Deichtorhallen
 | |
  Location of Deichtorhallen in Hamburg | |
| Location | Hamburg, Germany |
|---|---|
| Type | Modern art, photography and design |
| Public transit access | Hauptbahnhof |
| Website | http://www.deichtorhallen.de |
The Deichtorhallen are a pair of buildings in Hamburg, Germany, formerly used as a market and now a centre for temporary exhibitions of modern art, photography and design.
The Deichtorhallen consist of Europe's largest exhibition hall for contemporary art together with the more recent Haus der Photographie (House of Photography). They are located in the centre of Hamburg, between the Kunstmeile ("art mile") and the former docks area, HafenCity.
The spacious buildings are distinguished architecturally by their open steel-girder and glass construction, and offer a visually impressive venue for the large international art exhibitions hosted there today. There is also a design store, a specialist photography bookstore and a restaurant.
The Deichtorhallen do not house a permanent collection, but instead a continually changing series of exhibitions; however, the basis of the Haus der Photographie is two collections on extended loan: the collection of the photographer F.C. Gundlach, one of Germany's leading collectors of artistic and fashion photography; and the archive of the magazine Der Spiegel, which with over three million images is the largest journalistic research archive in Germany.
Next to the buildings is a moored balloon, "HiFlyer", which offers views across the city.
History
The Deichtorhallen were built between 1911 and 1914 as a new venue for the city's central market, which had been split between two locations. The site was previously occupied by the Berliner Bahnhof train station, now superseded by the present-day Hamburg Hauptbahnhof.
In 1962 the central market moved to Hammerbrook, and its place in the Deichtorhallen was taken by the city's flower market; the old flower market hall became an events centre, the present-day Markthalle.
In 1989 the businessman Kurt A. Körber funded the renovation of the Deichtorhallen and their re-invention as an exhibition space. Since then, the Deichtorhallen Hamburg company has managed their operation.
External links
- Home page in English, including history
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