500 HIDDEN SECRETS OF HAMBURG

INTRODUCTION

This guide aims to help you to get to know the real Hamburg. You might ask yourself if that’s even possible: can one capture Hamburg in 500 addresses? Probably not, because of course many of the things that move, inspire and make people happy, can’t be pinpointed to a street name and a house number. Then again, many of the places on the usual ‘to visit in Hamburg’ list are really worth it. And the cute little clichés about the city are part of its charm, like the many bridges, the underground that runs above ground, or the quirky fact that the Morgenpost is published in the evening and the Abendblatt in the morning.

So, what is it that makes a trip to or a long-term stay in the Hanseatic City of Hamburg so rewarding? The unique mix of contrasts has something to do with it for sure: on the one hand, Hamburg has that urban sparkle, on the other hand, it has the natural beauty of the beaches along the Elbe River and the verdant banks of the Alster. It’s a beautiful city but also a bit rough, it’s weird but also welcoming.

But the most important explanation as to why Hamburg is such a liveable city, are the people who call this city their home. Like Evelyn Subbert, who runs a seamen’s pub on the Elbchaussee. Or Marco Antonio Reyes Loredo, who you’ll probably run into when you visit the arts and culture on the river island of Wilhelmsburg. These locals have devoted themselves to their vision of an even more diverse, welcoming and warm city, and in doing so they’ve created wonderful places of encounter. This guide is an ode to these authentic gems.

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK?

This book lists 500 things you need to know about Hamburg in 100 different categories. Most of these are places to visit, with practical information to help you find your way. Others are bits of information that help you get to know the city and its habitants. The aim of this guide is to inspire, not to cover the city from A to Z. The places listed in the guide are given an address, including the neighbourhood, and a number. The neighbourhood and number allow you to find the locations on the maps at the beginning of the book: first look for the map of the corresponding neighbourhood, then look for the right number. A word of caution however: these maps are not detailed enough to allow you to find specific locations in the city. You can obtain an excellent map from any tourist office or in most hotels, or you can locate the addresses on your smartphone.

Please also bear in mind that cities change all the time. The chef who hits a high note one day may be uninspiring on the day you happen to visit. The hotel ecstatically reviewed in this book might suddenly go downhill under a new manager. Or the bar recommended as one of ‘5 bars where you can meet locals’ might be empty on the night you visit. This is obviously a highly personal selection. You might not always agree with it. If you want to leave a comment, recommend a bar or reveal your favourite secret place, please visit the website www.the500hiddensecrets.com or follow @500hiddensecrets on Instagram or Facebook and leave a comment.

HAMBURG overview

7

Stellingen

6

Rissen

Altonaer Volkspark

6

1

6

Blankenese

Gross-Flottbek

6

Bahrenfeld

Othmarschen

Elbe

1

Altona

1

6

Nienstedten

7

EimsbĂźttel

Ottensen

6

OevelgĂśnne

Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport

6

Finkenwerder

6

Waltershof

5

Heimfeld

Stadtpark

7

Eppendorf

Winterhude

8

Harvestehude

8

Rotherbaum

8

Uhlenhorst

8

AussenAlster

Hohenfelde

8

2

Neustadt

7

Hoheluft

8

St. Georg

2

Mitte

4

4

Hammerbrook

HafenCity and Speicherstadt

4

Rothenburgsort

4

Veddel

3

Sternschanze and Karolinenviertel

2

St. Pauli

5

Wilhelmsburg

5

Harburg

5

Neuland

The 5 best places for VEGAN CUISINE

21

FROINDLICHST Barmbeker Strasse 169 Winterhude ➇ +49 (0)40 1813 5154 froindlichst.com

23 NASCH

36

With the green oasis in Winterhude, Froindlichst’s operators Hendrik and Kerrin created one of the first vegan-only restaurants. Hearty pizza with a spelt base and peanut bottom layer, brightly mixed burgers, wraps and salad bowls and fantastic cake creations. The cuisine is infectious. A second restaurant started in Ottensen in 2018.

