The Chilehaus (, "

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

House") is a ten-story office building in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It is located in the Kontorhaus District. It is an exceptional example of the 1920s Brick Expressionism style of architecture. This large angular building is located on a site of approximately , spanning the Fischertwiete Street in Hamburg. It was designed by the German architect Fritz Höger and finished in 1924. As part of Kontorhaus District, it was inscribed as a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

in 2015.

Design

The Chilehaus building is famed for its top, which is reminiscent of a ship's prow, and the facades, which meet at a very sharp angle at the corner of the ''Pumpen-'' and ''Niedernstrasse''. The best view of the building is from the east. Because of the accentuated vertical elements and the recessed upper stories, as well as the curved facade on the Pumpenstraße, the building has, despite its enormous size, a touch of lightness. The building has a

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete, also called ferroconcrete or ferro-concrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having higher tensile strength or ...

structure and has been built with the use of 4.8 million dark Oldenburg bricks. The building is constructed on very difficult terrain, so to gain stability it was necessary to build on 16-meter-deep reinforced-concrete pilings. The location's close vicinity to the

Elbe The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, Upper and , ) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Republic), then Ge ...

River necessitated a specially sealed cellar, and heating equipment was constructed in a caisson that can float within the building, so the equipment can't be damaged in the event of flooding. The sculptural elements in the staircases and on the facade were provided by the sculptor Richard Kuöhl. The building hosted 2 sets of paternoster lifts before being modernised in 1991.

History

The Chilehaus building was designed by the architect Fritz Höger and built between 1922 and 1924. It was commissioned by the shipping magnate Henry B. Sloman, who made his fortune trading saltpeter from

, hence the name Chile House. The cost of construction is difficult to determine, as the Chile House was built during the period of

hyperinflation In economics, hyperinflation is a very high and typically accelerating inflation. It quickly erodes the real versus nominal value (economics), real value of the local currency, as the prices of all goods increase. This causes people to minimiz ...

that struck Germany during the early 1920s, but is estimated to have been more than 10 million reichsmark. Currently it is property of the German real-estate company Union Investment Real Estate AG. The language school Instituto Cervantes is one of the tenants.Instituto Cervantes de Hamburgo
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Gallery

Innenhof Chilehaus Hamburg.jpg, Chilehaus: Inner courtyard Chile Haus abend 1.JPG, Chilehaus at night Chilehaus-1565.JPG 2013-06-08 Projekt Heißluftballon - Highflyer DSCF0976.jpg, Aerial view, Kontorhausviertel Hamburg-090613-0211-DSC 8308-Chilehaus.jpg, Entrance A - note the Coat of arms of Chile atop the gates. Chilehaus (Hamburg-Altstadt).Detail.5.ajb.jpg, Facade details Hh-chilehaus-det1.jpg Chilehaus (Hamburg-Altstadt).Detail.7.ajb.jpg, A

condor Condor is the common name for two species of New World vultures, each in a monotypic genus. The name derives from the Quechua language, Quechua ''kuntur''. They are the largest flying land birds in the Western Hemisphere. One species, the And ...

, national bird of Chile. Chilehaus (Hamburg-Altstadt).Detail.4.ajb.jpg Chilehaus (Hamburg-Altstadt).Fassadendetail.ajb.jpg Hamburg.Chilehaus.Fassade.Fischertwiete.wmt.jpg Hamburg.Chilehaus.Spitze.plastiken.wmt.jpg, Ornaments at the tip Hamburg-090613-0212-DSC 8309-Chilehaus.jpg, Courtyard File:Hamburg_03-2023_-_2.jpg File:Hamburg_03-2023_-_3.jpg File:Hamburg_03-2023_-_4.jpg

References

External links

Speicherstadt and Kontorhaus District with Chilehaus / UNESCO Official WebsiteChilehaus webcam
from Chilehaus towards Hamburg- Speicherstadt, Elbe Philharmonic Hall and Hamburg Harbour {{Authority control Brick Expressionism World Heritage Sites in Germany Buildings and structures completed in 1924 Buildings and structures in Hamburg-Mitte Modernist architecture in Germany Heritage sites in Hamburg Tourist attractions in Hamburg Office buildings in Germany