Very artsy, very alternative, very different not my world but the world which also exists here in…read moreHamburg. It probably makes even stronger contract next to the neighbours, well established editorial houses, oil companies' offices, Chanel is also not that far after all. In the Gängeviertel it feels very edgy, almost a matter of survival. We were not looking for new impressions, just caught some noise passing by. Was interesting to check it out but I was not inspired or impressed or touched. Three stars from me.

Relatively easy to navigate. English language books can be found on the third floor across from a…read morecomputer lab. The selection is not extensive. There are less than ten rows of books if my memory serves me right, but I found a lot that interested me. Movies on the lower floor also have English language audio options. I wish the search feature on the website was more user-friendly.

For a literature junkie such as myself the promise of being able to borrow books in my native…read morelanguage is enough of a lure to separate me from my bed, get up early on a Saturday morning and head down here... even though I was running on a few mere hours of precious sleep. The building that is home to the Zentralbibliothek is huge I park my bike only steps outside of it's doors and then it's two very large floors of exploring to choose from-where does one start. English is on the 2nd floor go up the stairs and then turn right and walk into the next room... we're housed next to the Children's section... I'm unsure whether this is a statement or a funny that they put the English readers next to the nosiest section of the place. There's plenty of chairs and tables to sit down and settled into a world or imagination and intrigue... or If your studying for an exam, tutoring English perhaps like myself... there are plenty of very dull reference books to choose from which which you can torture you pupils with :-) If reading isn't you style this Bücherhallen has a rather large collection of CDS, DVDS and audio books to keep you occupied with... I can, and have whittled away hours here at a time without even realising that it's getting late. A must for any book lover!