Congress Center Hamburg

Last updated
Congress Center Hamburg
Luftaufnahme CCH in Hamburg.jpg
Aerial view of convention center (c.2007)
Congress Center Hamburg
Former namesCongress Centrum Hamburg (1973-2004)
AddressMarseiller St
20355 Hamburg, Germany
Location St. Pauli
Owner Hamburg Messe und Congress
Construction
Broke ground5 March 1970 (1970-03-05)
Opened14 April 1973 (1973-04-14)
Renovated2017-20
Construction cost DM 100 million
(176 million in 2019)

Congress Center Hamburg (formerly Congress Centrum Hamburg) is a convention center in Hamburg, Germany, located right next to Planten un Blomen, near the Hamburg Dammtor station. It opened on 14 April 1973 as the first of its kind in Germany. Since then, it has undergone multiple expansions and renovations, including a complete overhaul in 2017. In addition to conventions, it also hosts concerts, and has attracted artists such as Queen and ABBA. It has an attached hotel, the Radisson Blu Hotel Hamburg.

Contents

History

Congress Center Hamburg in 1973. Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F039666-0016, Hamburg, Kongresszentrum.jpg
Congress Center Hamburg in 1973.

The CCH was the first convention center in Germany. The government of Hamburg, including then-mayor Herbert Weichmann planned the center to promote tourism, being designed to attract the then-new concept of convention-goers. [1] It was initially planned to be built in the Karolinenviertel neighbourhood, but this was rejected as it would lead to the destruction of extant buildings; instead, it was built in Planten un Blomen. [2] The opening ceremony took place on 14 April 1973 with 3000 attendees, but the operators of the speaker system were absent, leading to "two hours of noise". [1] [3] The original design's lack of windows was liked by military representatives during the Cold War as they were afraid of spies. [1]

After the building was opened, it was expanded multiple times to increase its capacity. [4] In 2000, the foyer and restaurant annex was overhauled, and in 2006, Hall H was opened, adding a roof garden to the complex. [4] [5] [6]

A contest to overhaul the CCH was undertaken in 2014, which was won by Tim Hupe Architects; it was initially projected to cost 194 million euros. [4] [7] In 2017, it was discovered that the center was contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls and asbestos, necessitating further work. [8] The renovation involved adding capacity to the building and overhauling much of the rooms. [4] Although many parts were completely renovated, the heritage-listed brick walls of the main theater and aluminium "jug lights" were retained. The old foyer was replaced with a new multi-storey one with large glass windows that contains the largest pendant light in the world. [4] [9] A passage was added parallel to the halls to allow different users to occupy them concurrently. [7] The renovated center opened in 2022, at an increased cost of 297 million euros, caused by the asbestos contamination and COVID-19 pandemic. [7] [10]

Events

While the building services many trade congresses and conventions, it has also hosted concerts by Queen, ABBA, Hans Zimmer, and Deep Purple. Udo Jürgens had a bathtub installed in one of the cloakrooms, as he did not like showering. [1] [4] [9] It has also been home to many political party conferences. [4]

Location and capacities

The CCH is near the Planten un Blomen, the University of Hamburg, and the Hamburg Dammtor station. [1] [11] It is directly connected to the Radisson Blu Hotel Hamburg, which was opened in 1973 and renovated in 2009. [12]

The building has a total capacity of 105,000 square metres (126,000 sq yd), has over 50 rooms, and accommodates up to 12,000 people. [4] [10] The perennial roof garden on the top of Hall H is the largest in Europe. [7]

Venue configurations/capacities [13]
VenueCapacity
Hall 12,680
Hall 31,910
Hall 4672
Hall G1,058
Hall X1,338
Hall Y1,338
Hall Z820
Hall H6,930

The center is operated by Hamburg Messe und Congress, which also operates the Hamburg Messe. [14]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hamburg</span> City and state in Germany

Hamburg, officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, is the second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and 6th-largest in the European Union with a population of over 1.9 million. The Hamburg Metropolitan Region has a population of over 5.1 million and is the eighth-biggest metropolitan region by GDP in the European Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chaos Communication Congress</span> Annual hacker meeting