22

SIMBIOSA Hein-HoyerStrasse 60 St. Pauli ➁ +49 (0)40 5728 0324 simbiosa.eu

23

NASCH Caffamacherreihe 49 Neustadt ➁ +49 (0)40 3558 1185

24

LOVING HUT Ferdinand-Beit Strasse 7 St. Georg ➇ +49 (0)40 6078 0993 lovinghut.de

25

TASSAJARA Eppendorfer Landstrasse 4 Eppendorf ➆ +49 (0)40 4838 01 tassajara.de

A lot helps a lot. Particularly when you share it – like at Simbiosa, the new vegan restaurant with Israeli cuisine in St. Pauli. Even the starters are a culinary tour of the Middle East; baba ganoush, green bulgur wheat, hummus and tahini, and vegan fresh cheese. Nobody misses animals here.

Amongst the grandiose, sparkling buildings of Neustadt, the Gängeviertel artists’ and creatives’ quarter has rescued the last remaining historic buildings with an occupation by the arts. The heart and centre of the district is cafe Nasch, which charms guests at lunchtime with vegan wraps, voereks (veggie boreks) and quiches.

“Live vegan! Make peace!” it says on the Loving Hut’s menu. The North German restaurant chain was founded with the vision that all living things can live in peace, love and harmony with each other and with the planet. Once you’ve tried the guru noodles, you’ll be a convert.

Karamjit Singh Witzorek was a neck-ornothing missionary as far back as 1976.

Because even more than 40 years ago, he launched Tassajara’s purely vegetarian Indian predecessor Golden Temple. In defiance of roast pork fans, the cook now presents a composition of tofu and wild rice, celery and oyster mushrooms.

37

The 5 PRETTIEST CAFES

96

CAFÉ PARIS Rathausstrasse 4 Mitte ➁ +49 (0)40 3252 7777 cafeparis.net

97

CAFÉ JOHANNA Venusberg 26 St. Pauli ➁ +49 (0)40 3864 5278 cafejohanna.de

70

Café Paris is quite definitely no hidden secret these days. Ceiling tiles from the old abattoir (1882), lamps, seats, the wooden staircase and the colourful stained-glass windows in the sitting room – it’s all pretty much ‘en vogue’, when you compare it with new startups in Hamburg. Since the turn of the millennium, almost every table here is reserved.

On one of Hamburg’s few hills, you’ll find one of its prettiest cafes. The legacy of newspaper kiosk proprietor Johanna Knuth has been handed down in the cafe’s name. Plentiful light and few frills focus attention on the essentials: excellent bakery products and fresh lunchtime meals. Only the panorama of St. Peter-Ording beach draws the eye to distant shores.

98

VJU IN THE ENERGIEBUNKER Neuhöfer Strasse 7 Wilhelmsburg ➄ +49 (0)151 5270 1492 vju-hamburg.de

99

SALON WECHSEL DICH Grindelhof 62 Grindelviertel ➆ +49 (0)40 3203 9889 salonwechseldich.de

100 LE VÉLO CAFÉ Grosse Bleichen 36 Neustadt ➁ +49 (0)173 6551 932 levelo-bikes.de

Light-flooded vju is 30 metres up, on the converted flak bunker (now ‘Energiebunker’) in Wilhelmsburg.

Its 360° panorama spreads the Hafenstadt literally at your feet. The skilled lighting and colour scheme inside create a pleasant ambience, despite ten-metrethick concrete walls. You’ve really got to try the homemade cheesecake.

The furnishings at this cafe are in constant flux. Chairs, tables, vases, artworks on the walls – many of the vintage pieces of furniture and accessories flaunt little price tags. At every visit, the cafe seems transformed. Fortunately, founder Jan Havermann provides continuity with his baking and beverages: an unqualified delight.

