Energieberg Georgswerder, Hamburg-Wilhelmsburg

The double-secured landfill on the Elbe island of Wilhelmsburg in the Georgswerder district, which was closed in 1979, has long been used as a research object for the problems of dumping and sealing hazardous substances against groundwater and the possibilities of vegetation on the surface, and has been converted into a regenerative energy mountain: The energy generated in the mountain in the form of gases is collected, wind turbines and a photovoltaic field on the mountain generate additional energy. As part of the IBA Hamburg, an international realization competition was launched with the aim of making the mountain accessible to the public as a viewing point and communicating the history and progress of research on the landfill. The competition team Häfner/Jiménez Büro für Landschaftsarchitektur, Berlin, and Siegmund Konermann Architekten, Hamburg, won the competition in 2009 and in the following years realized the horizon path and other landscape architectural installations on and around the mountain as well as the exhibition building.
The substance of the “technical structure of the landfill mountain” was interfered with as little as possible. The supporting idea is an artificial promenade, the horizon path, which circles the mountain peak. It offers an unobstructed view in all directions and forms a unique place to move and stay on the mountain. The skyline of the city center, the silhouette of the port of Hamburg with its cranes and bridges, the view of the industrial and cultural landscape form a spectacular panorama. The path follows a contour line below the mountaintop. In some places it rests on retaining walls of the terrain, in some places it swings out of the mountain on a bridge construction.
At night, the mountain shines as a mysterious glowing white ring: the outside of the railing of the Horizon Trail, illuminated with LEDs, becomes a horizontal landmark visible from far away, complementing the vertical accent of the existing wind turbine on the peak. In this way, the mountain is transformed from a garbage mountain with a bad image to an energy mountain and usable open space that is accepted by the people of Hamburg and their guests as a new destination for excursions.

Location: Fiskalische Straße 2, 21109 Hamburg-Wilhelmsburg, OT Georgswerder
Completion: 2013
Client: Authority for Urban Development and the Environment Hamburg
Size: 110,000 m2
Gross construction costs: 4,800,000 euros
Specialist planning for bridge construction: Martin Sauerzapfe Architekten
Structural design: ifb Berlin
Prizes:
1st prize in the 2009 international realization competition with Siegmund Konermann Architekten (exhibition building).
Special award Sustainable Outdoor Facilities to the German Landscape Architecture Award 2015
IBA excellence award 2013
iconic design award winner 2013
Photos: Hanns Joosten, Berlin