Sternschanze

Sternschanze is a quarter in the center of Hamburg within the Altona borough. In 2014, the population was 7,776 on an area of 0.6 sq km with a density of 14,113 inhabitants per sq km. After Reeperbahn, it's Hamburg's best known entertainment and nightlife district. It is also known as Schanzenviertel and nicknamed Schanze.HistoryThe name of the quarter originates from a sconce (German: Schanze) formed like a star which has been built in the area in 1682 in front of the Hamburg city walls. From the 1930s to the 1970s the quarter was home for a large number of working class people. Only since the 1970s, families and students started to move into the area. It is nearly, but not fully congruent with the entertainment district of Schanzenviertel with its many bars and clubs, which is dubbed "Schanze" by its inhabitants. In the local slang, they live "in the sconce" ("in der Schanze").Also the former concert house/theater building of Rote Flora (built in 1888 as Flora concert hall) is located here, at the street of Schulterblatt. It was squatted by leftist groups in 1989, after there were plans since 1987/88 to rebuild it as a new musical theater, which was then realized near Holstenstraße station as Neue Flora. Since the beginning of the occupation, Rote Flora was used for cultural events by the squatting groups. In 2000, the building was acquired by real-estate agent Klausmartin Kretschmer, and in the contract Hamburg city prohibited him of any alterations. Because he regardlessly planned to do so, conflicts arose with the residing groups. In 2014, Hamburg city re-bought the building to avoid further conflicts, which was then renovated in 2015 by volunteers.