St. Pauli Elbe Tunnel

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Scheme drawing of the old Elbe tunnel
Old Elbe Tunnel, 2013 (aerial photo)
One of the two tunnel tubes

The St. Pauli Elbe Tunnel opened in 1911 - in contrast to the New Elbe Tunnel , which has existed since 1975, also called the Old Elbe Tunnel - crosses under the North Elbe over a length of 426.5 meters and connects the northern edge of the harbor at the St. Pauli Landungsbrücken with two tunnel tubes ( north entrance ) with the Elbe island Steinwerder ( south entrance ). It is used as a public transport route by pedestrians and cyclists as well as, to a limited extent, by motor vehicles. It was considered a technical sensation when it opened, has been a listed building since 2003 and was awarded the title of Historic Landmark of Civil Engineering in Germany by the Federal Chamber of Engineers and the Hamburg Chamber of Engineers on September 7, 2011 . The plaque of honor was placed at the northern entrance (St. Pauli).

Building history and architecture

planning

North entrance of the old Elbe tunnel (left) with landing stages (right) in 2000
The south entrance in the opening year 1911. The building was damaged in the air raids on Hamburg and rebuilt with a flat roof.
Elevator for vehicles
View from the bottom of the tunnel to the north dome and cars
Transition between the access structure and the tunnel tubes on Steinwerder
Majolica relief with fish in the Museum of Hamburg History
The new majolica relief with fish in the old Elbe tunnel

In order to get the increasing traffic flows on the Norderelbe under control, a permanent technical solution for crossing the Elbe was considered since the end of the 19th century. The background to this was the enormous growth of the Port of Hamburg and its associated relocation to the side of the Elbe opposite the city. It was hoped that this would result in less obstruction to shipping by crossing port ferries and an improved connection to the large shipyards on Steinwerder , such as Blohm & Voss , AG Vulcan and the Reiherstieg shipyard, as well as the transshipment points of the newly created harbor basins in the area of ​​the free port . The HADAG ferry lines, which have existed since 1888, could not cope with the flow of workers during shift changes. A total of 20,000 shipyard workers and 25,000 dock workers were employed in the Port of Hamburg in 1895. In addition, many could not afford the ferries financially or the operation was due to the weather, e.g. B. in winter with snow and ice, was restricted.

The technical solutions were initially also a movable bridge or a transporter bridge in the discussion. Both solutions would have hindered shipping traffic and were therefore rejected again. A similarly investigated solution using a high bridge would have had a clearance height of 55 meters and would have been very expensive as a result. Since English and American models already existed at that time that demonstrated the basic technical feasibility of a river crossing, a tunnel was also included in the considerations. Finally, a decision was made in 1901, and building officer Ludwig Wendemuth (born August 8, 1860 in Kassel, † September 22, 1929 in Hamburg) designed an Elbe tunnel. The tube was designed with a width of 4.7  m and a minimum height of 4.7 m as well for a central lane 1.82 m wide (which corresponded to the gauge of the horse-drawn vehicles at that time) and two raised footpaths of 1.44 m wide both sides. This meant that pedestrian traffic could run undisturbed in both directions; the only lane should have been used alternately.

In 1904, the Senate's proposal for the tunnel construction resulted in two parallel tubes, each 4.8 m in diameter. The draft was presented to the Hamburg citizenship on May 11th, 1904, discussed with numerous details and economic considerations and referred to a committee.

construction

In the construction, which began in 1907 under the direction of Otto Stockhausen , the compressed air process was used in order to prevent the ingress of water by means of the overpressure generated in this way. Due to the different soil conditions, two different construction methods had to be used. The vertical excavation on the Steinwerder side was carried out with the help of an iron caisson . A ring was excavated on the St. Pauli side and filled with concrete. Then the core was excavated and the shaft completed. The two horizontal tunnels were built using the shield driving method ; they run with a bottom depth of 24 meters from the St. Pauli Landungsbrücken to Steinwerder on the southern bank of the North Elbe. The upper edge of the six-meter-high tubes is twelve meters below the height of the mean high water level at that time. A three-meter-thick layer of silt lay between the tunnel and the river bed.