The Chaos Communication Congress is an annual hacker conference organized by the Chaos Computer Club. The congress features a variety of lectures and workshops on technical and political issues related to security, cryptography, privacy and online freedom of speech. It has taken place regularly at the end of the year since 1984, with the current date and duration established in 2005. It is considered one of the largest events of its kind, alongside DEF CON in Las Vegas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messe Frankfurt</span> Frankfurt trade fair

Messe Frankfurt is the world's largest trade fair, congress and event organizer with its own exhibition grounds. The organization has 2,500 employees at some 30 locations, generating annual sales of around €661 million. Its services include renting exhibition grounds, trade fair construction and marketing, personnel and food services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hamburg Hauptbahnhof</span> Main railway station of Hamburg, Germany

Hamburg Hauptbahnhof, or Hamburg Central Railway Station in English, is the main railway station of the city of Hamburg, Germany. Opened in 1906 to replace four separate terminal stations, today Hamburg Hauptbahnhof is operated by DB Station&Service AG. With an average of 550,000 passengers a day, it is Germany's busiest railway station and the second-busiest in Europe after the Gare du Nord in Paris. It is classed by Deutsche Bahn as a category 1 railway station.

<i>Das Floß der Medusa</i>

Das Floß der Medusa is a 1967 secular oratorio by the German composer Hans Werner Henze. It is regarded as a seminal work in the composer's alignment with left-wing politics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Planten un Blomen</span>

Planten un Blomen is an urban park with a size of 47 hectares in the inner-city of Hamburg, Germany. The name Planten un Blomen is Low German for "Pflanzen und Blumen" in German or "Plants and Flowers" in English.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hamburg-Mitte</span> Borough of Hamburg in Germany

Hamburg-Mitte is one of the seven boroughs of Hamburg, Germany, covering most of the city's urban center. The quarters of Hamburg-Altstadt and Neustadt cover much of the city's historic core. In 2020 the population was 301,231.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hamburg Dammtor station</span> Railway station in Hamburg, Germany

Hamburg Dammtor is a railway station for long distance, regional and suburban trains on the Hamburg-Altona link line, located in Central Hamburg, Germany. In front is a bus station of the same name for public transport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Museum for Hamburg History</span> History museum in Hamburg, Germany

The Museum for Hamburg History is a history museum located in the city of Hamburg in northern Germany. The museum was established in 1908 and opened at its current location in 1922, although its parent organization was founded in 1839. The museum is located near the Planten un Blomen park in the center of Hamburg. The museum is commonly reviewed among the museums of the city of Hamburg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dammtor</span>

Dammtor is a zone (Ort) of the German city of Hamburg, situated between the quarters of Rotherbaum and Neustadt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radisson Blu Hotel Hamburg</span> Hotel in Hamburg, Germany

Radisson Blu Hotel Hamburg is a hotel in Hamburg, Germany operated by Radisson Hotels under the Radisson Blu brand. At 108 meters, it is the tallest hotel in Hamburg and is on the list of tallest buildings in Hamburg and the list of tallest buildings in Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tonhalle, Zürich</span> Building in Zurich, Switzerland

The Tonhalle is a concert hall in Zurich, home to the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, one of Switzerland's leading orchestras. The 1455-seat hall, located at Claridenstrasse 7 in Zurich, was inaugurated in 1895 by Johannes Brahms. The hall is considered to be "acoustically superb". Since 1939, it is part of the building complex Kongresshaus Zürich.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephansplatz station (Hamburg U-Bahn)</span> Railway station in Hamburg, Germany

Stephansplatz station is a metro station served by Hamburg U-Bahn line U1. It is located at Stephansplatz in the Neustadt quarter of Hamburg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Altona Volkspark</span> Urban park in Hamburg

Altona Volkspark is a 205-hectare (507-acre) large urban park in the Hamburg district of Bahrenfeld, in the borough of Altona. Ahead of Hamburg Stadtpark, it is the largest park in Hamburg. Altona Volkspark is located some 3 km off the inner city. The largest parks in the city-center are Planten un Blomen and Alsterpark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Embassy of China, Berlin</span> Diplomatic mission

