Hamburg is an uber cool city. I love everything about it; the architecture – old and new, the canals, the parks, the concert hall, and the exciting red light district which is more of a party area than anything else. Thus, it is no wonder this Hanseatic city throbs with street art. In fact, Hamburg street art spotting is one of the most fun things to do in this cosmopolitan port city and many tours revolve around it. During one of my visits there, I spent a lot of time in the Saint Pauli district and thus saw a lot of stunning street art.

I love this Bambi from my Hamburg street art photography collection.

Hamburg street art = counter-culture?

What makes Hamburg so popular with street artists is perhaps its racy nature that gives rise to a counter-culture attitude. Owing to its identity as a port city and the Reeperbahn red light area, Hamburg is associated with wealth, freedom, hedonistic pleasures, art, and lively culture. The city’s youth are drawn to social and political issues and they are deeply fond of music and literature. Music, in fact, plays a huge role in Hamburg’s cultural life and it started with The Beatles performing here in the 1960s. Live music continues to be a part of Hamburg attractions and one can find all kinds of musicians and bands playing here. This eclectic artistic taste has given rise to a wide variety of graffiti themes and Hamburg street art abound with cartoons, colours, ideas, caricatures, and stencil work.

Hamburg street art photo essay and route

Best of Hamburg street art can be seen at Altona, St. Pauli, Karoviertel, and Sternschanze. Presenting some photos from my Hamburg street art collection. I am also sharing out a street art route, for those of you who are interested in seeing some of these works. This route has been crafted by Cora and Helen from Insideoursuitcase and I have used it during my Hamburg visit.

  • Start with Sternschanze. It is a perfect start especially if you are getting the metro to the St Pauli area.
  • Susannenstraße 26
  • Susannenstaße 35
  • Schulterblatl 78
  • 27 Juliusstraße
  • Flora Park
  • Schulterblatl 92
  • Rosenhofstraße 13
  • Rosenhofstraße 16
  • Bartelsstraße 22
  • Schanzenstraße 24
  • Schanzenstraße 6
  • Augustenpassage 21
  • Schlachthof Passage 1
  • Neuer Kamp 31
  • Sankt Pauli Fischmarkt 18

Goddess with skull by Hamburg artist Anna T-Iron. Location: Paul-Roosen-Straße 28

Streetart Hamburg: Graffiti Innerfields Seebär Sternschanze Frau Elbville Hamburg Companion

The last seaman is located in a backyard between no. 57 and 69 in Lippmannstraße. Photo Credit – Elbville

Streetart Hamburg: Graffiti schwarze Spinne Gängeviertel Frau Elbville Hamburg Companion

Black Widow by Nychos is located at Speckstraße. Photo Credit – Elbville

I love this fish

Streetart Hamburg: Hans Albers Graffiti St. Pauli Frau Elbville Hamburg Companion

The mythical character called Hans, the blonde is located at Hein-Hoyerstraße 34-38. Photo Credit – Elbville

NOTE – “Writings on the Walls” is an ongoing series in which I hope to collate awesome street art from around the world. If you wish to collaborate, please email me at svetlanabaghawan@yahoo.com and we can take it from there.

Follow the rest of the street art series

RESPONSIBLE TRAVELING-BECAUSE I CARE