Romance in Brick

The Speicherstadt with its red bricks, neo-gothic bay windows, gables and pinnacles seems to the viewer almost medieval but this is only the facade. Behind the castle-like appearance the buildings house an ultra-modern logistic support structure catering even to the highest technical requierements. To reduce the danger of fires gas amd oil lamps were banned and all storehouses were fully electrified as early as 1888. The Speicherstadt had its own engine house where generators and the pumps for the hydraulic winches worked – powered with steam from the neighbouring boiler house. In 1901 another power station in block U was launched because the newly installed graders and the machines for sifting and peeling the raw coffee beans also needed a reliable power supply.