During construction under overpressure, three workers were killed by caisson disease , and two others died in accidents. A total of around 4,400 workers were employed. The construction costs amounted to 10.7 million  marks . In relation to the year 1911, this corresponds to a total of 60.4 million euros, adjusted for inflation.

opening

The tunnel was opened on September 7, 1911 for pedestrian traffic and on November 30, 1911 for horse-drawn vehicles and motor vehicles . The press commented:

  • "Speak in loud language how modern technology on land, on water and under the water overcomes the tasks that come up to it" ( Hamburger Fremdblatt , May 21, 1911)
  • "Its shape, which is not dissimilar to a mausoleum, is well suited to arouse the onlookers who do not suspect the purpose of its purpose" ( Deutsche Bauhütte , 1911)
  • "As a thought of the times, flooded by the light and form-happy powers of modern taste, which is completely absorbed in the purpose, but nothing has been neglected in the realization of which contributes to combining beauty for this purpose" ( Hamburger Nachrichten , July 13, 1911 ).

Design and special features

No access ramps were created for the tunnel. Instead, the vehicles are transported with elevators - four shafts with one car each on each bank. The middle elevators have a usable length of around 9.5 meters and a load capacity of ten tons (10,000 kilograms) each. They are longer than the two outer elevators, each six tons and about 7.3 meters in length. According to plans by the Altona architects Raabe & Wöhlecke, two buildings of the same dimensions were erected above the shafts - on the St. Pauli side of tuff stone , on the Steinwerder side of bricks - with copper-clad domes. The drives for the cars are also housed there. The south entrance to Steinwerder was partially destroyed in the air raids on Hamburg ; the dome was replaced by an inconspicuous flat roof during the reconstruction. The preserved dome of the north entrance was renovated in 2008.

On the tiled small are regularly spaced walls of the tunnels stoneware - reliefs inserted. The Elbe above is thematically represented on them. These include images of fish, crabs, mussels, but also of rats and objects that have been thrown away.

The staircase hall on the St. Pauli side shows ceramic reliefs in the upper corridor of the senior employees of the companies and authorities involved in the construction. The terracotta friezes visible from below show four reliefs on the St. Pauli side, namely for the order, the construction, the piercing and the opening. On the Steinwerder side, the reliefs represent technical innovations to the primordial elements earth, fire, water and air. Like the "tunnel animals", they were designed and modeled by the sculptor and ceramist Hermann Perl and in the workshop of the stove and pottery factory AH Wessely am Falkenried completed.

Usage history and conversions

Conversions and renovations

Former escalator (1989)
Dome of the north entrance, interior view

The tunnel was initially accessible to pedestrians via fixed stairs and two passenger elevators that led down into the shaft buildings. As part of a modernization in 1959, the longest cantilever escalators in Germany at that time were retrofitted in addition to these stairs . After the escalators were worn out in 1991, no longer met the requirements of the TÜV and a conversion did not seem feasible for reasons of cost, they were removed in 1993 and instead replaced by an additional passenger elevator on each side. In addition, the existing passenger elevator was renewed.

When the Elbe deepened in 1981/82, the tunnel cover was reduced to one meter. During this work, parts of the tunnel were separated from the rest of the tunnel system by a reinforced concrete wall. To protect against floating and damage, a reinforced concrete structure was placed on the tunnel, which allowed the water depth to be increased to 10.6 meters in relation to the old SKN (mean low spring water ).

In 1994 a thorough renovation was started, the aim of which is to restore the appearance of 1911 and to install modern technology, including new passenger elevators and modern flood gates. The costs so far have been around 15 million euros.

