The harbor of Hamburg

Nobody comes to Hamburg for sun-drenched beaches or umbrella cocktails. Hamburg is a working city, a place with callouses on its hands and diesel in its veins. And the harbor is the beating clanking heart of it all.

I walk through the district of Speicherstadt, once more buzzing with people and cranes. The historical port area of Hamburg is on the rise these days. These buildings aren’t quaint, they’re survivors. Stubborn relics from a time when trade was dangerous, dirty and done by men who didn’t ask many questions.

The old warehouses are divided by canals.

The docks of the Elbe are still alive. The cranes loom like mechanical dinosaurs. The slow churn of container ships are still rolling in from distant, salt-stained corners of the earth. But even here, gentrification has hit hard.

HafenCity is a development project which aims to enlarge the city center. The old warehouses of the industrial harbor are being replaced by modern housing and open spaces. for In only five years time, 12 000 residents are expected to live among the canals.

Elbphilharmonie, the new poster boy in the harbor.

Towering over it all is the glittering Elbphilharmonie, inaugurated in 2017. It looks like someone has put a diamond crown on top of a bad tooth.

Concrete and grit are slowly giving way to spotless espresso popups. Tourists with selfie sticks have taken over the docks where once salt-bitten sailors were sipping cheap beer. I wonder what this area will look like in ten years.