Peterstrasse
Petersstrasse transports the visitor to 17th century Hamburg, although the buildings here are reconstructions and did not originally stand in this area of Hamburg’s Neustadt. Only on the south side opposite is the Beyling-Stift, a preserved original building. Between 1966 and 1982, Alfred Carl Töpfer erected reconstructions of original upper middle-class Old Hamburg town houses here, creating an ensemble that is unique for Hamburg, even though it also provoked accusations of historical misrepresentation. Today, the ensemble has been transferred to the Alfred Toepfer Foundation and most of the flats behind the listed façades are rented out cheaply to senior citizens.
The name Peterstraße goes back to St. Peter’s Church, as streets here were named after the patrons of the main churches in the old town in the 17th century. From left to right, according to the plaques on the houses, the houses of the following original addresses (and year of construction) can be seen restored in the panorama: Haus Michaelisstraße 32 (1765), Katharinenstraße 6 (c. 1780), the former Justus’sche Haus at Gröningerstraße 20 (c. 1650), Düsternstraße 8 (c. 1760), Gröningerstraße 1 (c. 1730) and Hüxter 6 (c. 1680).
Composers’ Quarter Hamburg
Peterstraße is the centre of the Composers’ Quarter (Komponistenquartier) in Hamburg. The quarter is an ensemble of six museums dedicated to historical composers active in Hamburg. While five of these museums are located on the south side of Peterstrasse, the Carl-Philipp Emanuel Bach Museum is located on this side in the final building on the right edge of the street block.
