Helmut-Schmidt-Haus, Hamburg
The house in the headlines
How do you modernize an opinion leader? In the Helmut Schmidt House, the former Pressehaus, at times as many as three news magazines delivered the headlines that moved the entire country. Today, the newspaper industry is in the midst of a transformation that the building at Speersort has already successfully completed.
Helmut-Schmidt-Haus Facts
HELMUT-SCHMIDT-HAUS IN DETAIL
The house in the headlines
In harmony with the historic buildings, the arcade gallery facing the street was closed and new space was created. In addition to a high-quality extension of the office space, the entrance areas, staircases and elevator systems were upgraded through new design. Today, the spacious roof terrace offers a perfect view of Hamburg’s press landscape.
The material for the first page
“You need willpower – and cigarettes.” For Helmut Schmidt, both were crucial to good press relations. Since 1946, the Pressehaus has been the traditional home of ZEIT Verlag, the property’s main tenant. But long before the former chancellor began his second career as an editor here, Marion Gräfin Dönhoff, Rudolf Augstein and Henri Nannen fought over opinions and circulations in the clinker brick building.
Walking with the ZEIT
The historic building is located at the entrance to Hamburg’s Kontorhausviertel district, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is just a few minutes’ walk from the Mönckebergstrasse shopping boulevard and the city hall. The modernization of the building, which has space for 18,962 m² of usable space, is being carried out in accordance with the requirements of historic preservation. After Schmidt’s death in 2015, the traditional press address was renamed Helmut Schmidt House.