Hamburg Karoviertel part 3: the buildings

I noticed walking around the Karoviertel what I have noticed already around northern parts of Hamburg. The buildings (some) are built thinking on a possible flood. As you can see in the two photos above, there are some stairs (at least one meter and a half high) that lead to the main entrance to the buildings.

And as I said, this is not only present in the Karoviertel, but in several neighborhoods around Hamburg. I might say around 15 % of the buildings have these characteristics. I wonder why they did not built the rest this way, as floods are not uncommon in Hamburg.

However, it is funny (or ironic) how under the stairs are sometimes shops, restaurant or even apartments. I remember when we were looking for an apartment to rent, one of the options was to live in one of this places. I could not even think of how dark this place would be.

If you are in the Karoviertel and you see this kind of entrances, try to catch a glimpse of the inside entrance. I did and it was wonderful decorated. Again, art nouveau / jugendstil style.