For its 30th anniversary, the Deichtorhallen Hamburg will present a special exhibition with photographs, films, posters, guest books, and catalogs. It traces the history of the Deichtorhallen Hamburg, which opened as an exhibition venue on 9 November 1989. Since then, 266 exhibitions have been realized with works by some 2500 artists.
The Deichtorhallen Hamburg takes its name from the Deichtor, which marked the southeastern entrance to the city fortification in the Middle Ages and connected the city with the area by the Stadtdeich and Hammerbrook. After the Deichtor was moved and ultimately demolished, the space was used for a market. In 1911 construction on permanent market halls began, although they were not able to keep pace with the rapid growth of the city of Hamburg. The wholesale market moved, and in the 1960s a wholesale flower market moved into the halls, which today host major international exhibitions.
The cornerstone for the use of the Deichtorhallen as an exhibition venue was laid by Kurt A. Körber. The Körber Foundation funded the restoration and renovation of the halls from 1988 to 1989 before handing them over to the city of Hamburg on the occasion of the 800th anniversary of the harbor.
Since then, the Deichtorhallen Hamburg has presented visual art and photography from the 20th and 21st centuries in particular. Since 2005, the House of Photography has been located in the southern hall, which is based on the founding director Professor F.C. Gundlach’s collection on permanent loan. In 2011 the Hall for Contemporary Art and the House of Photography were joined by the Falckenberg Collection in Harburg.
