Fotoeins Fotografie

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Posts tagged ‘My Hamburg’

Chilehaus, Kontorhausviertel, UNESCO, Weltkulturerbe, World Heritage, Hamburg, Germany, fotoeins.com

Hamburg UNESCO WHS: Kontorhausviertel (Commercial District)

On 5 July 2015, UNESCO awarded World Heritage status to two sites in Hamburg: the Speicherstadt (Warehouse District) and the Kontorhausviertel (Office Building District). In the latter are two important brick buildings: Chilehaus and the Sprinkenhof, representative of the construction in the late 19th- and early 20th-century.

The Chilehaus was built by Fritz Höger for client Henry Sloman from 1922 to 1924 in the Kontorhausviertel as a prime example of German expressionist architecture using hard-fired brick. Höger undertook the project for Hamburg merchant and banker Sloman who made his fortune in importing nitrates from Chile. Built entirely to serve and complement the functions of the warehouses in neighbouring Speicherstadt, the Kontorhausviertel was the first dedicated office- and commercial-district on the European continent.

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Hamburg: Miniatur Wunderland, where tiny rules large

Above/featured: Miniature Hamburg with Heinrich Hertz tower at left, and Dammtor station at lower-centre.

Our family couldn’t afford the purchase of (or the space for) miniature railway sets. Christmas was a special time and with my nose pressed against shop windows, I’d dream of the world of the railroad set.

Hamburg’s Miniature Wonderland is big on wonder, has plenty of extensive miniature sets, and does not skimp on discoveries for people of all ages. Very little on the outside tells anybody passing by that there’s another world inside. Many aren’t fooled nor are they turned away. Miniature Wonderland was voted the most popular of 100 attractions in Germany in 2016, after 40-thousand international visitors were polled by the German National Tourist Board.

Built from 1883 to 1927, Hamburg’s Speicherstadt or Warehouse District was an important place in an increasingly busy port for the storage of dry goods from around the world. The Miniature Wonderland museum opened in the building called Block D on 16 August 2001. The historical Speicherstadt was inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015.

Miniatur Wunderland, MiWuLa, Miniature Wonderland, Speicherstadt, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Welterbe, Weltkulturerbe, Hamburg, Germany, fotoeins.com

Modelleisenbahn Wunderland (model railway wonderland); Block D, from street-level at Kehrwieder 2-4.

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Easter (Xmas) eggs, Miniatur Wunderland, Speicherstadt, Hamburg, Germany, fotoeins.com

Hamburg: Miniature Wonderland’s Christmas eggs

Above/featured: “Stranded.”

Since 2001, Miniatur Wunderland has been delighting children of all ages in the northern German city of Hamburg with the world’s largest miniature railway set, attracting a total of 12 million visitors so far. After many visits to the city over the last decade, I’ve somehow managed to stay away, but it’s finally high time curiosity wins the day.

The Urban Dictionary describes “easter eggs” as: “hidden items placed in a movie, television show, or otherwise visual media for close watchers”; see also here. Plenty of details in the form of “easter eggs” await visitors at various sections in the museum. With a few shorts weeks before Christmas, the designers have cleverly inserted many Santa Claus and other Christmas- or winter-related figures throughout the entire venue.

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