ROTE FLORA

The Rote Flora is the central and emblematic building of the district and its political commitment(rot = red). It has had an eventful history. It is a former entertainment theater built in the 19th century and squatted since 1989, which became the center of demonstrations and protests. Today, only the façade remains, covered with political banners, posters and graffiti. The theater was also used as a ballroom and the garden was turned into a bunker (it can still be seen in the garden behind, untouched). During the Second World War, the theater was one of the few monuments not to be destroyed by Allied bombing. It then became a cinema and a discount supermarket... In the 1980s, a rich investor wanted to transform it into a music hall. The inhabitants were then firmly opposed to this project, which did not correspond according to them to the district and to the DNA of the place and which risked making the price of the rents rise. The project was therefore abandoned and most of the theater was destroyed by the city in 1988. In 1989, the Rote Flora opens and becomes an alternative and cultural place considered as a self-managed squat. In 2017, it was from there that the protests during the G20 held in Hamburg started. The fight of the inhabitants for the conservation of the Rote Flora represents perfectly the rebellious character of the district where the inhabitants, very attached to the spirit of the latter, fight to avoid a massive gentrification.