“The window”
Hamburg’s best-rated attraction provides “never-ending joy” – and a lot of sarcasm online
Only five-star ratings for windows set into a noise barrier?
© Screen shot Google
“There are things that you have to see – ‘The windows’ are definitely one of them!” writes a user on Google about an attraction in Hamburg that has only been rated with five stars. But what is behind it?
“I’ve seen the Luxor in Las Vegas. I’ve been to the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. However, this dwarfs everything that has been there. I’m bubbling over with never-ending joy,” writes a user on Google. Another user agrees: “An engineering work that can only be compared to the pyramids. Convinced that it cost a lot of sweat and tears. Without a doubt, the best view of Hamburg,” says a Google review. But which imposing and visually stunning building in Hamburg does that mean? The Elbphilharmonie? The Michael? Or the Landungsbrücken?
Not even close. It’s about “The Windows” – an attraction in the Groß Borstel district, which shouldn’t mean anything to most tourists and also Hamburgers. And which is unlikely to be a “real” sight.
Sound insulation installation creates enthusiasm
Behind the “architectural masterpiece” is a simple noise protection wall, “which was built in the course of creating the Tarpenbeker Ufer residential area”. A spokesman for the Hamburg-Nord district office explained this to the “Hamburger Abendblatt”. According to him, the construction is also “not art in the narrower sense”. “The Hamburg-Nord District Office is not aware of the term ‘The Window’.”
The 800 meter long noise barrier consists of stones locked in a lattice cage. According to the district office, the three embedded in the wall would represent an offer “instead of being able to look at a noise protection wall through cleverly placed windows onto the tracks of the goods bypass and beyond to the Nedderfeld industrial park.”
“Absolute travel recommendation”
It is rather doubtful that the five-star reviews are serious ratings. Rather, the visitors: inside the “window” seem to allow themselves a joke in the usual sarcastic Internet manner – as in this review: “As an art patron, I traveled all the way from New York for this. And what can I say… I was overwhelmed The contemporary architectural language combines with the artistic view through the window to create an overall impression that not only gives those interested in art goosebumps.
I was assured by my assistant that even laypeople can feel the energy of the installation as a metaphorical journey to one’s origins. Absolute travel recommendation.”
Sources: Google reviews of “Die Fenster” Hamburg, t-online, Hamburg evening paper