Hamburg joined Germany in 1871, and Otto von Bismarck demanded taxes. Hamburg refused. After ten years of argument, they compromised: the mainland would pay taxes, but these islands would stay duty-free. The Speicherstadt was born from this standoff.

Two medieval neighbourhoods, Wandrahm and Kehrwieder, were demolished to build the warehouse district. Only the Wasserschloss survived. This water palace housed technicians who serviced the electric pulleys and machinery. The Speicherstadt had Hamburg's first electric power plant, installed to prevent fires from destroying the prized district.

The warehouses became obsolete when standardised shipping containers arrived in the 1950s and 60s. The district transformed into a cultural center and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015. Today it holds museums, theatres, historic coffee roasting houses and the Miniature Wonderland, the world's largest model railway exhibition.

VoiceMap's self-guided audio tours reveal how Bismarck's tax compromise created this duty-free zone, explain why the Wasserschloss alone survived, and trace the district's evolution from working port to cultural landmark.