{"id":8073,"date":"2017-01-20T09:43:47","date_gmt":"2017-01-20T09:43:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=8073"},"modified":"2017-01-20T09:48:44","modified_gmt":"2017-01-20T09:48:44","slug":"grand-opening-of-the-elbphilharmonie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/grand-opening-of-the-elbphilharmonie\/","title":{"rendered":"Grand Opening of the Elbphilharmonie"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week on Wednesday, one of the largest, most modern and acoustically best\u00a0Konzerth\u00e4user\u00a0<\/em>(concert halls) in the world had its\u00a0Er\u00f6ffnungsfeier\u00a0<\/em>(inaugural ceremony) in Hamburg – the\u00a0Elbphilharmonie\u00a0<\/em>(Elbe Philharmonic Hall). It was highly anticipated, and the opening was a great\u00a0Erfolg\u00a0<\/em>(success). However, there were some issues with building it. And is it really that\u00a0toll\u00a0<\/em>(nice)? Is it worth the millions of\u00a0Steuergelder\u00a0<\/em>(tax expenses) that went into it? And – perhaps the most important question – how does it sound?<\/p>\n

Initial problems<\/strong><\/h2>\n

“Sie galt als Traum und Albtraum.”\u00a0<\/em>– Federal President Joachim Gauck at the\u00a0Er\u00f6ffnungsfeier<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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The Speicher<\/em> (storehouse) before its transformation. The glass construction was put on top. (Image by K.l.a.u.s. at De.wikipedia.org under license CC BY SA 2.0 de)<\/p><\/div>\n

In 2007, under then\u00a0B\u00fcrgermeister\u00a0<\/em>(mayor) of Hamburg Ole von Beust, the construction of the\u00a0Elbphilharmonie\u00a0<\/em>was initiated. The idea was to give the city a new\u00a0Wahrzeichen <\/em>(landmark) and to create a\u00a0kulturellen Leuchtturm\u00a0<\/em>(cultural lighthouse) for the citizens. The plan was to finish the building in 2010, but it was versp\u00e4tet\u00a0<\/em>(delayed) several times.<\/p>\n

It became the most expensive\u00a0Konzerthaus\u00a0<\/em>in the world at a cost of 886 million euros. This was more than 600 million euros more than initially planned! And with a delay of about 6 years, the planning for the building completely failed. But now that it is done, it is quite the impressive building…<\/p>\n

The building itself<\/strong><\/h2>\n

“Ein einzigartiges Haus, dieses Haus im Fluss, das nun entdeckt und mit Leben gef\u00fcllt werden will.<\/em>” – Federal President Joachim Gauck at the\u00a0Er\u00f6ffnungsfeier<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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Image by Avda at Commons.wikimedia.org under license CC BY SA 3.0<\/p><\/div>\n

The\u00a0large glass Philharmonie\u00a0<\/em>is 110 m high (about 330 ft). It was built onto a\u00a0Backsteinsockel\u00a0<\/em>(brick socket) on the right\u00a0Ufer\u00a0<\/em>(river bank) of the\u00a0Elbe. Depending on how you see it, the building looks like a large\u00a0Segel\u00a0<\/em>(sail), a\u00a0Welle\u00a0<\/em>(wave) or a\u00a0Quarzkristall\u00a0<\/em>(quartz crystal). With 120,000 m2 ( 1,300,000 square feet), it is very large, and comparable to the Sydney Opera House in size. Apart from a large\u00a0Konzertsaal\u00a0<\/em>(concert hall) that seats more than 2.100 people, there is a small\u00a0Saal\u00a0<\/em>for 550 people, a 5 star hotel with 240\u00a0Zimmer\u00a0<\/em>(rooms) and 45 Wohneinheiten\u00a0<\/em>(apartments), which cost up to 12 million euros, making them the most expensive apartments of Hamburg.<\/p>\n

The big question: Is the building really as great as everybody says? The video below goes through 5\u00a0Behauptungen\u00a0<\/em>(claims) about the building and breaks them down!<\/p>\n