Chilehaus

The Chilehaus is Hamburg's single most iconic building and the peak of German brick expressionism: a ten-story office-house complex whose eastern corner on Burchardstraße cuts into the sky like the sharp prow of a ship, built from 4.8 million bricks. Architect Fritz Höger designed it from 1922 to 1924 for the saltpetre merchant Henry Brarens Sloman, who had made his fortune trading with Chile - hence the name. The pointed south-east tip is one of the most photographed corners of Hamburg and has belonged, together with the Sprinkenhof, the Meßberghof and the entire Speicherstadt, to UNESCO World Heritage since 2015 - a uniquely intact ensemble of 1920s mercantile architecture that survives in this form only here. There is no museum inside, but the two large courtyards (Hof A with its fountain, Hof B with its detailed brickwork) are open to walk through, and the ground floor holds shops and a café. Photography tip: shoot the prow not from Burchardstraße itself but from the Pumpen/Brandsende corner opposite, ideally in the morning when the sun rises over the Speicherstadt and the brick façade glows red-orange. Getting there: U1 Meßberg, right at the entrance. Pairs perfectly with a 90-minute walk through the rest of the Kontorhausviertel (Sprinkenhof, Meßberghof, Mohlenhof) plus a 15-minute extension into the Speicherstadt.