Landungsbrücken

The "St. Pauli Landungsbrücken" (St. Pauli Landing Bridges), part of the Hamburg Harbour, are in the quarter St. Pauli of Hamburg, Germany, between the lower harbor and the "Fischmarkt" (Fish Market) directly on the Elbe River. The "Landungsbrücken" today are a major tourist attraction and a central transportation hub, with S-Bahn, U-Bahn and boat stations. There is an entrance to the Old Elbe tunnel directly at the western end of the "Landungsbrücken". The eastern end of the building complex is marked by the "Pegelturm" (water level tower). Halfway up the tower, there is a water level indicator built into the wall, which gives the current condition of the tides.

Shipping piers

The first pier here was built in 1839 at what was then the edge of the harbor. It served as a terminal for steamships, which could be relatively easily filled with coal here. In addition, the pier ensured a sufficient security distance from the city, since these great ships were fueled by coal and there was thus a risk of fire. The current piers built in 1907 consist of floating pontoons, which are accessible from land by ten movable bridges. The convert|688|m|0|lk=on long landing place originally served the passenger steamers of the overseas lines. Among others, the great "Hapag-Lloyd" liners landed here. Today only the "HADAG" ferries, harbor tour ships and motor launches, passenger ships serving the lower Elbe, and catamarans to Stade and Helgoland still travel to the piers. Ships travel from here daily to the musical island of the concert, "The Lion King".

The old piers were destroyed during the Second World War, so today's pontoons were rebuilt between 1953 and 1955. The last section destroyed in the War, between bridges 2 and 3, was not rebuilt until 1976. During the modernisation begun in 1999, the roofing and lighting were updated. Part of this modernisation is planned to include replacing bridge 7.

Cultural monument

The terminal building, built from volcanic tuff, and the piers were constructed between 1907 and 1909 in the same location as the old "Landungsbrücken". It was designed as a representative shipping station by the architectural company of Raabe & Wöhlecke for the department of river and harbor construction of the construction deputation. With its length of 205 m, its numerous gateways to the ships' piers, its domes and towers, it sets a clear structural accent. The architectural sculptures were created by Arthur Bock.

The complex was classified as a historical monument on September 15, 2003.

Railway stations

U-Bahn station

The first U-Bahn line in Hamburg was begun in 1906 by the Hamburger Hochbahn plc. It forms a ring around the inner city. A station was also built near the "Landungsbrücken" in the slope of the "Stintfang", designed by the architects, Johann Emil Schaudt and Walter Puritz. The station, which is called "Landungsbrücken" today, was built semi-open, which means that the western end is roofed with a concrete slab and the eastern end is left open. The station with the name of "Hafentor" (Harbor gate), together with the stretch "Millerntor - Rathaus" (today "St. Pauli - Rathaus"), finally went into operation on June 29, 1912. The striking tower [http://www.bildarchiv-hamburg.de/hamburg/bahnhof/landungs/landungs1.jpg] at the entrance and the elevated railway stop, designed by Emil Schaudt, were torn down during construction of the "City-S-Bahn". The new entrance with a copper roof (designed by Hans L. M. Loop and Fritz Trautwein) is connected to the ferry piers by a pedestrian bridge.

The eastern entrance was designed by Walter Puritz and was built in the 1920s.

S-Bahn station

The "Landungsbrücken" station of the S-Bahn has existed since 1975. It is part of the tunnel from the Hamburg main station to Altona (City S-Bahn), which was completely opened in 1979. Because of an S-Bahn train that burned in the station on September 30, 1984, the station has already had to be completely renovated.

The main entrance to the station has an escalator and is inside of the U-Bahn station building. There is a side entrance on "Eichholz" street.

The station can also be used as an air-raid shelter.

ervice

Stammsiel

It is not well known that there is also one of Hamburg's oldest and largest sewerage systems near the "Landungsbrücken". It is part of the "Stadtwasserkunst" designed by William Lindley in 1842. The Geest-Stammsiel collects sewage from far parts of the city before it is transported under the Elbe to the main purification plant "Köhlbrandhöft" on the opposite side of the Elbe, by means of a pumping station about 100 m upstream of the old Elbe tunnel. The sluice can be travelled by boat. For the rowing trips of Kaiser Willhelm II, a separate underground dock was constructed, which can still be viewed today by prior arrangement.

Trivia

The "Landungsbrücken" had a main part in the song, "Landungsbrücken Raus", by the German band, Kettcar. The song appeared on the album, "Du und wieviel von deinen Freunden" (You and how many of your friends). It also came out as a single in 2002.

Regular events

* "Hafengeburtstag" (Birthday of the harbor)
* "Weltastratag"
* "Elbart"

References

External links

* [http://www.hafengeburtstag.de "Hafengeburtstag" (Birthday of the harbor)] de icon
* [http://www.hafenrock.de "Hafenrock" (Harbor rock)] de icon
* [http://www.weltastratag.de "Welt Astra Tag" (World Astra Day)] de icon
* [http://www.cult.de "Elbart"] de icon