When you ask a resident of Hamburg about the Elbphilharmonie, it may very well be that you are able to bring him out of his reserved Hanseatic shell. After all, the palacial concert hall has become a bone of contention throughout the city. The reason: the costs for this prestigious project have now topped around 100 million euros more than the estimate at the beginning of construction. Plus, a number of complications have postponed the scheduled opening in 2010 to the end of 2012 at the earliest. All the more reason to admire the wealth of ideas from the city’s cultural events management: in spite of all the setbacks, top-class philharmonic concerts are already taking place – even if not in the actual Elbphilharmonie. Instead, alternative concert locations are stepping in, with success. Even in its unfinished state, and despite all the discussions about it, the Elbphilharmonie is still very impressive. Situated at the Kaispeicher A in HafenCity, the building juts out futuristically into the panoramic view of the harbour. Just by the looks of it, you have the feeling that your concert experience there will some day be something quite special. By the way: many of our holiday apartments, for example in the Deichstraße and city centre, are virtually around the corner from the Elbphilharmonie. Programm Elphilharmonie-Konzerte: http://www.elbphilharmonie.de (English and German) Directions U3 yellow line, with stop at "Baumwall" Bus 3, with stop at "Auf dem Sande"