Germany · Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg · Hamburg
HafenCity, Hamburg — Area Guide & Where to Stay
HafenCity rises from the Elbe on Hamburg's old port ground, a waterfront quarter crowned by the Elbphilharmonie concert hall.
About HafenCity
Where to stay in HafenCity
Where you base yourself shapes the visit — here's the character of each area.
HafenCity is a redeveloped dockland quarter, and it does take guests. Modern blocks line the Elbe and the old harbour basins, so staying here puts you among the promenades of the former Port of Hamburg, steps from the Elbphilharmonie and the warehouses of the Speicherstadt. The water is always close.
Pick HafenCity for its glass-and-brick waterfront if a redeveloped dockland suits you more than the lanes of the old town.
About HafenCity
What are the main landmarks in HafenCity?
The Elbphilharmonie is the landmark of HafenCity. It stands at the head of the Speicherstadt warehouses, where the Speicherstadtmuseum and the International Maritime Museum Hamburg fill the brick blocks, and the Miniatur Wunderland draws visitors deeper into HafenCity. Museums crowd the water here.
Between concert hall, warehouses, and model railway, HafenCity carries more visitor landmarks than most quarters of Hamburg.
What is the history of HafenCity?
HafenCity was formally established in 2008 on the former Port of Hamburg, built out across the Elbe island of Grasbrook. The docks gave way to a modern quarter, which folded in the older warehouses of the Speicherstadt, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and reached toward the Kontorhausviertel alongside it. The port stepped back.
What had been the harbour of Hamburg became HafenCity, its warehouse brick and its water kept as the frame for the streets that fill it.
Where is HafenCity?
HafenCity spreads across the Elbe island of Grasbrook in the Hamburg-Mitte borough, its streets laid over the old harbour basins of the Port of Hamburg.
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Updated July 2026