History of the Altona fish market
As early as the beginning of the 18th century, Altona fishermen were given the opportunity to sell their catches on Sundays at the gates of Hamburg. Even then, it was stipulated that haggling and trading was only permitted until 9:30 am. The market could not open any later than this so that the delicious fish and seafood would not spoil in the sun and the fishermen would still arrive on time for church. Nevertheless, the Altona fish market only developed into Hamburg's largest staple market and crowd-puller after a few detours. Initially, many local fishermen continued to sell their goods at the more important hop market in Hamburg. It was not until 1715 that Detlev Christian had the fish market completely rebuilt and attracted additional visitors by relocating the fruit and vegetable trade. As a result, not only eels and herrings, but also dairy products, fruit, vegetables, meat, sausages and everyday products were now offered on the Elbe. Thanks to the incredible variety, the market quickly gained public importance. By 1870, however, the site had become too small and had to be fundamentally expanded. By 1889, the Altona market had clearly surpassed the auction turnover of the old Hamburg rival market and sold tons of fresh fish every Sunday. At the same time, the weekly market attracted numerous visitors, private and bulk buyers to Altona, so that the city had a new fish auction hall built by 1896. In order to withstand the growing competition in the surrounding area, Hamburg and Altona finally merged their fish markets in 1934. The fish market was only canceled during the Second World War. However, the historic market was resumed not far from the Landungsbrücken in 1948. The historical merger of the city's fish markets in particular still causes confusion today. After all, the Altona fish market, the St. Pauli fish market and the Hamburg fish market all describe the same institution. Nevertheless, the fish market in Altona can look back on almost 300 years of history, while St. Pauli has only been involved in the market since 1870. At that time, the local fish market was moved from Hamburg city center to St. Pauli due to a lack of space - right next to the Altona fish market. When Hamburg and Altona merged their fish markets in 1934 to counter the growing competition from Cuxhaven and Geestmünde, Altona took over the administration of the new, large market, but the Hamburg fish market was born.