Sternschanze () (lit. ''Star Sconce'') is a quarter in the center of

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) within the Altona borough. In 2014, the population was 7,776 on an area of 0.6 km² with a density of 14,113 inhabitants per km².Ein kunterbuntes Viertel mit eigensinnigen Bewohnern
Hamburg.de, in German After Reeperbahn, it is Hamburg's best known entertainment and nightlife district. It is also known as ''Schanzenviertel'' () and nicknamed ''Schanze'' ().

History

The name of the quarter originates from a sconce (German: Schanze) shaped like a star that was built in 1682 in front of the Hamburg Wallring. From the 1930s to the 1970s the quarter was home to a large number of working-class people. In the 1970s, families and students started moving into the area. It nearly, but not fully, maps onto the entertainment district area of Schanzenviertel with its many bars and clubs, which is known as “die Schanze" by its inhabitants. In the local slang, residents here live "in the sconce" ("in der Schanze"). The former concert house/theater building Rote Flora (built in 1888 as Flora concert hall) is also located here, at the street known as Schulterblatt. It was

squatted Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there wer ...

by leftist groups in 1989, after plans in 1987/88 emerged to rebuild it as a new musical theater. These plans were later realized near Holstenstraße station as Neue Flora. Since the beginning of the occupation, Rote Flora was used for cultural events by the squatting groups. In 2000, the building was acquired by real-estate agent Klausmartin Kretschmer, under a contract where the city of Hamburg prohibited him to make any alterations. Because he planned to make alterations anyway, conflicts arose with residents. In 2014, Hamburg city re-bought the building to avoid further conflicts; the building was renovated in 2015 by volunteers. Since the beginning of the new millennium, Sternschanze is ''en vogue'' and subject to

gentrification Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has ...

. Nevertheless, political demonstrations, mostly by leftist groups, take place here and sometimes lead to clashes with the police, frequently on 1 May ( German Labour Day).

Graffiti Graffiti (singular ''graffiti'', or ''graffito'' only in graffiti archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written "monikers" to elabor ...

paintings can be found on many walls throughout the quarter. In 2008, the area of Schanzenviertel, which formerly was cut into three parts by the boundaries of Hamburg-Mitte,

Eimsbüttel Eimsbüttel () is one of the seven boroughs (Bezirke) of Hamburg, Germany. In 2020, the borough had a population of 269,118. History On March 1, 2008 Eimsbüttel lost part of its area to the borough Altona where it formed the Sternschanze quar ...

, and Altona, was merged into the new quarter of Sternschanze, which since then has belonged only to the Altona borough.

Politics

These are the results of Sternschanze in the Hamburg state election:

Geography

Sternschanze is located between the quarters of St. Pauli, Altona-Altstadt,

, and Rotherbaum.

Transportation

Sternschanze station is serviced by

Hamburg S-Bahn The Hamburg S-Bahn is a rapid transit railway system in the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. Together, the S-Bahn, the Hamburg U-Bahn, the AKN Eisenbahn, AKN railway and the regional railway form the backbone of railway public transport in the city ...

(lines S11, S21, S31) and

U-Bahn Rapid transit in Germany consists of four systems and 14 systems. The , commonly understood to stand for ('underground railway'), are conventional rapid transit systems that run mostly underground, while the or ('city rapid railway') are c ...

trains ( U3 line), Feldstraße - which is officially located in neighbouring St. Pauli quarter - by the underground line U3 only. Schlump station is located on the north eastern boundaries of the Sternschanze quarter and served by underground lines U2 and U3.

References

External links

Sternschanze
at Hamburg.de, in German {{Authority control Altona, Hamburg Entertainment districts in Germany Quarters of Hamburg