Located in the very center of Hamburg's world-class harbor (and yet not quite of this word), Hamburg's Speicherstadt radiates its very own magic. Especially at dusk, it has a fairytale beauty. The red brick buildings with their characteristic towers, battlements and gables are lit up by several hundred spotlights in an artistic lightshow. The façades are reflected by the water of the canals. The city extends to the depths, casting an enigmatic spell over everything around it. Even the launches on the big harbor tours become quiet - as if the passengers were intently listening to the city as it recounts its history.

Hamburg's Speicherstadt, the world's largest contiguous complex of warehouses, was built between 1885 and 1888. The occasion was Hamburg's entry into a customs union forced by Otto von Bismarck, the "Iron Chancellor." An old residential area was taken to build the Speicherstadt in the new free trade zone, with the result that around 20,000 people had to make way for commerce. The goods came directly across the water for delivery duty-free by barges. They were then stored in summer as in winter in the cool brick buildings. Customs duties were only levied on sales.

Even today, the warehouses and offices are still used to store treasures from all over the world: coffee, tea, cocoa, spices, tobacco, top-quality oriental carpets and computers too. A host of interesting museums attract tourists and locals alike to the Speicherstadt. The German Customs Museum, for example, showcases the hiding places favored by smugglers. In Spicy’s Spice Museum, you can smell and savor exotic wares. And in the Miniature Wonderland, you can marvel at the world's largest model railway while the Hamburg Dungeon is certain to send shivers up and down your spine. Another highlight is the “Dialog in the Dark.” In the setting of the Speicherstadt's former boiler plant, visitors can follow (true-to-scale) Europe's most ambitious urban development plan: the creation of the new HafenCity Hamburg.