Warehouse District, Hamburg, Germany
The Speicherstadt in Hamburg, Germany is the largest warehouse district in the world. A city in itself, the district extends over 26 hectares and comprises of 17 building complexes, each seven to eight stories high, with more than 300,000 square meters of storage area. For over a hundred years, these warehouses have held high-value goods such as coffee, tea, cocoa, spices, tobacco, and, in recent decades, oriental carpets.
Small outbuildings, which are connected by roads, waterways and bridges, functioned as offices. The building’s Neo-Gothic red-brick outer facade features richly ornamented brickwork, alcoves, and glazed terra cotta ornaments that bear witness to the city’s economic prosperity. Since 1991, the unique district has been given historic monument protection. Just recently, it was awarded the status of UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Visit Germany. Epic German Adventure route © Monika Newbound