Fischauktionshalle

This guide to Fischauktionshalle in Hamburg opens in the 1890s, when small boats fishing the river Elbe were being squeezed out by giant steam trawlers and wholesalers who could refuse a fair price. It follows Altona, a rival Prussian city locked in old rivalry with Hamburg, as it builds a public auction hall in 1896 with trained auctioneers whose job was to wring the best price from dealers, fish by fish. Steel columns still hold up the three-aisled, basilica-style roof where the auctioneer's voice once rang.