Haus der Patriotischen Gesellschaft

The listed “House of the Patriotic Society” on the Trostbrücke is located where the old Hamburg City Hall stood from the 13th-century until its demolition in the great fire of 1842.

The Haus der Patriotischen Gesellschaft is considered to be one of the most significant monuments in Hamburg. It is located in the city centre where the old Hamburg City Hall had stood for nearly 600 years until its demolition in the great fire of 1842. One and a half years later, the Council of the Patriotic Society, whose own house on the Großen Johannisstraße had also fall into the same fire, decided to take over the plot of land at the Nikolai canal for a new building. After a competition in 1844, the building was built according to plans by Theodor Bülau between 1845 and 1847; it was the site where political decisions were made for nearly half a century: From 1847 on, the members of the Hamburg Artists’ Association, founded in 1821, held their meetings there. From 1848 to 1850, it was the meeting place of the Hamburger Constituent Assembly, and from 1859 to 1897 of the citizenry. The establishment of a restaurant on the ground floor in 1912 was followed by economic difficulties. Thus, the Overseas Club took over the building with the right of usufruct to modify and reconstruct the building. In June 1923, the building was classified as a historical monument. In September 1943, it was largely destroyed in a bombing raid. It was reconstructed beginning in 1945 with the goal of building a “simple and functional” hall. Its rooms are now named after the founding fathers of the Patriotic Society Reimarus, Kirchhof, Sonnin, Tonnies und Büsch. The SAALHAUS GmbH, a subsidiary of the Patriotic Society, rents these halls for events and thus generates funds for its charitable work.