HAMBURG, Germany, July 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --
The UNESCO's World Heritage Committee has
approved Hamburg's
application for the "Speicherstadt and
Kontorhaus-District with Chilehaus"
to be included in the UNESCO's World Heritage
list. The decision was made at today's
Committee meeting in Bonn, Germany. The Committee, which comprises 21
UNESCO member states, has acknowledged the
outstanding universal value of Hamburg's urban,
maritime warehouse complex and office
district from the early 20th century. Hamburg now has its first World Heritage
Site.
The World Heritage Committee based its decision on the belief
that the Speicherstadt and the Kontorhaus-District are "an
outstanding example" of buildings and ensembles which "illustrate
significant stages in human history". The outstanding universal
value of the two monofunctional but complementary areas is
reflected in Hamburg's historic
warehouse-district with its connecting network of roads, canals and
bridges dating from 1885 to 1927 and in the modern red-brick
architecture of the office building ensembles for port-related use
from the 1920s to 1940s.
(Photo:
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150705/230264 )
The Speicherstadt is the world's largest historic
warehouse-complex. It extends over 26 hectares in the heart of
Hamburg's port and comprises 17
building complexes in the style of Gothic red-brick, with more than
300,000 m2 of storage area. High-value goods such as
coffee, tea, cocoa, spices, tobacco, and, in recent decades,
oriental carpets, have been stored behind the thick walls of these
warehouses. In addition to its architectural highlights,
tourism-venues such as the Hamburg Dungeon, the Speicherstadtmuseum
and the Miniatur Wunderland - the world's largest miniature railway
- make the Speicherstadt one of Hamburg's tourism hotspots.
Situated just opposite, the Kontorhaus-District in the south of
Hamburg's old town went down in
architectural history as Continental Europe's first business
district. The ensemble is built in the 1920s and 1930s under the
baton of Fritz Schumacher. The
Chilehaus, which is reminiscent of a ship's bow, represents the
most significant artistic and architectural achievement of German
Brick Expressionism. It strongly influenced brick architecture of
the 1920s and 1930s in Northern-Europe and is also one of
Germany's first high-rise
buildings.
More information on Hamburg:
http://www.hamburg-travel.com.
Medienkontakt:
Hamburg Marketing
Guido Neumann
M: +49(0)160-97298302
guido.neumann(at)marketing.hamburg.de