Black gold among sprockets and scrap metal: Le Vélo Café is really a bicycle shop. Above the little French bistro tables hang elaborately restored vintage bikes with unique add-ons from the twenties to the forties. Proprietor Senad Sarac collected them all over Europe. Only his coffee beans come from Black Delight next door.

71

5 wonderful WATER ACTIVITIES

296 SUPPER CLUB Isekai 13 Eppendorf ➆ +49 (0)40 4734 61 supperclub.de

297 WASSERSKI &

WAKEBOARD HAMBURG

Am Neuländer Baggerteich 3 Neuland ➄ +49 (0)174 3277 000 wasserski-hamburg.de

298 SWAN TOURS

AT SILWAR

Eppendorfer Landstrasse 148-B Eppendorf ➆ +49 (0)40 4762 07 bootshaus-silwar.com

164

Since 2017, the Hamburg native Christian Tötzke has been reinventing a dusty old boat hire company with the Supper Club at the Isekai. Customers do stand-up-paddling (SUP) and there’s beer and burgers instead of filter coffee and fruit flan.

Kiting and windsurfing are prohibited on the Alster and the Elbe. These waters are and will remain the domain of pedal-boat fans. Until the Sports Dome and its new standing wave in the HafenCity are completed, boardsport lovers still have to go to Neuland. The waterski and wakeboard lift facility is doing its thing reliably.

It’s one of the oldest businesses on the Aussenalster. Since 1874, Silwar has been hiring out boats of all kinds, from traditional one-man canoes and Peterwagen to the stately swans that are an essential part of every city lake. Pack your Franzbrötchen and Thermos flask, get out onto the water and love the rocking.

299 HAFENCITY

RIVERBUS

Brooktorkai 16, Block V HafenCity ➃ +49 (0)40 7675 7500 hafencityriverbus.de

300 RIB-PIRATEN Vorsetzen (City Sporthafen) Mitte ➁ +49 (0)172 2714 004 rib-piraten.de

The police keep getting panicky citizens on the phone: Help! There’s a bus going into the Elbe. The faces at the windows, tourists clearly having a good time, normally make the caller realise before the call ends that it’s all okay and meant to be that way. The HafenCity RiverBus turns into a ship several times a day for an exciting splashdown, and goes a short way up the river.

The black racing boats and off-road vehicles with the skull and crossbones along the dockside suggest that Jason Statham can’t be far away. Maybe he’s just picking up colleagues Silvester Stallone and Bruce Willis from afternoon tea before the gang sets off for a more vertical than horizontal local police patrol.

299 HAFENCITY RIVERBUS

165

5 PL AYGROUNDS for old and young

416 GRASBROOK PARK

ADVENTURE PLAYGROUND

HafenCity ➃ hamburg.de/ parkanlagen/4455156/ grasbrookpark

Put on your sandpit trousers and wellie boots, and off into battle in the HafenCity.

Large wooden ships and a palm grove have to be boarded via climbing nets.

Pirates crawl through the scuttlebutt and conquer castle moats in the water adventure area. And the parents relax on comfortable seating and have a picnic. There’s ice cream for a victorious conclusion right next door.

416 GRASBROOK PARK ADVENTURE PLAYGROUND

220

417 BAUI EPPENDORF Frickestrasse 1 Eppendorf ➆ +49 (0)40 4609 0527 Baui-eppendorf.de

418 GEISTERSPIELPLATZ

HOHELUFT

Wrangelstrasse 83 Hoheluft ➆

419 WASSERPARK

WINDFLÜCHTER AT: INSELPARK Kurdamm Wilhelmsburg ➄

420 RABATZZ! Kieler Strasse 571 Stellingen ➆ +49 (0)40 5470 9690 rabatzz.de

If you asked kids to draw their dream playground with wax crayons, the picture would show guinea pigs and goats for stroking and cars to drive around in and a potty in case they had to ‘go’ in a hurry.

