A Guide to Hamburg, Germany, According to Grammy-Winning Conductor Alan Gilbert

“There’s significant wealth,” he said. “But people are discreet, reserved, and ultra-cultivated, and the city itself is elegant, with lower buildings rather than skyscrapers.”

Gilbert, 56, shared some of his favorite Hamburg spots with Penta.

Stay

I stay in a gorgeous hotel called the Fontenay, in a beautiful location on the Alster [Lake]. It’s my home away from home, and I must be one of the customers who stays there the most. It’s got beautiful rooms and great service, and I’ve gotten to know the staff. It’s a modern hotel, the kind of place you imagine a Bond villain might stay.  

Eat

Der Etrusker is an Italian spot that’s been run by the same family for 40 years. Mamma still cooks in the kitchen, which is the size of a postage stamp. I am always amazed at how many meals they put out in space you can barely swing a cat in. It’s real Italian—I get the spaghetti alla olio. It’s not on menu, but they make it for me. I’ve come to know people in the [residential Rotherbaum] neighborhood over the years, too. 

Drink

I tend not to go to bars. But the Klimperkiste [in Neustadt] is an unbelievable spot with really cheap drinks. It’s a musician’s hangout, always jam-packed. After concerts, half the orchestra is there. The place has serious atmosphere and real bar food. There’s one waitress who’s incredibly friendly. Not long ago, I was at a table with 15 people. She took everyone’s order, drinks and food, didn’t write anything down, and didn’t miss a thing. It was the most skillful waitressing I’ve ever seen.

Play

The Alster Lake, where the hotel’s located, is a wonderful spot in Hamburg. On weekends, thousands of people walk around the lake. You see families, pets, people on the jogging trails.  

Sip

Nord Coast Roastery is a real hipster, high-quality coffee place in an alley in Alstadt, the old town.

Shop

The great Neapolitan tailors Kiton makes all of my clothes, including bespoke suits and what I wear for concerts. Their biggest store in Europe is in Hamburg. It’s a glorious shop, really beautiful. Every stitch here is done by hand. The materials are delicious and exclusive. The quality and workmanship is incredible. It’s not for everyday clothing. But it’s worth stopping in. 

For a fun specialty shop, there’s Violas’, which has locations across Germany. It’s a delicatessen and spice shop that also sells teas, herb mixes, and brining mixtures. I don’t really cook, but I love visiting Violas’ in [affluent northern-Hamburg neighborhood] Eppendorf. 

Explore

Rotherbaum is a neighborhood near the Fontenay [hotel]. It’s got a beautiful strip of mansions that are still lived in. The hotel is one of the first buildings as you leave the commercial district, and Rotherbaum gets more residential as you go further in. Many of the mansions are now divided up as condos, but still beautiful.

Experience

The [2017] opening of the [Herzog & de Meuron-designed] Elbphilharmonie changed Hamburg. It was a moment of civic renewal, and put Hamburg on the map as a classical music destination. Architecturally, it’s such an icon. Not so many buildings have come to define the cities where they are, like Sydney’s opera house. But the Elbphilharmonie is at that level of meaning. The people who run it are interested in everything from world music and jazz to electronic and classical. It’s an array of offerings unequaled anywhere in the world. When it opened, you couldn’t get a ticket for love or money, because people would get seats just to see the hall. You could tell because they’d leave halfway through a concert.

Visit

Capitis is a very small, highly curated, extremely interesting photography gallery. The guy who runs it is a real connoisseur, with a keen aesthetic sense. He highlights some famous photographers, but many unknowns. This is a part of Hamburg, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Straße, with a bunch of great galleries; across from Capitis is a very cool art space called Heliumcowboy. I became interested in photography during the pandemic. I got myself a nice Leica Q2 for my own feeble efforts, and it’s really fun. 

Discover

Tourists miss the Ohlsdorf Cemetery, but it’s worth seeing. At four million square meters, it’s the world’s largest cemetery park. I have a photographer friend who bikes. He took my daughter and me on a long bike ride through Ohlsdorf. It’s enormous, absolutely beautiful, and like a city of dead people. It was basically deserted and strangely peaceful. Not that I’m an aficionado of cemeteries.