Huts and Palaces

 No recent postings on our favourite subject, so sorry; but I'm involved in a larger project, running around in Hamburg, collecting photographs of buildings, writing a new version of a website on building styles and history. I'm writing about the heritage of our town which was left behind after 3 catastrophes: 1. The Big Blast of 1842 which destroyed about a third of the old town*, 2. the bombing of 1943, consequence of the 3rd Reich, 3. the demolitions during "re"-building the town. Here, you can see the oldest existing storehouse on a canal, part of the "Deichstrasse".

And I visited our new "harbour city" which is being built on the old quais, no more needed for handling cargo which is done in the container harbour now. Flats here are highly desired, most flats are sold very soon, and the rent is about double what we pay in our green suburb. I saw exiting new architecture. So this is what keeps me busy at the moment.

*In May 1842, a fire broke out in a warehouse in Hamburg. As it was very warm and dry, the fire could not be stopped for a few days, killed 51 people, devastated a third of the town and left 20.000 people homeless. Heinrich Heine's uncle Salomon spent a large deal of his wealth on beneficial purposes, caring for the victims and giving donations for rebuilding the town and bestowing credits for bankrupt merchants.