The construction playground in Eppendorf is that playground drawing in the flesh.

The Geisterspielplatz (ghost playground) Hoheluft stands on an old tobacco factory.

Fortunately, apart from the sprinkling of masks and figures decorating the equipment, the only thing haunting the place is the neighbour’s cat.

The island water playground is pure, plashy pleasure. While the kids try to tame the Geysir’s fountain, the parents lay out a blanket to doze in the afternoon sun. Three water pumps, two locks, a few water terraces and canals absorb Hamburg’s youngest geologists and dam specialists.

A classic announcement at rabatzz! might sound like this: “Little Kevin would like to be picked up from the Ball Paradise.

His daddy Michael as well. Likewise, his Uncle Thomas and Auntie Lottie”.

Romping around, climbing, bouncing, rolling, sliding – up, down, over, under.

At Hamburg’s largest indoor playground, gravity, space and time are often suspended. Just go back to your childhood.

221

5 great S P O R T S and Y O G A activities

476 DAMN GOOD YOGA Rentzelstrasse 36-40 Rotherbaum ➇ damngoodyoga.de

The studio in the Grindelviertel bears a strong resemblance to a gazebo in a backyard garden: it’s exactly the right place to take the strain off your shoulders in vigorous flow yoga. You work up a sweat here under the guidance of Nadine Maslonka and her team: it’s about endurance, strength and mobility.

The name Damn Good Yoga says it all.

479 DIE HALLE – PARKOUR CREATION CENTER OBERHAFEN

248

477 YOGAMOVES Hohenesch 63 Ottensen ➀ +49 (0)40 6896 0046 yogamoves.de

478 TIDE RUNNERS

HAMBURG

START FROM: SUPERBUDE HOSTEL Juliusstrasse 1-7 St. Pauli ➁

479 DIE HALLE –

PARKOUR CREATION CENTER OBERHAFEN Stockmeyerstrasse 43, Hall 4F HafenCity ➃ +49 (0)40 2286 7528 diehalle.hamburg

480 FLASHH Gasstrasse 18 Bahrenfeld ➀ +49 (0)40 3804 1270 flashh.de

Tea and apples are served here after Anusara yoga, Vinyasa flow, power yoga, Iyengar yoga or Ashtanga classes. The studio is also suitable for beginning yogis and brings them gradually closer to the tradition. Students work holistically on their inner balance with breathing exercises and sung mantras.

The Tide Runners Hamburg meet every Wednesday evening at 9 pm in front of the Superbude St. Pauli and run 15 kilometres through Hamburg by night.

The pace is leisurely so that different types of runners can keep up.

Proud parents’ jaws often drop as they sit in the gallery and watch the big boys and girls flying over their darlings like superballs. But professional trainers are at work here, and the paths between the leaps, back handsprings and balancing acts are expertly coordinated.

The biggest bouldering hall in northern Germany, with an area of over 2000 square metres, is in Hamburg Bahrenfeld.

Families, beginners and experts climb without ropes. As well as keep-fit courses on the wall, there are yoga workshops, massages and good coffee for those who prefer to keep their feet on the ground.

249

COLOPHON E D I T I N G and COM P OS I N G — Malte Brenneisen — www.diebrueder.com GRA PH I C D ES I G N — Joke Gossé and Sarah Schrauwen PH OTO G R A P HY — Kolja Schoepe — www.kolja.me COVE R I M AG E — Gezi Park Fiction (secret 125) The addresses in this book have been selected after thorough independent research by the author, in collaboration with Luster Publishing. The selection is solely based on personal evaluation of the business by the author. Nothing in this book was published in exchange for payment or benefits of any kind.

D/2019/12.005/11 I S B N 978 94 6058 2493 N U R 512, 510

© 2019 Luster, Antwerp www.lusterweb.com — W W W.THE500HID D E NS EC RE TS.CO M info@lusterweb.com Printed in Italy by Printer Trento.

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