Klimahaus Bremerhaven 8° Ost

“We’re not in Dubai, are we?” asks a visitor approaching Bremerhaven from the sea, as he spots the city’s new landmark. Soaring upwards and swelling out like a billowed sail is a 147-metre-tall, glass-and-steel structure that conjures up images of Burj Al Arab, the world-famous luxury hotel. Walking along the promenade, the visitor is astonished to discover an even more impressive building behind the hotel: the Klimahaus® Bremerhaven 8° Ost. One hundred and twenty-five metres long, 82 metres wide and wrapped in a futuristic envelope of curved glass that shines with a silvery lustre, it looks like a cloud or a gigantic rubber dinghy. This spectacular building is the main attraction of ‘Havenwelten’ – the name given to the new district of Bremerhaven that has grown up around the old and new ports. This area lay derelict for decades, but the city has in vested some €300 million to transform it into a recreation, museum and science centre encompassing a seaside zoo, the German Emigration Centre and the German Maritime Museum. Now Bremerhaven has an additional archi - tectural highlight here: the ensemble comprising the new Klimahaus and the sail-shaped, four-star Atlantic Hotel Sail City. The Klimahaus, whose iconic architectural style is unashamedly based on prominent buildings in other countries, was designed by Bremen architect Thomas Klumpp, who had earlier created the Science Center Universum® Bremen for his native city.