Culture Café

In the heart of the cultural metropolis Hamburg you can find the Elbphilharmonie's Culture Café (»Kulturcafé«) at the Mönckeberg Fountain

In Summer 2009 the Elbphilharmonie's Culture Café at the Mönckeberg Fountain opened. Centrally located, residents of Hamburg and tourists can find info regarding concerts and other cultural offerings in the Hanseatic city there, and enjoy a latte macchiato by Starbucks at the same time.
At the Elbphilharmonie's Culture Café all info about the city's cultural offerings is collected and clearly displayed. The emphasis is on personal dialogue, in addition the internet sites of Hamburg's various cultural institutions can be accessed, and the spectacular »Infonoster« elevator connects the information- and ticket sales area on the ground floor with the café on the first floor. There you will also find a small stage with a piano that is used for a diverse program of events.

Elbphilharmonie Culture Café in a nutshell

Address Am Mönckebergbrunnen/Barkhof 3, 20095 Hamburg
Opening hours Monday to Friday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday 10 to 6.
phone +49 40 – 357 666 66
fax +49 40 – 357 666 888
email tickets@elbphilharmonie.de
manager Mr. Andreas Stonus

Program of events on the first floor

The program of events on the first floor of the Elbphilharmonie's Culture Café consists of a debate series, a jazz and a children's series. A new artist will be presented every two weeks, from the field of art, culture, music, literature, film, opera, theater, with paintings, performances, and installations. In the course of a conversation lasting roughly an hour the audience gets to know the guest better, and learn about his/her artistic visions and private preferences. There is an opportunity for the audience to ask questions at the end. In addition, musicians from Hamburg's high profile jazz scene perform once a month.

The history of the pavilion

As a consequence of the construction of Mönckeberg Street in the years 1904 to 1912 through the so called »Gänge« quarter in the historical heart of Hamburg, a little triangular plaza emerged at the beginning of Spitaler Street and Lilien Street. Originally, a 30 meter high edifice was supposed to have been built on that plaza, in the style of the surrounding buildings. However, the city's building director Fritz Schumacher (1869–1947) managed to convince his critics that the plaza should be occupied by a building »of completely different dimensions and a different type than the surrounding office blocks,« because he considered this new, proposed building too important for such a pivotal point in the inner city to look like the rest. Based on his suggestions, the ensemble of the Mönckeberg Fountain arose as a monument to mayor Johann Georg Mönckeberg, together with a small sandstone building used as a public »Reading Hall.« The fountain is ornamented with two human bronze figures and two sea lions, as well as a column crowned by a lion, as a reference to the mayor's nickname (»the lion«) during whose term of office the Hamburg population doubled.