please check current opening times, tours and any restrictions before you plan.
Where sources disagree, we have shown each number with its source. The most important differences are the start date (1883 or 1885) and the floor space.
Roam first. Shop later.