REEPERBAHN 80

In recent decades, one of Hamburg-St. Pauli’s most lucrative plots on the corner of Reeperbahn/Hein-Hoyer-Street has stood as an undeveloped wasteland. 

In the 19th century, the plot started out as the Viennese Café Martens. However, this was destroyed during a Second World War bombing raid. Out of the bombed-out ruins, a snack stall called The Hot Corner [Zur Heißen Ecke] emerged. Although the historical record is vague, this 24-hour food outlet appears to have been truly legendary as its sale to property developers in the 1990s inspired Germany’s most successful musical of the same name which, after more than 20 years, is still running at the Schmidts Tivoli theatre opposite, that is after being seen by more than three million visitors in 5000 performances.

After being sold to Burim Osmani for almost two million Deutschmarks or one million Euros (5000 DM or 5000 €/m2), thus making it one of the most expensive plots in St. Pauli, Osmani purchased some of the neighbouring properties which would enable him to build a large Osmani tower. However, after Osmani’s arrest and subsequent imprisonment for obtaining fraudulent bank loans worth millions of Euros, none of these plans were ever realised.

However, the latest building application appears to be different, with plans to build a six-storey hotel (117 rooms) including a restaurant on the ground floor, a nightclub in the basement, and a media wall on the façade. Here is a timeline of recent events:

2012 – A building application was made

2015 – The planning application was approved.

2020 – The site was fenced off

2021 – Neighbouring buildings were demolished.

2022 – Civil engineering work was carried out with bored pile walls, shoring beams, and cross bracing to secure the neighbouring buildings.

2023 – A crane with a nine-metre foundation was erected so that structural work could begin.

1956