Alter Elbtunnel

What makes it special

Inside the domed entrance hall, giant lift shafts drop through the building. Big lift cages that once carried cars down to the tunnel still run beside the stairs and the small glass passenger lifts.

At the bottom, almost 24 metres below the river, two tiled tubes run 426.5 metres to Steinwerder on the far bank. Their walls are lined with some 400,000 glazed tiles in white and cream, under vaulted ceilings.

Every few metres a majolica relief breaks the run of plain tiles. They show water creatures and folk motifs: fish, crabs, mussels, sea stars, flounders and seals, with a few rats and pieces of rubbish among them.

Many of the reliefs you pass are originals from when the tunnel opened in 1911. The whole tunnel has since been restored to monument standard, work that took fifteen years.

Visiting

From the domed hall at the Landungsbrücken, ride down in one of the old car cages and look round inside it as it rumbles to the bottom. Once you are in, the ride takes a minute or two; the stairs and the glass lifts are the other ways down.

Walk across to Steinwerder in the east tube, which takes 10 to 15 minutes. Bikes use the lane down the middle and walkers keep to the pavements on either side, and the air below the river is cool and calm.

At Steinwerder, take the lift up and walk round the building to the platform beside the exit. From it you look back across the water at the Landungsbrücken, the Michel (the tower of St Michael's church), and HafenCity with the Elbphilharmonie.

To return, take the lift back down and walk the tunnel to the Landungsbrücken.

Tips

Come in the evening or at night to photograph the tube, when it is hardly used. After the old car cages stop for the day, the glass lifts and the stairs still take you down.

For the skyline, time your arrival at Steinwerder for twilight. At busy times a queue of cyclists can build at the lifts, so take the stairs down: they look straight out over the lift shafts.