ABC Quarter - Architecture and History

The ABC Street was first mentioned in records dating back to 1620 and is therefore one of the oldest documented streets in Hamburg. The name comes from a simple principle: The houses were allocated a letter of the alphabet rather than a number to identify them by, which led to the naming of the street.

At the beginning of the 19th century, Hamburg’s well-known architect and city planner, Alexis de Chateauneuf, designed townhouses for the ABC Street which were built using unrendered bricks. These houses marked the beginnings of red-brick architecture in Hamburg. After the great fire in 1842, Chateauneuf began working to rebuild Hamburg and was credited with the reorganisation of the city. Along with Theodor Bülau, Albert Erbe, Fritz Schumacher and Fritz Höger, Chateauneuf was credited with having re-established unrendered brickwork in Hamburg. Prior to this the city had been greatly influenced by the architect Christian Frederik Hansen who favoured a neo-classical style of architecture.

In recent times, constructors and architects such as Gerkan, Marg und Partner, and Hadi Teherani have been keen to experiment and as such have redefined the cityscape of Hamburg. The combination of historic buildings and modern projects is indeed impressive. The visual interplay between the redbrick façades from the 19th century and the white art nouveau houses from the turn of the century, combined with the modern glass and chrome buildings, creates a unique and very attractive mix of architecture.