Deichstrasse

The Deichstrasse, in Hamburg

The Deichstrasse is one of the oldest streets of Hamburg, lined with historic merchant houses by a canal. The Hamburg audio-guided tour stops here to evoke this picturesque street, a rare witness of the town of the past, where the great fire of 1842 began.

The street of the merchant houses

The Deichstrasse is one of the oldest preserved streets of Hamburg and one of the few to give an idea of what the town looked like before the great upheavals of the last two centuries. Lined on one side by the Nikolaifleet canal, it aligns magnificent gabled merchant houses, dating from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, whose narrow and high brick façades testify to the prosperity of the maritime trade that made the wealth of Hamburg. These dwellings served at once as homes, offices and warehouses, giving directly onto the water at the back to facilitate the loading of the goods. It is in this street that broke out, in 1842, the great fire that ravaged a large part of the town for several days. Today restored, lined with restaurants and cafés, the Deichstrasse offers a precious glimpse of the old merchant Hamburg. A picturesque witness of the maritime past of the town, the Deichstrasse is a charming stop of the discovery of Hamburg.

What to see

Here you wander in one of the oldest preserved streets of Hamburg, lined by the Nikolaifleet canal and aligning magnificent gabled merchant houses of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, with high brick façades, former homes, offices and warehouses, where the great fire of 1842 began, today lined with restaurants. The Deichstrasse is a witness of old Hamburg. It is a charming stop, to be explored on foot.

Practical information

The Deichstrasse lies in the heart of the old town of Hamburg, along the Nikolaifleet canal, reachable on foot. It is a public street freely accessible; the restaurants and cafés have their own hours. You discover it during a walk in the historic centre.

Why is the Deichstrasse of Hamburg remarkable?

Because it is one of the oldest preserved streets of Hamburg, lined by the Nikolaifleet canal and magnificent gabled merchant houses of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; it is also there that the great fire of 1842 broke out, which ravaged the town.

Where is the Deichstrasse of Hamburg?

In the heart of the old town of Hamburg, along the Nikolaifleet canal, in Germany.