Hamburg's new opera house: world-class architecture for HafenCity!

Hamburg's new opera house: world-class architecture for HafenCity!

Baakenhöft, Hamburg, Deutschland - Hamburg goes into the next round: Planning for a new opera house on the Baakenhöft in HafenCity has started. The HSO Projekt gGmbH was responsible for planning and construction. Five internationally respected architectural offices were invited to the competition, including the Bjarke Ingels Group from Copenhagen, Gerkan, Marg and Partner from Hamburg in collaboration with Diller Scofidio & Renfro from New York, Prof. Jörg Friedrich with Studio PFP from Hamburg, the Snøhetta office from Oslo and the office Sou Fujimoto from Tokio and Paris. The decision about the winner is expected for the end of 2025, as [Tablatt] (https://www.tablatt.de/nachrichten/architecture procedure-fuer-neues-hamburger-opernhaus-startet-667685.html) reports.

With the new opera house, Hamburg wants to create a cultural highlight that deserves a place in international comparison. Jörg Dräger from the Kühne Foundation emphasizes the importance of architecture for public spaces, while Hamburg's cultural senator Carsten Brosda speaks of an inviting place with architecture by world rank. The patron Klaus-Michael Kühne provides up to 330 million euros for the new building, whereby the exact contractual details were recorded in a contract concluded in February.

a committed project

The agreement between the city of Hamburg and the Kühne Foundation, which drives the new construction of the opera, was announced on February 7, 2025 by Mayor Peter Tschentscher, cultural senator Brosda, Jörg Dräger and Karl Gernandt. It should be mentioned that the originally planned notary date was canceled to have additional conversations. The aim is to build an opera house of world rank that can be compared to the Elbphilharmonie. The Kühne Foundation plans to cover the construction costs without feeling the money of taxpayers. Nevertheless, there is no specific sum in the contract, even if the NDR has previously been spoken of.

The city of Hamburg, however, will contribute a maximum of 150 million euros to protect against storm surges. Interestingly, the old State Opera from 1955 is preserved as a cultural site, while the Kuehne Foundation has a say in the competition for the architect. After completion of the new building, possibly until 2032, this will then go on the property of the city.

a clear timetable

The Hamburg citizens still have their consent to the new building. In order to keep the exact processes transparent, the contract is published in the transparency portal. The city will open up the property and the Kühne Foundation will take over the financing of the building. The Hamburg State Opera, the Hamburg Ballet and the Philharmonic State Orchestra are already intended as future users of the new opera house. But not all voices are enthusiastic: Critical voices have concerns about the decision -making processes and the lack of citizen participation, the monument association also started a petition to further use the old state opera in the usual building. This shows that in Hamburg there are also different opinions about dealing with opera culture, such as the side of Hamburg politics.

Overall, it will be exciting to observe how the project develops further and which architectural concepts will ultimately be awarded the contract. Hamburg is therefore preparing for a new cultural stage that carries both risks and opportunities.