Kleiner Grasbrook

Kleiner Grasbrook is a small island quarter in Hamburg-Mitte, surrounded by branches of the Elbe. It lies between Steinwerder to the west, Veddel to the east and Wilhelmsburg to the south, with HafenCity to the north. Almost all of the land is taken up by port facilities and storage areas. The island is linked to the rest of Hamburg by dams and bridges. The quarter has a long history tied to the port and to dramatic events. In 1400 or 1401 the privateer Klaus Störtebeker was executed here. During the Second World War the area suffered heavy bombing in Operation Gomorrah. In February 1962 a North Sea flood inundated the island and caused serious damage. Today Kleiner Grasbrook is mainly an industrial zone. There are no schools, doctors’ surgeries or pharmacies on the island. A small residential area remains, with fewer than 1,200 people living in 694 households. The port’s cranes and warehouses dominate the skyline, and only the occasional flood defence marker recalls the island’s past.