The Altonaer Fischauktionshalle hosts company parties, gala dinners, conferences, trade fairs, product launches and film shoots for up to 4,200 people. The former fish auction hall stands on the bank of the Elbe in Hamburg's Altona district, at Große Elbstraße 9, beside the Sunday fish market.
Seminars and company events
The hall is sold for company celebrations, banquets, gala evenings, conferences and congresses, trade fairs, product presentations and film productions. The venue's team runs the event from planning to the last guest: catering and service, decoration, technical production and entertainment, along with the equipment needed on the day. Organizers are shown several layout concepts for dividing and dressing the hall. Stage design, sound and lighting are planned with the technical partner Nordlite, and walking acts, live bands, DJs and performers can be booked through the partner agency MEG. Floor plans of the ground floor and upper level, the outer dimensions and power plans for each level can be downloaded from the official site.
Rooms and capacities
The hall measures 100 by 20 meters. The ground floor covers 2,300 m², and each gallery adds 350 m², for 3,500 m² of usable space in total. The dome rises 24 meters above the floor. The first gallery sits 4.25 meters above floor level and the second 7.25 meters. All gates are 3.80 meters high.
The venue states these capacities: a standing reception for up to 3,500 guests, a banquet at long tables for up to 1,800, a banquet at round tables on the ground floor for up to 800, and rows of chairs on the ground floor for up to 1,200. It gives 4,200 people as the upper limit for the hall, depending on the layout.
Catering
Catering and service are provided by the venue's own team, which includes a kitchen director. Menus are planned with the event team as part of the overall proposal. The official site does not say whether an outside caterer can be brought in.
History and setting
The city of Altona, then separate from Hamburg, built the hall at the landing place of the Elbe fishermen to keep the fish trade in Altona after Hamburg joined the German customs union. Emperor Wilhelm II inaugurated it in 1896. The building follows the plan of a Roman market basilica: three naves, a central crossing under a dome, red brick walls and a roof of iron and glass on a riveted steel frame.
Bombing in World War II destroyed the dome and burned the roof. The auction stopped in the mid-1950s, and by the early 1970s the hall stood empty and was due to be demolished. Restoration began in 1982, guided by archive plans and photographs. The dome, roofs and gables were rebuilt and the decoration was redesigned by the architect. Since 1985 the hall has hosted public and private events. Every Sunday from 6 a.m. to noon it opens to the public for the fish market, with live music and drinks.
With the gates open, guests see ocean ships pass on the river, with views of the port cranes, the Elbphilharmonie and the Landungsbrücken piers.
Getting there
Take the S-Bahn to Reeperbahn station, then bus 111, which stops in front of the hall about 4 minutes later. Harbor ferries stop at the Altona Fischmarkt pier, directly behind the hall. Drivers can use a car park with more than 150 spaces, which is closed to event parking during the Sunday fish market. The site lies in a flood-risk area by the river.
