It is located in the east of Hamburg-Nord, approximately five kilometers from Hamburg city center.

Settlement in the area began, as a large workers quarter had to be demolished prior to the construction of the Speicherstadt in 1883.

[2] In the same year also Eilbek, before that the southernmost part of the village of Barmbeck, became a quarter of Hamburg.

In 1907, the Hamburg-Altonaer Stadt- und Vorortbahn (Hamburg - Altona urban and suburban railway, now incorporated into Hamburg S-Bahn) with the Barmbeck station, now Barmbek station located in Barmbek-Nord, started operation.

Barmbek-Süd had faced major destruction during the Bombing of Hamburg in World War II.