Old Port Authority Hamburg

The main electricity and harbor construction building from 1886 at Dalmannstrasse 1

The old port office in Hamburg was the seat of the office for “electricity and port construction” in the former Dalmannstraße 1 until 2005. The building has been a listed building since 2001 and is now the hotel “old port office” in the newly created Überseequartier of HafenCity .

history

Main entrance of the listed building, Dalmannstrasse 1

The building at Dalmannstrasse 1 was erected in 1885/1886 on Grasbrook in the emerging free port for Section II of the building deputation as the seat of the electricity and port construction department. The neo-Gothic building with its dark red brick and the ornamentation of pointed arch depressions, wall reliefs and green colored terracotta bricks is still impressive today. In the years up to 1937, further extensions and buildings were gradually built around the building, which were connected to one another on the upper floor with closed bridges, some of them across streets. Most recently, in 1992/1993, a modern extension was built north of the old buildings at Dalmannstrasse 2 (architects Dinse, Feest and Zurl).

Dalmannstrasse was named after the Hamburg hydraulic engineering director Johannes Dalmann (1823 - 1875), during whose tenure the modern port system with the Tiedenhafen was developed.

Old usage

The building complex was used from 1886 to 2005 as the head office of the “Office for Electricity and Harbor Construction” . The Office for Electricity and Port Construction , which is part of the Hamburg Economic Authority , was merged with other port authorities to form the Hamburg Port Authority (HPA) and in 2006 moved into Speicher P in the Speicherstadt . The buildings have been empty since that time.

The new beginning

The building in front of the adjustment of the terrain, old main entrance. The rain pipes in front of the facade are on the new site level.

The building, terrain adapted, facade facing the market square

For the construction of the Überseequartier, all buildings in the area were demolished between 2006 and 2008. Including the water police at Sandtorkai and all other buildings on the former Dalmannstrasse except for the listed building. Built in 1885/86, the "Old Port Authority" is one of the oldest buildings in HafenCity. And it is one of the deepest: the new buildings are being built on terps, piled areas for flood protection at a height of eight to nine meters above sea level . The brick Wilhelminian style building, on the other hand, is at a height of 5.3 m and seems to sink into the ground. In order to keep the proportions of the facade visible, the terrain had to be specially modeled. The construction of the underground car park under the port authority and the Überseeboulevard had cracked the brickwork. The security measures began in August 2013. The foundations had to be stabilized using the high pressure injection process.

For the safety of the building in the event of storm surges, which most recently reached and exceeded the 6 m mark, numerous proofs of safety had to be provided in terms of water technology. Not least because the Elbe with the Magdeburg harbor is not quite 30 m away.

New use

The name "Old Port Authority" only came up with the plans for its conversion. Initially, it was planned to be used as a market hall. Due to disagreement among investors and the monument protection requirements, which prevented the historic building from being cored, it was sold to a private consortium of hotel developers. Since mid-2016, the building has housed the “25 hours Altes Hafenamt” hotel along with a restaurant, bar and fitness center. The original architecture was also retained inside and adapted to the new requirements.

Imagery

past

Detail from the Grasbrook real estate cadastre around 1920 with the buildings.
Aerial view of Grasbrook, around 1930. The port authority building is marked in color.
The listed building part of the “Office for Electricity and Harbor Construction” seen from the north-west.
Western (largest) extension from 1910 at Dalmannstrasse 3 with a connecting bridge on the upper floor.

present

View over the Magdeburg harbor from Kaispeicher B, in the center of the picture the “Altes Hafenamt” building.
"Old Port Authority" Osaka-Allee 12, view over Osaka-Allee to the south.
"Altes Hafenamt", inner courtyard on the old site level
"Altes Hafenamt", side entrance on the market. The house number is still from Dalmannstrasse.