Following the road over the Kornhausbrücke bridge in the direction of the Elbe will take you to the central junction of Speicherstadt, City and HafenCity, St. Annenplatz. Since 1904 the administration of the Speicherstadt, Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG, or HHLA for short, has resided there: with the arcades, clock towers and an impressive entrance hall with cross-ribbed vaulting, the architects of the time deliberately took up stylistic elements that characterised the town halls of the imperial era.

A few meters away, beyond St. Annenfleet and St. Annenplatz, at the entrance to HafenCity, lies the square that has been christened “Dar-es-Salaam” and – just like the statues of the circumnavigators – is intended to symbolize Hamburg’s international character. The names of places in HafenCity gave rise to long and extensive mockery and annoyance, since Mahatma Gandhi Bridge and Chicago Quay had so little to do with Hamburg and its beloved, if slightly snooty, port folklore.

Continued: Störtebeker statue: a monument to Hamburg’s worst enemy