The Kontorhausviertel — the office-building quarter — is a tight cluster of dark-brick early-20th-century office blocks just east of the Rathaus. Built between 1900 and 1940, these enormous "Kontorhäuser" replaced cramped medieval lanes with the new offices of Hamburg's shipping and commodity trading firms, and together with the neighbouring Speicherstadt the area was given UNESCO World Heritage status in 2015.
The Chilehaus, its bow-shaped façade, is the showpiece (see its own page). Other significant buildings in the same block include the Sprinkenhof, with its terracotta lozenge-pattern brickwork; the Meßberghof, a more austere late-1920s tower; and the Mohlenhof on the corner of the Brandstwiete. A 30-minute walking loop takes them all in.