Construction of the Speicherstadt begins in Hamburg

Background. The Speicherstadt was established as a free zone to facilitate the transfer of goods without paying customs duties. An 1881 agreement was signed between Prussian officials and Hamburg representatives. Separately, Article 34 was recorded as applying to the district, meaning its freedoms could not be abolished or restricted without Hamburg's approval; the supplied passages do not state that the agreement produced this provision.

Clearance of Quarters. To create space for the new port area, the demolition of the Kehrwieder and Wandrahm quarters began in 1883. This process necessitated the relocation of more than 20,000 people. The construction was managed by the Freihafen-Lagerhaus-Gesellschaft, which also handled subsequent operations. The buildings were constructed on timber-pile foundations, specifically oak logs.

Governance and Agreement. An agreement signed in 1881 involved Prussian Finance Minister Karl Hermann Bitter, the State Secretary of the imperial Treasury, and Hamburg's Plenipotentiary Senators Versmann and O'Swald, with Dr Krüger acting as envoy of the Hanseatic states in Berlin. The supplied passages record that Article 34 would apply to the district, but do not describe the agreement's content or attribute that provision to the agreement.