A change is taking place at the top of HafenCity Hamburg GmbH. On November 1, 2021, Dr. Andreas Kleinau took over from Prof. Jürgen Bruns-Berentelg as CEO of the municipal HafenCity Hamburg GmbH, which, in addition to HafenCity, is now also responsible for three other major Hamburg urban development projects, either directly or through subsidiaries. Theresa Twachtmann joins as the new Managing Director. She will succeed Giselher Schultz-Berndt, who is leaving at the end of the year.
Dr. Andreas Kleinau, Theresa Twachtmann, Giselher Schultz-Berndt, Prof. Jürgen Bruns-Berentelg (v.l.n.r) © Stefan-Groenveld
Almost 25 years after Hamburg’s First Mayor Dr. Henning Voscherau first presented the vision of HafenCity in 1997, and some 20 years after ground was first broken, HafenCity’s 127 hectares of land are almost completely in the planning and realization stage. Various urban quarters have been created on the former port and industrial area, which will arrive at the Elbe bridges in a few years as an extension of the city center with the Elbtower visible from afar. However, development does not stop there: To the east and south of HafenCity, the new Grasbrook district and the commercially oriented Billebogen are being built, and to the west of Hamburg, Science City Hamburg Bahrenfeld. All three new development areas, as well as HafenCity itself, are the responsibility of the municipal development company HafenCity Hamburg GmbH (HCH), either directly or through a subsidiary.
Change at the top of HafenCity Hamburg GmbH
The shaping of this new generation of urban spaces goes hand in hand with a change of baton in the management of HafenCity Hamburg GmbH: on November 1, 2021, the long-time Chairman, Prof. Jürgen Bruns-Berentelg, and on December 31, 2021, the Managing Director Giselher Schultz-Berndt will retire for reasons of age. Bruns-Berentelg was appointed to the helm of HafenCity Hamburg GmbH in 2003, while Schultz-Berndt had already been involved in shaping Voscherau’s “secret HafenCity project” from 1996.
Hamburg’s First Mayor Dr. Peter Tschentscher and the Senator for Urban Development and Housing, Dr. Dorothee Stapelfeldt, thanked those responsible for many years and welcomed the new team.
Change at the top of HafenCity Hamburg GmbH
Dr. Andreas Kleinau
Dr. Andreas Kleinau studied business administration at the University of Hamburg and received his doctorate in the field of business data processing. In 1993, he began his professional career at Quickborner Team, a company specializing in organizational and real estate consulting. Five years later, he founded macon Gesellschaft für Unternehmensberatung mbH and developed location strategies, building concepts and innovative work and organizational solutions on behalf of national and international companies, turning the company into one of the most renowned consulting firms in the German real estate sector. In 2015, combine Consulting GmbH emerged from a merger of macon and the Quickborn team, with offices in Hamburg, Berlin, Munich and Düsseldorf. In an advisory role, he accompanied the decision-making processes of numerous major projects, including in HafenCity. In the fall of 2020, Dr. Kleinau joined the management of HafenCity Hamburg GmbH.
Theresa Twachtmann
Theresa Twachtmann was Head of Finance, Controlling and Treasury at Hamburger Hochbahn until she joined HafenCity Hamburg GmbH. With a degree in business administration, she began her career as a strategy and banking consultant at IBM in Switzerland. In 2008, she became commercial director of the renowned “Lucerne Festival” and also completed a master’s degree in Arts Administration. In 2013, she came to Hamburg, where she first took over the commercial management of the Thalia Theater and later worked as an independent management consultant for the Elbphilharmonie, among other projects. In addition to her many years of management experience in the private, public and cultural sectors, Twachtmann has served as a member of several supervisory boards. Due to her involvement in a wide range of projects, some of them international, she also has a broad understanding of urban planning and political contexts.
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