Goldbekhaus

Goldbekhaus in Hamburg’s Winterhude district is a roughly 200-capacity concert room within the former Schülke & Mayr chemical-factory complex. Its distinguishing feature is the setting: the venue sits by the Goldbek Canal in a protected industrial ensemble whose history reaches back to 1890. Expect a local-scale show experience inside a wider district cultural center, with the venue’s 200 m² hall serving as its largest event space.

A citizens’ project takes over a factory

Goldbekhaus grew from early-1970s neighborhood organizing, when Winterhude-Süd residents pushed for places to gather, create and spend leisure time. Four associations working across sport, cultural education, youth activity and international community events later formed the umbrella organization that became Trägerverein Goldbekhaus. After Hamburg’s Senate included the project in its district-culture funding plan, the association began operating in September 1981 following a major conversion of Schülke & Mayr’s former administration building.

The site carried a very different public function before that conversion. Schülke & Mayr built its Goldbekkanal works in 1890 and produced Lysol there; during Hamburg’s 1892 cholera outbreak, the company supplied disinfectant to the city in part free of charge. The company moved to Norderstedt in 1963 and sold the Winterhude grounds to the city, creating the conditions for the 1981 cultural reuse. That industrial past gives a concert here an architectural frame unusual for a neighborhood venue.

A flexible, neighborhood-facing room

Goldbekhaus books music within a broad public program shaped by concerts, parties, theatre, comedy, courses and initiatives from house and neighborhood groups. Its music offer spans R&B, jazz, folk, classical and pop. For shows, the 200 m² Halle is the largest option and has step-free access; the 110 m² Bühne zum Hof offers a smaller stage room with foyer and drinks counter. Seating and standing layouts can vary with the presentation, so the room suits intimate concerts, dance events and mixed-format bills.