The house
Retreat oasis in the nature reserve
Spend the night at Hotel
Mellingburger Schleuse
Idyllically situated and yet very close to the city: you can reach Hamburg city center in just 25 minutes for shopping, museum or restaurant visits. The Alstertal shopping center, one of the largest in northern Germany, is only a few minutes away by car.
Our team
We are a family-run business; the friendliness and quality that we embody in the diversity of our services are a matter of course for us. In everything we do, we consistently focus on the needs of our guests.
The history of the house
The Mellingburger Schleuse is not only one of Hamburg’s most traditional restaurants, it is also one of the oldest inns in northern Germany.
The building with its characteristic thatched roof, which has been preserved to this day, was opened as the “Krog” back in 1717. Over the centuries, the small inn, where the towboat sailors once broke their arduous journey on the Alster and slept on the warm stove bench, has become a large building complex including a hotel with 47 comfortable rooms.
Hamburg prospered in the Middle Ages
The Alster was of fundamental importance for Hamburg's foundation and development in the Middle Ages. The river not only provided drinking water, but also the water power for the mills that were necessary for the production of bread and beer. Wood, the most important building and fuel material, was floated into the city via the Alster for centuries. By joining the Hanseatic League of trading cities in the 14th century, Hamburg developed into the most important German trading center between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea and achieved unprecedented prosperity. The city secured the rights to use the course of the Alster and in 1448 decided to create a navigable connection between Hamburg and Lübeck with the Alster-Beste Canal. The rivers Beste and Trave were already navigable at that time.
The Alster Canal is created
For this mammoth project, an eight-kilometre-long trench, the Alster Canal, had to be excavated. To compensate for the 17-metre gradient, nine locks were built in the Alster, four locks in the Alster Canal (gradient of eight meters) and eight locks in the Beste (gradient of 15 meters). The demand for building materials, especially for lock construction, was enormous. The towpaths along the Alster and several bridges over the Alster were also built during this time. The entire Alster valley resembled a huge construction site where several thousand people were working.
Locks with bar - the first jug house
With the construction of the 21 locks around 1529, the Hamburg Council appointed a lockmaster for each lock, and in some cases lockmasters' houses were built. The lockmaster's house at the Fuhlsbüttel lock was first mentioned in 1633 as a "jug house" because the lockmaster had the right to serve beer in addition to supervising the locks and mills. Unfortunately, the Krughaus at the Fuhlsbüttel lock no longer exists; it was washed away by the Alster flood in 1707.
Treideln and Alsterböcke
With the completion of the locks, the waterway with sufficient draught along the Alster was created for the barges ("Alsterböcke"). The ships were pulled by men and women as well as by horses with ropes, i.e. "treidelt". Depending on the water level, the descent took about two to three days with the current of the Alster.
The lock keeper had the task of ensuring a favorable water level by positioning the lock weir. When the lock was opened, the ships drifted downstream on the tidal wave to the next lock. The upstream journey on the Alster was much more difficult and took at least a week, and up to four weeks if the water level was poor.
The Krog at Mellingburger Schleuse opens
Shipping to Lübeck was discontinued as early as 1550, as there was usually a lack of water on the apex of the canal between Nienwohld and Sülfeld. The Nienwohlder Moor lies on the watershed between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. The abundant peat available there could still be shipped as fuel from the Heidkrug lock in Kayhude on the Alster to Hamburg. <br>
In 1717, the lock keeper's house at Mellingburger Schleuse was opened as a Krog.
2013 until today
It was not until spring 2016 that a new owner was found in the form of the Hamburg hotelier family Kleinhuis, who have been running Baseler Hof on the Esplanade in the city center for over 115 years. Niklaus Kaiser von Rosenburg, the director and partner at the time, was also involved and explained to the Hamburger Abendblatt newspaper when he took over: "We are focusing on tradition and want to make Mellingburger Schleuse a place of hospitality for the people of Hamburg once again." This has been achieved, partly because the location directly on the Alster river is unique and the historic building is also a rarity.
Passion for classic cars
To celebrate the centenary of the Kleinhuis Hotel Baseler Hof, a classic car rally was organized for the first time.
Since then, enthusiasts of motorized classic cars have been meeting in June for a varied rally around Hamburg.
Save the date!
The next classic car rally will take place on June 22, 2025. Further information will follow.
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