After the renovation of the shaft building on the Steinwerder side and the almost complete repair of the shaft building on the St. Pauli side, it has been the turn of the two tunnels of the 100-year-old listed building since August 2010. The Hamburg Port Authority (HPA) is investing a double-digit million amount in the renewal and thus in the maintenance of the old Elbe tunnel. One tube will remain open during the entire construction project. From October 5, 2009, a directional road regulation similar to that of Sierichstrasse was set up for car traffic . This means that from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. there is one-way traffic from the St. Pauli Landungsbrücken to Steinwerder (heading south), from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. traffic flows from the port back to the city center (heading north). During this period, cyclists have to adapt to the flow of traffic or push the bike in the opposite direction. The completion of the first, eastern tube was planned for the 100th birthday of the tunnel in September 2011, and the second should be started immediately afterwards. At the beginning of 2013, the Hamburg Port Authority (HPA) announced that the need for renovation was much higher than expected and that the construction time would be considerably longer. At the end of 2015, the estimated costs of the renovation were put at more than 100 million euros. In 1994 the responsible port authority had assumed 15-17 million euros. The HPA has given costs of 59.7 million euros for the work on the eastern tube.

The renovation of the east tube has now been completed; it was reopened on April 26, 2019 and opened to traffic.

Usage figures

Ticket before 1983 for passage in the Elbe tunnel

Twenty million people have crossed under the Elbe every year since the tunnel was opened. Most of them used the tunnel to reach the workplaces in the port and in the shipyards. With the automation of general cargo handling through containers and the death of shipyards in the 1970s and 1980s, the tunnel initially lost its importance. Less than 500,000 pedestrians use it annually. Due to the tourist expansion and the growing range of leisure facilities in the south-facing port area, the numbers rose again. In 2008, around 300,000 vehicles, 63,000 cyclists and 700,000 pedestrians were counted. Ten years later, usage has changed significantly, only 42,000 cars / year (an average of 115 per day) were counted, but 300,000 cyclists and over a million pedestrians. Due to this shift and in order to upgrade the route for tourists and pedestrian / bicycle traffic, the Hamburg Senate is considering a permanent closure for motor vehicles. This should u. a. Lower safety precautions and fire protection requirements may be possible and bring about a reduction in costs.

User fees, opening times

In 1906 there was a heated debate among the citizens about free use for pedestrians . The Social Democrats argued in a dialectically pointed manner: "Because the bourgeoisie does not pay any taxes for the maintenance of the bridle paths on the Uhlenhorst , workers must be free to use the tunnel." . So pedestrians could use it free of charge. When it opened in 1911, the underground Elbe crossing cost 50 pfennigs for cabs, passenger cars, empty trucks, guided horses and donkeys  (equivalent to 2.82 euros today). Loaded trucks and company cars had to pay a weight-dependent fee (up to four tons: one mark / up to six tons: two marks / up to ten tons: four marks). The owners had to pay a fee of ten pfennigs for dogs that were brought along.

The old Elbe tunnel is still open to pedestrians and cyclists free of charge and without time restrictions (with the exception of New Year's Eve from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m.). Cyclists have to adapt to traffic or push. Since June 3, 2019, the tunnel for the rehabilitation of the west tube has been closed to motor vehicles until further notice. An end date has not yet been set.

Backdrop for filming

The tunnel was used often as a backdrop for filming for television and film. In addition to the series St. Pauli Landungsbrücken and Großstadtrevier , this was used for the films The Robbery of Millions , The Odessa Files , The American Friend , Supermarket and Absolute Giants .

Port economic consequences

In the course of the globalization of world trade, ever larger ships, especially container ships, are being built. These have a great draft of up to 16 meters and can therefore not call into the port basins upstream behind the old Elbe tunnel. However, a large part of the cargo handling has so far taken place in these. Because of this connection, the Waltershof ports in particular , to which the freight traffic volume has largely shifted, were expanded.

The large cruise ships with a draft of less than ten meters, on the other hand, can call into the cruise terminal at HafenCity via the Old Elbe Tunnel ; the passenger halls of the Hamburg-America Line (HAPAG) were already located at this former "beach port" until the end of the 1930s. .

