The first house on the square: The Laeiszhalle is Hamburg's traditional venue for exquisite musical experiences with a special focus on early music, recitals, chamber music and jazz.
On 4 June 1908, the Laeiszhalle, Germany's largest and most modern concert hall at the time, was officially opened. The well-known Hamburg shipowner Carl Heinrich Laeisz had stipulated in his will that the company F. Laeisz donated the sum of 1.2 million marks, thus enabling the construction of "a worthy place for the practice and enjoyment of noble and serious music". The sum was later increased by his widow Sophie Christine Laeisz. The architects Martin Haller and Erwin Meerwein, who had already made a name for themselves with the construction of the town hall in Hamburg, built the neo-baroque concert hall, which is still one of the most beautiful in Europe today. The resident orchestra of the Laeiszhalle is the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra.
Invited guests: The stars of classical music
The Laeiszhalle Hamburg has had its role to play in musical history right from the very beginning: Prominent artists such as Richard Strauss, Sergei Prokofiev, Igor Stravinsky and Paul Hindemith all performed and conducted their own works here. The 12-year old wunderkind Yehudi Menuhin played his violin to great acclaim at the Laeiszhalle in 1930, and Maria Callas' legendary concerts at the Laeiszhalle will never be forgotten. After the Second World War, the Laeiszhalle, having survived the bombing of Hamburg undamaged, experienced an unusual intermezzo: The occupying British forces used the building as studios for the military broadcasting station BFN and stored over 60,000 jazz records in the Brahms-Foyer. Chris Howland started his career as a radio DJ at the Laeiszhalle.
Multifaceted music culture
Even after the opening of the Elbphilharmonie in 2017, the Great Hall of the Laeiszhalle remains one of the best philharmonic concert halls in Europe. The Hamburg Symphony Orchestra regularly gives concerts here as the resident orchestra, while many other orchestras, choirs and event organisers provide a varied programme. World-class pianists such as Grigory Sokolov and Martha Argerich and singers such as Cecilia Bartoli and Jonas Kaufmann also swear by the hall with its excellent acoustics and special ambience.
The Elbphilharmonie and Laeiszhalle are under the joint general directorship of Christoph Lieben-Seutter.
