Altstadt | |
|---|---|
 Nikolaifleet, one of a few remaining canals in Hamburg-Altstadt | |
Location of Altstadt withinHamburg-Mitte  | |
  Altstadt  Altstadt | |
| Coordinates:53°33′N10°0′E / 53.550°N 10.000°E /53.550; 10.000 | |
| Country | Germany |
| State | Hamburg |
| City | Hamburg |
| Borough | Hamburg-Mitte |
| Area | |
• Total | 1.2 km2 (0.5 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 8 m (26 ft) |
| Population (2023-12-31)[1] | |
• Total | 2,412 |
| • Density | 2,000/km2 (5,200/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| Dialling codes | 040 |
| Vehicle registration | HH |
| Website | www.hamburg.de |
UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
| Official name | Speicherstadt andKontorhaus District withChilehaus |
| Criteria | Cultural: (iv) |
| Reference | 1467 |
| Inscription | 2015 (39thSession) |
| Area | 26.08 ha (64.4 acres) |
| Buffer zone | 56.17 ha (138.8 acres) |
Altstadt (German:[ˈalt.ʃtat]ⓘ, literally: "Old town"), more preciselyHamburg-Altstadt – as not to be mistaken withHamburg-Altona-Altstadt – is one of theinner-city districts of theFree and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,Germany.
Altona_Hamburg_Harburg.png)
The area of today's Altstadt had a minorBronze Age settlement dating from the 9th or 8th century BC. AnIngaevonian settlement at this location was known by the name "Treva" – a strategic trading node onamber routes duringIron Age andLate Antiquity.
In the 8th century CE,Saxon merchants established what was to become the nucleus of Hamburg: the "Hammaburg", then arefuge fort located at today's Domplatz, the site of theformer cathedral.[2] Under Frankish rule, a baptistery was installed in 804 and Hammaburg strengthened byCharlemagne in 811. Quickly, the place grew to a sizablemarket town, declared a bishop's see in 831, an archbishop's see a year later. For the next 600 years, the history of Altstadt was equivalent to thehistory of Hamburg.
By the end of the 15th century, the then Hanseatic city-republic andfree Imperial city had accumulated various territorial possessions in its hinterland. Eventually, Hamburg's 13th-century city-walls received a couple of extensions: first in the 1530s, then again in the 1620s to include all of adjacentNeustadt.
Regarding theurban history of Altstadt, only a few structures prior to the 17th century are left: repeated damming and diverting of theAlster and its canals, theGreat Fire (1842), thebombing in World War II (1941–1945) and modern infrastructure projects (particularly during the 1880s to 1900s, 1920s and 1950s to 1970s) left Hamburg's inner-city with a mainly 19th and 20th-century built environment.
The Hammaburg, Hamburg's origin, was established on a formerheadland, between the confluences ofAlster andBille into theElbe Stream. Over the centuries Alster and Bille were impoldered and diverted several times, resulting in an ever different geography. Today, Altstadt is bordered by Alster (i.e. Alsterfleet andBinnenalster) to the West and North-West, the rail tracks ofHamburg-Altona link line andHauptbahnhof to the East, andZollkanal to the South.
Districts bordering Hamburg-Altstadt are (starting clockwise in the North-West):Neustadt,St. Georg,Hammerbrook andHafenCity.
Hamburg-Altstadt has four designatedquarters (German:Viertel, or specifically used in Hamburg:Quartier) for statistical and planning purposes, however not recognized as administrative subdivisions.
| Map | Quarter | Description |
|---|---|---|
 | Cremon Island Cremon-Insel | Historic district, in parts also mixed use; located between Binnenhafen and Nikolaifleet. |
 | Kontorhaus District Kontorhausviertel | Office district, erected in the 1920s and 1930s as the first of its kind in Europe; located between theSpeicherstadt's end atZollkanal and Steinstraße. On thetentative list as an UNESCOWorld Heritage Site.[3][4] |
| Nikolai-Quartier | Shopping and banking district nestled betweenAlsterfleet,Cremon Island andRathausmarkt.[5] Named after St. Nikolai. |
| Mönckeberg-Quartier | Shopping district spanning betweenBallindamm and Steinstraße, and reaching up toRathausmarkt. Named after centralMönckebergstraße, also includes shopping street ofSpitalerstraße. |
The single most important square in Altstadt isRathausmarkt, both by location and function. It is the starting point of Alter Wall, Reesendamm/Ballindamm,Mönckebergstraße and Große Johannisstraße/Großer Burstah, all important streets in Altstadt. Other important squares in Altstadt include Burchardplatz, Domplatz,Gerhart-Hauptmann-Platz, and Hopfenmarkt.
The eastern end of Altstadt is encircled by "Ring 1" (Glockengießerwall, Steintorwall), a 1880s-builtring road continuing intoNeustadt. Willy-Brandt-Straße is part ofBundesstraße 4, a 1960s-built thoroughfare, crossing Altstadt midway from East to West.
These are the results of Altstadt in theHamburg state election:
| Election | Greens | SPD | Left | CDU | FDP | AfD | Others |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 30,5 % | 29,1 % | 9,9 % | 9,6 % | 7,9 % | 4,9 % | 8,2 % |
| 2015 | 13,6 % | 39,1 % | 15,6 % | 10,7 % | 8,9 % | 6,8 % | 5,3 % |
| 2011 | 15,2 % | 49,2 % | 8,0 % | 17,0 % | 4,1 % | – | 6,3 % |
| 2008 | 12,9 % | 33,4 % | 6,8 % | 39,7 % | 5,2 % | – | 2,0 % |
| 2004 | 17,3 % | 31,4 % | – | 39,1 % | 3,2 % | – | 9,0 % |
| 2001 | 14,4 % | 35,6 % | 0,5 % | 22,5 % | 5,4 % | – | 21,6 % |
| 1997 | 20,2 % | 36,6 % | 0,5 % | 22,7 % | 3,5 % | – | 16,5 % |
| 1993 | 19,8 % | 43,3 % | – | 17,3 % | 3,4 % | – | 16,2 % |
Major landmarks in Altstadt are three of Hamburg's fivemain-churches (Hauptkirchen):St. Jacobi,St. Katharinen andSt. Petri; the formerSt. Nikolai today serves as a memorial against war.
TheHamburg Rathaus is an imposingRenaissance Revival structure, housing Hamburg'sSenate andParliament (Bürgerschaft). Forming a joint building ensemble back-to-back with theHamburg Chamber of Commerce, it was built after the Great Fire of 1842.
Other landmarks include various buildings in theKontorhaus District (most notablyChilehaus, Pressehaus andSprinkenhof), and theKunsthalle.
Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg | |
| Government and symbols | |
| History andculture | |
| Economy andtransport | |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