Regular events

Since 2000, the Elbe Tunnel Marathon has been held on the last Sunday in January , in which the two tunnel tubes are run through a total of 48 times.

literature

  • Sven Bardua: The old Elbtunnel, Hamburg . Federal Chamber of Engineers, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-941867-03-1 . (Volume 8 of the series Historic Landmarks of Civil Engineering in Germany , ZDB -ID 2399146-X ).
  • Hans Jürgen Witthöft: The old Elbe tunnel. A nice piece of Hamburg. History and stories . Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft, Hamburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-7822-1044-7 .
  • Hein Schlüter: Fascination St. Pauli Elbe Tunnel: From technical masterpiece to Hamburg's unique cultural asset . Edition Stadtpark, Hamburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-00-036181-4 .
  • Julia Ranniko: The tube of the century . In: Deutsche Seeschifffahrt , Issue 10/2011, pp. 24–28, Verband Deutscher Reeder e. V., Hamburg 2011, ISSN  0948-9002
  • Elbe tunnel for passenger and vehicle traffic in Hamburg . In: Zentralblatt der Bauverwaltung . Vol. 24, No. 47 (June 11, 1904), urn : nbn: de: kobv: 109-opus-37597 , pp. 301–303. (Six illustrations)
  • The planned tunnel under the Elbe between the districts of St. Pauli and Steinwärder in Hamburg . In: Deutsche Bauzeitung . Vol. 38 (1904), No. 45, urn : nbn: de: kobv: co1-opus-21389 , pp. 274–276 (four illustrations).
  • Susanne Wiborg: 100 years of the Elbe Tunnel: Down there was a big aah! In: Die Zeit , No. 36/2011

Web links

Commons : Alter Elbtunnel  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ P20 personal archive. In: ZBW Leibniz Information Center for Economics. Accessed May 1, 2019 .
  2. ^ Hans Jürgen Witthöft: The old Elbe tunnel. A nice piece of Hamburg. History and stories . Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft, Hamburg 2011, p. 17 f. - The planned tunnel under the Elbe between the districts of St. Pauli and Steinwärder in Hamburg . In: Deutsche Bauzeitung . Vol. 38 (1904), No. 45, urn : nbn: de: kobv: co1-opus-21389 , pp. 274–276, with four illustrations. - Elbe tunnel for passenger and vehicle traffic in Hamburg . In: Zentralblatt der Bauverwaltung . Vol. 24, No. 47 (June 11, 1904), urn : nbn: de: kobv: 109-opus-37597 , pp. 301–303, with six illustrations - Die Zeit , September 1, 2011, p. 22
  3. ↑ Elbe tunnel for passenger and vehicle traffic in Hamburg . In: Zentralblatt der Bauverwaltung , 297, No. 47, published in the Ministry of Public Works, Berlin, June 11, 1904, XXIV. Year, pp. 301-303
  4. ^ Heinrich Steinfath. In: Yearbook of the Alster Club 1991 .
  5. ↑ Expensive Elbe Tunnel renovation: Hamburg threatens the next cost explosion . Spiegel Online , April 7, 2014, accessed May 1, 2019
  6. ↑ Frank Binder: Old Elbe Tunnel: renovation even more expensive · The total costs for both tubes are estimated at more than 100 million euros . In: Daily port report , November 30, 2015
  7. ↑ Old Elbe Tunnel: the east tube shines in new splendor. In: ndr.de. April 26, 2019, accessed May 1, 2019 .
  8. ^ Sarah Schafer: Old Elbtunnel - Along under the Elbe. Opening times, pictures, information. In: hamburg.de. Accessed May 1, 2019 .
  9. ↑ The old Elbtunnel should be car-free - as early as 2019. In: Hamburger Abendblatt. August 24, 2018, accessed May 1, 2019 (paid item).
  10. ↑ This figure was based on the template: Inflation determined and applies to the previous January
  11. ↑ The old Elbtunnelm will be car-free - initially hamburg.de
  12. ↑ Most Wanted City: Hamburg als Filmmetropole In: ndr.de from October 10, 2014, accessed on May 1, 2019
  13. ^ Filmstadt Hamburg - Stars & Filming locations In: filmtourismus.de, accessed on May 1, 2019

Coordinates: 53 ° 32 '38.4 "  N , 9 ° 57' 59.4"  E