The Treppenviertel (“Stairs Quarter”) is a neighborhood within the Hamburg district of Blankenese, located about 10 kilometers west of the city center. It is bordered by Süllberg, Baurs Park and the Hesse Park and, to the south, by the banks of the Elbe. There are few motorable roads in it. The majority of the houses can only be reached on foot via more than 5000 steps, which are spread over various staircases. The location on the Elbe slope is described in travel guides as “Mediterranean” and is therefore referred to, slightly ironically, as “Riviera“. When the weather is good, the view from the upper properties extends as far as the Altes Land.
The former fishing village is characterized by a high number of old buildings, although after the Second World War a number of historic “Tweehüser” (simple semi-detached houses) were demolished and replaced by modern buildings that have changed the character of the district. Intact fishing houses can still be found today at Am Hang, Bremers Weg (around 1850) and Op’n Kamp (built in 1786). Moderately modernized houses with “Lüttwohnungen” (small housing) for “old people” are located on the streets Rutsch and Krumdal (built around 1800). In the course of the analyzes for an upcoming renovation, it turned out that the core of the house at Elbterrasse 6 was built in 1570 and is therefore the oldest surviving house in the Altona district and one of the oldest houses in Hamburg.
A particular challenge is garbage collection in the Treppenviertel, as it cannot be accessed by Hamburg city cleaning vehicles. That’s why bag collection exists there as a regular form of garbage disposal. According to the Senate‘s assessment, there is no alternative to bag collection in the medium term.
For example, the artists Paul Kayser and Paul Friedrichsen as well as the writers Charitas Bischoff and Hans Leip lived in the Treppenviertel, as well as, from 1913, the writer, Reich Foreign Minister and Reich Interior Minister Adolf Köster and his wife, the portrait and landscape painter Käthe Mahr-Köster.
