After years of delays, the Elbphilharmonie will open in Hamburg in January

Berlin - The Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg will officially open in January 2017 after years of construction delays. This was announced by Hamburg's mayor Olaf Scholz to foreign journalists in Berlin. This building will become a new landmark of the harbor city, and Hamburg officials expect it to become a tourist magnet as well. In the first half of next year alone, concerts at the Elbphilharmonie could attract up to half a million visitors.

Construction of the Elbphilharmonie began in 2007, and according to the original plans, it was supposed to be completed in 2010. However, construction delays and subsequent legal disputes regarding cost responsibilities have led to several years of delay, and the building is only being completed in these days. In the coming months, it will still be necessary to ensure the interior furnishings.

With the construction delays, the cost of the building has also increased. Total expenses have reached 865.6 million euros (23.4 billion CZK), of which Hamburg has paid 789 million euros (21.3 billion CZK). According to the original plan, costs were expected to be around 300 million euros (8.1 billion CZK), and the city was to cover 272 million euros (7.4 billion CZK). Scholz stated today that the estimates published from the beginning were unrealistic because Hamburg's city hall underestimated the planning and encountered many problems during construction for which it was unprepared.

"I believe that the enthusiasm for unique architecture will ultimately outweigh the impression of an overpriced construction," Scholz said, adding that the concert halls in the Elbphilharmonie evoke a similar feeling in visitors as a visit to a cathedral. "It could help us with the public that Hamburg offers affordable housing, there are plenty of places in kindergartens, and university education is free. Therefore, there are no claims that we had to limit social projects because of the Elbphilharmonie," he added.

"I am convinced that even if we had known the final cost from the start, we would have built the Elbphilharmonie. And if the city hall had planned more carefully in the past, costs could have been a third lower," the mayor noted.

The Philharmonie building is expected to become a new landmark of Hamburg, and the city wants to use it in an advertising campaign to attract new tourists. According to Scholz, Hamburg is already recording over 13 million tourist overnight stays annually, and their number increases by ten percent each year. "I believe that in the 2020s we will have over 20 million overnight stays annually, and that the enhanced image of Hamburg as a city of music will help with that," Scholz said.

A two-week celebration is being prepared for the opening of the Elbphilharmonie on January 11, 2017, during which symphony orchestras from Hamburg, Chicago, and Vienna, as well as the Berlin industrial band Einstürzende Neubauten, which is one of the most popular German groups, will perform in the Hanseatic city. After the festival, standard operations will begin, and the Elbphilharmonie will offer music from around the world.

"For the shortened season 2016/2017, which lasts five months, we plan nine thematic music festivals. For example, we will have five days with New York music ensembles or a music festival focused on Syrian music," said Philharmonie head Christoph Lieben-Seutter. According to him, long-term subscriptions are already on sale, and tickets for individual concerts will begin to be sold in June.

The Elbphilharmonie will offer 2,100 seats in the large hall and 550 seats in the small hall. The building will also be accessible to people who are not interested in classical music - at a height of 37 meters, there will be a freely accessible observation deck with restaurants circling around the entire Elbphilharmonie, providing a view of the entire Hamburg. "Our goal is for every Hamburger and every visitor to the city to visit the Elbphilharmonie at least once," Scholz said.