Oberhafen Creative Quarter: Launch of the new ‘glimmer’ club

With the opening of glimmer, the Oberhafen is making a comeback on Hamburg’s club scene. Offering a mix of curated club nights with its own line-up and events organised by external collectives, glimmer will be setting new trends in Hamburg’s club culture from 2 October 2026. The venue’s programme will also be complemented by concerts and non-musical events such as readings, flea markets and theatre performances.

Dr Carsten Brosda, Senator for Culture and Media: “With glimmer’s innovative concept, this new club will be a real asset to Hamburg’s club scene. The site of the former Moloch will thus once again become a hub not only for music culture but also for even greater cultural diversity. glimmer fits perfectly into the ever-expanding Oberhafen creative quarter, alongside the neighbouring Deichtorkasematten and Deichtorhallen. From the Klosterwall to the Oberhafen quarter, a cultural mile is emerging, featuring music, visual arts, photography and the creative industries. This demonstrates the added value that can be created for the whole city when spaces for creative professionals are actively incorporated into urban planning.”

Christina Geib, Managing Director of HafenCity Hamburg GmbH: “Together with many partners from the city and the creative industries, we are developing the Oberhafen into a creative quarter. We are delighted that Club glimmer complements the existing diversity and makes the Oberhafen attractive to new target groups. Furthermore, the development remains exciting and we are preparing the surrounding halls for further new arrivals.”

Egbert Rühl, Managing Director of Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft: “Like many of our projects, the Oberhafen thrives on the fact that we do not develop spaces on the drawing board, but rather enable, test and jointly refine their uses. Our experience with the Moloch has shown us very clearly what a club needs at this location – and this has been directly incorporated into the development of the site. The fact that another club, the glimmer, is now moving into the Oberhafen is therefore an important next step. The team brings an ambitious concept to the neighbourhood that fits very well with what the Oberhafen stands for: creating space for creative ideas and giving them a long-term future.”

Anton Burmester, Johann Kipping and Luke Mehrhoff, glimmer: “We’re absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to create a new club in the Oberhafen. Club culture is, unfortunately, not faring particularly well in many places, and even in Hamburg its potential has certainly not yet been fully realised. Doing our bit to help the scene grow is a challenging task that we’re tackling with great enthusiasm. We’re working to create a glimmer that isn’t merely perceived as a club, but one that enriches the already diverse Oberhafen with a cultural centre worthy of the name.”

For the club’s operations, the former locomotive shed – covering an area of 548 square metres, divided into a 296-square-metre event space and a 252-square-metre ancillary area – has been renovated and extended. The space has been fitted with appropriate soundproofing and is approved for up to 600 people.

The Oberhafen district will remain, in the long term, the property of the ‘Stadt und Hafen’ special fund of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, represented by the municipal company HafenCity Hamburg GmbH. The renovation planning as part of the Oberhafen’s transformation into a cultural and creative quarter is being carried out with the aim of keeping rents as low as possible and maintaining reduced building standards, with the rental income over the assumed remaining lifetime of the buildings offsetting the costs of the basic refurbishment.

Several halls in the Oberhafen are currently being refurbished for new uses. The refurbishment work is being funded with around three million euros from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, including the development of the site for ‘glimmer’.

Since 2011, the Oberhafen quarter has been developing into a creative hotspot. The site, covering around 67,000 square metres, is being developed into an inner-city cultural and creative hub. The careful refurbishment of the existing buildings preserves their industrial character whilst opening up the quarter to new creative ideas. As part of previous calls for proposals, many exciting projects have already been realised for the Oberhafen quarter, including the successful dining concept Hobenköök, the Tom Reichstein Gallery and Lukulule, which offers music and dance for children, teenagers and young adults.

The development of the area is being driven forward by the municipal company HafenCity Hamburg GmbH, the ‘ Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft ’ mbH and the users’ committee Oberhafen 5+1 e.V. Since 2018, the latter has represented the interests of the Oberhafen community and has been actively involved in various areas, such as the design of open spaces, the letting of temporary test sites in the Gleishalle, and the coordination of events (including Oberhafen Day and the Hamburg Cultural Summer).