Stephansplatz (''Stephan Square'') is a square in Neustadt quarter,

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It is located at the junction of the streets of Dammtordamm,

Esplanade An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide cle ...

, Dammtorstraße, and Gorch-Fock-Wall, south of

Dammtor Dammtor is a zone (''Ort'') of the German city of Hamburg, situated between the quarters of Rotherbaum (in the borough of Eimsbüttel) and Neustadt (in the borough of Mitte). History Originally, the ''Dammthor'' was a city gate between the '' ...

area and Dammtor station. The square is named after

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

post director

Heinrich von Stephan Ernst Heinrich Wilhelm von Stephan (born Heinrich Stephan, January 7, 1831 – April 8, 1897) was a general post director for the German Empire who reorganized the German postal service. He was integral in the founding of the Universal Postal Un ...

, who is known for his role in the founding of the

Universal Postal Union The Universal Postal Union (UPU, french: link=no, Union postale universelle), established by the Treaty of Bern of 1874, is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that coordinates postal policies among member nations, in addition to t ...

. The square and a small part of the streets of Dammtordamm and Dammtorstraße had been renamed in the course of the inauguration of the historical building of Alte Oberpostdirektion (Old Hamburg Post Office Administration) at the square.

History

The oldest preserved building is the classicistic corner building Esplanade/Dammtorstraße from 1829. It was already scheduled for demolition, but then protected as a heritage site. The roof section was redesigned. Stephansplatz was renamed in 1887, when the Post Office Administration building was inaugurated. The building was constructed from 1883 to 1887 and was expanded in 1897. The building is listed since 1997. Since 2011, it was gutted and remodeled as a "Work Life Center", and only the facade and the entrance hall were preserved, some other parts were re-built in a similar style. The

Museum für Kommunikation Hamburg The (museum of communication) was a museum related to telecommunication and postal service in Hamburg, Germany. The museum in the building of Alte Oberpostdirektion at Stephansplatz, Hamburg, Stephansplatz square was owned by the ' (foundation fo ...

, which was formerly located within the building, was closed in 2009 and has been liquidated since. At the square, the historical building of Casino Esplanade, former Hotel Esplanade, built in 1907, is located. Until 2005, a footbridge led from Dammtor area through the building to the shopping street of

Colonnaden The Colonnaden (the colonnades, pl. also in German lang.) is a shopping street in Neustadt quarter, Hamburg, Germany. The street, now largely a pedestrian zone, forms a diagonal junction from Jungfernstieg boulevard to Esplanade/ Stephansplatz. I ...

. In 1922, the first traffic lights of Germany, earlier than at

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Potsdamer Platz Potsdamer Platz (, ''Potsdam Square'') is a public square and traffic intersection in the center of Berlin, Germany, lying about south of the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag (German Parliament Building), and close to the southeast corne ...

, were erected at Stephansplatz.Als dem Verkehr ein Licht aufging
Süddeutsche Zeitung, 5 August 2014, in German The KellJung line of

Hamburg U-Bahn The Hamburg U-Bahn is a rapid transit system serving the cities of Hamburg, Norderstedt and Ahrensburg in Germany. Although referred to by the term U-Bahn (the "U" commonly being understood as standing for "underground"), most of the system's ...

, later known as U1 line, was built below the square until 1929, when also the Stephansplatz station opened.

References

External links

* Squares in Hamburg Hamburg-Mitte {{Hamburg-geo-stub