User:InFrontOfTheForest/Hamburg-Altona-Altstadt

Coordinates: 53°32′56″N 9°56′52″E / 53.54889°N 9.94778°E / 53.54889; 9.94778
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Altona-Altstadt
District of Hamburg
Altona-Altstadt is located in Germany
Altona-Altstadt
Altona-Altstadt
Altona-Altstadt is located in Hamburg
Altona-Altstadt
Altona-Altstadt
Coordinates: 53°32′56″N 9°56′52″E / 53.54889°N 9.94778°E / 53.54889; 9.94778
CountryGermany
StateHamburg
CityHamburg
BoroughAltona, Hamburg
Area
 • Total2.8 km2 (1.1 sq mi)
Population
 (31-12-2016)
 • Total29,034
 • Density10,000/km2 (27,000/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Dialling codes040
Vehicle registrationHH

Altona-Altstadt is a district of Hamburg, Germany in the Altona borough. The district's boundaries are congruent with the historic center of what had been the city of Altona until 1937.

History[edit]

Danish Altona was burned down during Stenbock's campaign (1713).

Altona was founded as a fishing village in the county of Holstein-Pinneberg in 1535. After Holstein-Pinneberg was merged into the Duchy of Holstein, Altona was granted city rights on August 23, 1664 by the then Duke of Holstein, and King of Denmark Frederick III of Denmark. Gradually, it grew to become the second-largest city under Danish rule.

In 1713, during the Great Northern War, it was burned down by Swedish forces led by Magnus Stenbock. However, the city was quickly rebuilt and expanded by Christian Detlev Reventlow who was appointed by King Frederick IV.

The first free port of northern Europe was built in Altona. It had its heyday under the mayor Carl Heinrich Behn, during the First Schleswig War. After the Second Schleswig War and the Austro-Prussian War, the city became a part of the Kingdom of Prussia along with the rest of Schleswig-Holstein.

In 1937 it was removed from the province of Schleswig-Holstein, which was then a part of the Free State of Prussia, and became part of the city of Hamburg as a result of the Greater Hamburg Act.

Geography[edit]

The district is bordered to the west by the Ottensen and Altona-Nord districts at Kaistraße, Museumstraße, Max-Brauer-Allee and Holstenstraße, to the north by the newly-built Sternschanze district at Stresemannstraße, to the east by St. Pauli at Bernstorffstraße, Kleine Freiheit, Holstenstraße, Pepermölenbek, Trommelstraße and Antonistraße, and to the south by the Elbe.

Until Altona's incorporation into Hamburg in 1937, the former city's border stretched further east of the street of Schulterblatt, along the Grünen Jäger, east of Bleicherstraße and Große Freiheit, TODO

Worker's cottage at the old border crossing east of Große Freiheit
Boundary marker of Altona/Hamburg placed in 1896 at Brigittenstraße, which is now located in the district of St. Pauli

The Altstadt Today[edit]

The Commercial Center of Große Bergstraße[edit]

The construction site of Ikea Altona, January 2014

The Große Bergstraße is one of the oldest streets and the main business center in Hamburg-Altona-Altstadt. The Große Bergstraße stretches from the Hamburg-Altona station to Holenstraße, having been shortened in the 1960s by the creation of Simon-von-Utrecht-Straße and by renaming the eastern half to Nobistor. The Neuen Große Berstraße runs south of the Große Bergstraße, between Altonaer Poststraße and Bahnhofsplatz. It was constructed as the district's first pedestrian shopping mall in 1968 after the demolition of the entire south side of the Große Bergstraße between Virchow and Altonaer Poststraße. In the following years several buildings were constructed. A building with a shopping and gastronomy center together with a department store called Frappant was completed in 1973, A galleria with high-rise offices called Forum Altona was completed in 1975, and a high-rise with a storefront called Hochhaus Jessenstraße 4 was completed in 1975.

During the 1990s, many business properties had been vacant for many years in the Altona-Passage and in the former Frappant building, located at the Goetheplatz, in addition to large businesses such as Karstadt leaving the area. Starting in 2003, short-term leases were increasingly granted to artists, art initiatives and creative projects as temporary occupants in order to culturally revitalize the area. The area was designated as a redevelopment area in 2005. After Ikea bought the Frappant building on July 7, 2009 and terminated leases, citizens' initiatives were voted on for the demolition of the building with 77% approval. Ikea subsequently constructed and opened its first full-range urban furniture store on June 30, 2014.

Politics[edit]

Altona-Altstadt is a part of the electoral constituency (Wahlkreis) of Altona. The outcome of the 2015 state election in Altona-Altstadt was as follows:

Party Name Ideology Leading
candidate
2015 result
Votes (%)
in Altona-Altstadt
Seats Won
in all constituencies
SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany
Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands
Social democracy Olaf Scholz 35.2%
58 / 121
Linke The Left
Die Linke
Democratic socialism Dora Heyenn 23.8%
11 / 121
Grüne Alliance 90/The Greens
Bündnis 90/Die Grünen
Green politics Katharina Fegebank 22.3%
15 / 121
Other N/A N/A N/A 7.5%
0 / 121
CDU Christian Democratic Union of Germany
Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands
Christian democracy Dietrich Wersich 5.0%
20 / 121
FDP Free Democratic Party
Freie Demokratische Partei
Liberalism Katja Suding 3.2%
9 / 121
AfD Alternative for Germany
Alternative für Deutschland
National conservatism Jörn Kruse 3.0%
8 / 121

Buildings and Sights[edit]

School, Education and Research[edit]


Category:Quarters of Hamburg Category:Altona, Hamburg Category:1535 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire Category:Populated places established in 1535