Karl Lagerfeld: Hamburg names ugly street after him

Opinion

“Hamburg is the gateway to the world. But just the gateway.” This was a phrase his mother liked to use when she was alive, when people talked to him about his hometown. Although he was born here, he never thought the Hanseatic city was particularly cosmopolitan. The designer, who died in 2019, would probably feel vindicated if he lived to see Hamburg name a street after him. Or rather, a 155-meter-long section of the “Alster hiking trail.” It lies between the Adolphsbrücke and the end of the Neuer Wall luxury mile, where Chanel also operates a boutique. The “Karl Lagerfeld Promenade” is due to open here at the end of May.

The name may sound prestigious at first, but anyone who walks along the Alsterfleet with high expectations will be disappointed. A grey asphalt path, plain facades, and a huge demolition site on the opposite bank. A promenade as chic as an ill-fitting suit. During the day, people fish here, at night, dealers offer their substances. At least that’s what the salespeople in the surrounding luxury boutiques, whose back entrances lead to the future Karl Lagerfeld Promenade, say. Cigarette butts on the ground reveal that they sometimes take a short break here during the day. When the wind is bad, which is common in Hamburg, unpleasant smells waft from the direction of the nearby bridge passage.

The suggestion to honor Karl Lagerfeld with a street sounded so good at first. The idea came from Vivian Hecker, head of events and marketing at the Hamburger Abendblatt, and Robert Eberhardt, partner in Lagerfeld’s favorite bookstore Felix Jud. In 2019, they spoke together to Ralf Neubauer, head of the Hamburg-Nord district office. He also liked the idea, because after all, the name Lagerfeld stands for everything that the Hanseatic city would like to be: elegant and cosmopolitan.

Karl Lagerfeld: In 2017 he brought glamour to the Hanseatic city

But it is one thing above all: pragmatic. Since it can take years for streets to be renamed in Hamburg, it is usually easier to find a section that does not yet have a name. Like in a new development area, such as the Hafencity or the new center in Altona. There is even a Domenica Niehoff Twiete, named after Germany’s most famous prostitute. Since Karl Lagerfeld showed his at the Elbphilharmonie in 2017 and the event attracted worldwide attention, the Hafencity would have been an obvious location for a street named after him. But the officials saw things differently and decided: We will take the section of the Alster hiking trail.

The district committee and the Senate also enthusiastically approved the project. “With the new street names, we are setting important memorial points in public spaces,” said Carsten Brosda, Senator of the Hamburg Authority for Culture and Media. “My thanks also go to the districts that are intensively dealing with the naming of traffic areas and their historical significance.”

I met Karl Lagerfeld several times and knew him well enough to know that he didn’t like honors – and he probably wouldn’t have liked the promenade that was chosen. Although there is no official statement from Chanel, they are elegantly reserved with their comments. Only the raised eyebrows of some people we spoke to give an idea of ​​what the luxury brand thinks of this initiative. On May 30th, Chanel will still hold a lunch with the initiators. The gesture counts. There are no plans to add greenery to the new, but gray, promenade for the time being. Instead, the city has commissioned a “special cleaning” for the asphalt path. A quick pressure wash – very pragmatic.