Port of Hamburg Live Cam

Like a lighthouse, the imposing, bronze-clad hotel tower rises in the middle of the circle between the Reeperbahn, the harbor and the Speicherstadt and elegantly fits into the city skyline above the Elblauf.

The construction of the Empire Riverside Hotel on the “Bavaria” area has been finished. But the history of this piece of land began much earlier. The engineer for fortress planning designed Hamburg in the years from 1615 – 1625 as it is still found today. A certain piece of land, the now called “Bavaria”-area was originally not allowed to be covered with buildings as it should serve as “Glacis”, a battlefield in case of war. Later the area was used to cultivate vegetables.

In the following years the area was let to travelling circuses and fun fairs by the city. In 1863 the area was let to a holding, initially only for a limited period of time. Anyhow, the “Actien-Brauerei” situated in the Taubenstraße No. 1 used it for 140 years. After the contract had been extended for another 30 years in 1901, the area was eventually sold to the leaseholder in order to fill up the empty treasury.

Already in early days the brewhouse, founded on January, 1st 1863 became one of the large breweries supplying northern Germany far beyond the city of Hamburg. In May 1922 the “Actien-Brauerei” (St. Pauli) and the “Bavaria-Brauerei” merged to the “Bavaria- und St. Pauli-Brauerei, which in 1979 was renamed to “Bavaria St. Pauli”.

With the settlement of the brewery in St. Pauli residential houses and schoolhouses were built in the Taubenstraße. In short these houses in the neighbourhood became part of the brewery. The area now ranged from the red light district in the north to the residential areas in the west and the harbour district in the south. In 1936 a new brewhouse was constructed in the Bernhard-Nocht-Straße, formerly known as Bernhardstraße. In the silo-building on the corner Davidstraße / Bernhard-Nocht-Straße the top floor became home to the restaurant “Bavaria Blick”.

While the headquarters were situated in a high building well to be seen in the city skyline the other buildings belonging to the brewery were low and built densely making the total area quite shapeless. In the following years the brewery expanded further east even displacing the street Zirkusweg.

In May 2001 a group of investors around Wilhelm Bartels purchased the “Bavaria-Area”. The planning of Hamburg’s new “Hafenkrone” (“crown of the harbour”) could begin with a total investment capital of 350 million €. After 2002 no beer was brewed anymore and the “Bavaria-Brauerei” finally closed in 2003. The area was separated into 6 fields. Unlike before the area will now by means of new streets connect the Reeperbahn and the landing stages.

The western part of the “Hafenkrone” consists of the Empire Riverside Hotel and the “Brauhaus”. The hotel, in which 65 Million € were invested is 90 m high and has 328 guest rooms, banquet facilities, 2 restaurants and 2 bars. After the placing of the foundation stone on November, 22nd 2005 and the topping-out ceremony on April, 17th 2007 the EMPIRE RIVERSIDE HOTEL – Hamburg’s New Exclusiveness – has moving on to opening in November 2007. Directly behind the hotel the “Brauhaus” will be home to offices on 4000 sqm and restaurants on 900 sqm.

The other construction fields of the new “Hafenkrone”

Field #2 - Next to the hotel the “Holland Haus” is being constructed offering 4000 sqm space for offices. The 6 to 9 floor high building also features a roof terrace. The building owner is the Quantum Immobilien AG and it was designed by the architects Doll from the Netherlands.

Field #3 - A little further east the “Brau-Quartier” built by the Hansa building cooperative can be found. 24 million € were invested in this part of the “Hafenkrone” in order to create 120 apartments with a total of 12000 sqm residential area. The 5 to 8 floor high buildings were designed by Steidle und Partner from Munich. The 2 to 4-room-flats sized 63 – 130 sqm are rented out by the Hansa building cooperative.

Field #4 - The HSH Nordbank placed an order with Potsdam architects Acthen und Finken to construct the “Bavaria”-office. The 4 to 8 floor high buildings will host offices on 9000 sqm as well as a supermarket, a bakery and a pharmacy on 15000 sqm.

The Bergedorf-Bille building cooperative let the Hamburg architects Jan Strömer and Jörg Friedrich design 5 to 7 floor high buildings with 130 apartments. The total area of 11900 sqm is divided into units of 43 – 115 sqm and 4 commercial areas. The project “Wohnen in der Hopfenstraße” has a capital investment volume of 35 million €.

Field #5 - The eastern end of the “Hafenkrone” is represented by the “Atlantic-Haus” with its 8 floor high buildings as well as the 21 floor high tower building. The Quantum Immobilien AG and the HSH Nordbank Real Estate invested 100 million € in the building complex which was designed by the architects Zog & Partner. The 34000 sqm of offices are amongst others used by advertising agencies. The top floor with two terraces is let to the event agency Nord Event.

Field #6 - The centre of the “Hafenkrone” is the Astra-Turm designed by Frankfurt architects Engel und Zimmermann. Designer Tobias Grau arranged 13000 sqm of area on 18 flors for offices. The DWI Grundbesitz GmbH invested 45 million € in the 60 m high tower.

Arriving on the A 7: Then follow Behringstraße, Barnerstraße and Julius-Leber-Straße, at the end of Julius-Leber-Straße turn right into the Max-Brauer-Allee. Remain on Max-Brauer-Allee until you reach Ottenser Marktplatz. Then turn left into Königsstraße. This leads you directly onto the Reeperbahn. Turn right into the „Davidstraße“ at the first junction. After approximately 250 m you will see the Empire on the left hand side. Turn left behind the hotel into Bernhard-Nocht-Straße, where you will find the entrance to our garage on the left.