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Hamburg · Venue

Fabrik

A 1,200-capacity concert hall in a rebuilt 1899 factory in Hamburg-Ottensen, with galleries facing the stage.

Upcoming shows
47
Capacity
1,200
Address
36 Barnerstraße, 22765 Hamburg
Phone
040 391070
Next show
Fri, 9 Oct 2026
Official siteDirections
Fabrik in Hamburg

About Fabrik

Fabrik is a 1,200-capacity standing venue in Hamburg’s Ottensen district, set inside a three-aisled former machinery workshop built in 1899. Its concert hall retains the industrial scale: 600 square metres on the ground floor, another 300 upstairs, timber structure, and galleries running around the room. Those upper levels give parts of the crowd a raised view of the stage, while an old crane above the entrance keeps the building’s working past in view.

A factory remade for culture

Painter Horst Dietrich and architect Friedhelm Zeuner opened Fabrik on June 25, 1971, converting the vacant Hespe & Lembach hall, once used to make woodworking machinery, into Germany’s first culture and communication centre. The project paired concerts with youth work, workshops, theatre and political discussion, placing a deliberately open cultural program in an industrial building years before such conversions became commonplace.

Its early concert history arrived fast. On September 28, 1971, Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis played to a sold-out crowd of 1,200, with hundreds waiting outside; NDR describes the appearance as a signal event during his opposition to Greece’s military junta. A fire reduced Fabrik to its outer walls on February 11, 1977. Architects Gerkan, Marg and Partner rebuilt it in the image of the original hall, and it reopened in 1979.

The room today

Fabrik books a broad cultural bill: concerts sit alongside readings, theatre, debates, dance events and festivals, while daytime programming serves children and young people. For music audiences, the calendar’s range suits rock, alternative, indie, jazz, folk, R&B, pop and country bills. The central hall is the main draw: a high, nave-like space with wooden girders and two levels of wraparound galleries. Capacity falls to 350 for theatre seating, so a show’s format can reshape the feel of the room considerably.

Sources

  1. Geschichte — Fabrik Hamburg
  2. Fabrik in Hamburg: Eine kulturelle Institution seit 1971 — NDR
  3. Die Fabrik — hamburg.de
  4. Vermietung — Fabrik Hamburg
  5. Hamburgs Jazz-Clubs von gestern bis heute: Teil 2 – Die Fabrik — Jazz Moves

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