The Chinese Embassy in Berlin, officially the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Federal Republic of Germany is the head of the diplomatic mission of the People's Republic of China in Germany. There has been diplomatic mission of China in Berlin since 1877. The current embassy is located at Märkisches Ufer 54 near the Jannowitz Bridge in Luisenstadt in Berlin-Mitte. The seven-storey building, built in 1988 as the FDGB headquarter, was rebuilt from 1999 to 2001 to the present-day embassy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hamburg Messe</span> Trade fairground in Hamburg, Germany

Hamburg Messe is a business unit of Hamburg Messe und Congress GmbH.

Hamburg Messe und Congress GmbH is a legal entity owned by the city of Hamburg. The Hamburg exhibition complex is host to more than 40 events managed by HMC or third-party organizers annually, drawing over 15,000 exhibitors and 700,000 visitors. In addition, the CCH has hosted approximately 250 conferences, conventions, annual meetings and other events per annum until the end of 2016, attracting an additional 300,000 national and international attendees. The owners of the CCH, CCH Immobilien GmbH & Co. KG, launched a comprehensive remodeling and modernization campaign of the convention center in January, 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kongresszentrum Karlsruhe</span> Congress centre in Germany

The Kongresszentrum Karlsruhe, located in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, Germany is the largest inner-city congress centre in Germany, operated by the Karlsruher Messe- und Kongress GmbH. It is located within walking distance of the main railway station and comprises about 20,000 m2 (220,000 sq ft) of exhibition space in four halls arranged around the 10,000 m2 (110,000 sq ft) Festplatz.

DB InfraGO AG is a state-owned railway infrastructure company, operated as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn (DB) in the legal form of a stock corporation (AG), which was founded on 27 December 2023 by renaming DB Netz and merging DB Station&Service into this company.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Congress Center Hamburg: Neue Moderne im 70er-Jahre-Bau - ohne Udo Jürgens' Badewanne". Norddeutscher Rundfunk (in German). 3 April 2024. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  2. "Der lange weg in die krise". Die Neue Heimat (PDF). Materialien für die politische Bildung und die Demokratiebildung (in German). Landeszentrale für politische Bildung Hamburg. 9 July 2019. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  3. Bellmann, Alwin. "Zwei Stunden Lärm aus defekten Lautsprechern" (PDF). Hamburger Abendblatt (in German). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 May 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Historische Kontinuität - Kongresszentrum in Hamburg von Tim Hupe Architekten und agn Leusmann". BauNetz (in German). 17 May 2023. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  5. "Unter Planten un Blomen - Richtfest für CCH-Erweiterung in Hamburg". BauNetz (in German). 9 May 2006. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  6. "Erweitert - Grundsteinlegung für Umbau des „Hannover Congress Centrum". BauNetz (in German). 15 October 1998. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Sanierung des Kongresszentrums nach über fünf Jahren fertig". Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). 26 April 2022. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  8. Gaßdorf, Ulrich (8 October 2014). "CCH mit Asbest verseucht — ab 2017 wird das Gebäude saniert" . Hamburger Abendblatt (in German). Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  9. 1 2 "Wachgeküsst: Wie cool ist das "neue" CCH?". Norddeutscher Rundfunk (in German). 4 April 2024. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  10. 1 2 Preuß, Olaf (3 August 2024). "Congress Center Hamburg: Der neue Treffpunkt der Hansestadt". Die Welt (in German). Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  11. "Große Pläne mit dem CCH". Haufe.de (in German). 6 June 2019. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  12. Sullivan, Paul (14 September 2016). "Radisson Blu Hotel, Hamburg". The Telegraph . Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  13. "At a glance". Congress Center Hamburg. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  14. "Profil | Daten und Fakten zur Hamburg Messe und Congress". Hamburg Messe + Congress (in German). Retrieved 19 September 2024.

53°33′41.7″N9°59′8.46″E / 53.561583°N 9.9856833°E / 53.561583; 9.9856833