Entertainment in Hamburg
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Elbphilharmonie
A squat brown-brick former warehouse is being transformed into the new Elbphilharmonie, due for completion by 2012. Pritzker Prize-winning Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron are responsible for the design, which, like their Tate Modern building in London, boasts a glass top. This time, however, they're being far more ambitious, as the glass facade should be taller than its brick base and the roof line will rise in wavelike peaks to reflect the waterfront location.
reviewed
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Musikhalle
The premier address for classical concerts is this splendid neobaroque edifice, home to the State Philharmonic Orchestra, among others. Along with the opera house, it's now artistically directed by the world's leading female conductor, Australian Simone Young.
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Lago Bay
Lago Bay is wedged between Hamburg del Mar (which looks like a pirates' cove with its famous St Pauli skull-and-crossbones flags) and Hamburg City Beach Club (with its Moroccan lounge). Refreshingly, you can actually swim at this chic retreat. Sun-loungers are arranged around the outdoor pool, while free exercise classes will help you keep fit, er, between cocktails.
S-Bahn Königstrasse will get you here, or catch bus 112 to Hafentreppe/Fischmarkt and walk for five minutes straight ahead or west from Hafentreppe; downhill from Fischmarkt to the riverbank and then right or west.
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Hafenklang
A collective of Hamburg industry insiders, including Jan Drews, present established and emerging DJs and bands, as well as clubbing events and parties. Look for the spray-painted name on the dark-brick harbour store above a blank metal door.
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Schmidt Theater
This plush former ballroom now stages a cornucopia of saucy musical reviews, comedies, soap operas and variety shows. Midnight shows follow the main performance, and there's a smaller cabaret-comic venue, Schmidt's Tivoli, attached.
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Central Park
A beach bar without water? 'No problem', said its enterprising owners, who built this summer garden smack bang in the grungy Schanzenviertel. Music, snacks, massages and a kid's playground are often joined by sculpture exhibitions.
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Golden Pudel Club
In a ramshackle wooden fisherman's hut, this bar-club was established by members of legendary Hamburg band Die Goldenen Zitronen and gets packed to the rafters for its quality electro, hip-hop, R&B and reggae gigs.
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Astra Stube
This graffiti-covered red building underneath the railway tracks looks totally unpromising, but it's actually a pioneer of Hamburg's underground scene, with DJs playing experimental electro, techno and drum and bass.
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Strandpauli
Tuesday is tango night at this Gilligan's Island stretch of sand overlooking the heart of the busy docks. The reed-thatched shack looks a bit out of place, but the beer, cocktails and sausages hit the spot.
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Docks
Although it's officially now called D-Club, everyone still calls this place by its former name Docks. It has less than perfect acoustics, but an excellent roster of guitar-led bands and reasonably cheap drinks.
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Abaton Kino
Several cinemas screen movies in the original language with subtitles. Look for the acronym 'OmU' (Original mit Untertiteln). Venues include Abaton Kino in Universitätsviertel and 3001 in Schanzenviertel.
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3001
Several cinemas screen movies in the original language with subtitles. Look for the acronym 'OmU' (Original mit Untertiteln). Venues include Abaton Kino in Universitätsviertel and 3001 in Schanzenviertel.
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Quatsch Comedy Club im Café Keese
The Keese has had a chequered career. It went from being a dance hall to pick-up bar with table telephones. Now it's a comedy club run by Thomas Hermann, a (smiling) face frequently seen on German TV.
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China Lounge
Stylish without being snootily exclusive, this leading mainstream venue boasts four areas playing electro, house, hip hop and R&B. A huge laughing Buddha looks down on the main floor.
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Nouar
A popular late-night bar with students and other denizens of the nearby Schanzenviertel, this place has that relaxed secondhand look going on and a fondness for football during the week.
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Angie's Nightclub
When many visitors think of Hamburg nightlife, they immediately think of Angie's. Floy, 'the white queen of soul', plays live as guests - sometimes celebrities - sip cocktails genteelly.
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Café Knuth
Altona stakes its own claim on the olive-green retro style seen across the city. Students, creative types and work colleagues come to chat in its split-level lounge areas.
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Thalia Theater
This intimate, galleried venue with a central stage is fond of cutting-edge adaptations of classics and cinema (for example, from Krzysztof Kieślowski and Lars von Trier).
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English Theatre
Predominantly British actors perform mysteries, comedies and the occasional classic, such as Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie, at this venue in Winterhude.
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Nachtasyl
Hamburg's city centre is usually like the Mary Celeste of an evening, but it does boast this unusual beauty, with its high-arched ceiling and embossed wallpaper.
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Theater Im Hafen Hamburg
Across the harbour, the yellow tent resembling a giant bee hosts Der König der Löwen ( The Lion King ). A ferry shuttles here from Landungsbrücke 1.
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Fabrik
To the west of the Schanzenviertel, Altona is more gentrified and has a unique cultural centre, Fabrik, in a former foundry.
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Operettenhaus
Mainstream musicals are seemingly as popular in Hamburg as they were in London during the 1990s. Big glossy musicals like Mamma Mia are staged here.
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Staatsoper
Among the world's most respected opera houses, the Staatsoper has been directed by the likes of Gustav Mahler and Karl Böhm during its 325-year-plus history.
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Cult
Claiming to be Hamburg's most beautiful club, Cult serves up an unintimidating, good-time mix of '70s and '80s music in its shiny, cathedral-like main room.
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