By 1529, Hamburg was firmly anchored in Lutheran Reformation and had successfully managed to divert its trade away from the Baltic to more dynamic markets along the Atlantic.

[2] In advance of the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), the Hamburg Senate commissioned Dutch military engineer Johan van Valckenburgh to strengthen the city's defenses.

Up until the late 19th and early 20th century, Neustadt was famous for its many "Gängeviertel": quarters with narrow alleys (Low German: Gänge).

Neustadt is bordered by Binnenalster and Alster (i.e. Alsterfleet) to the East, Elbe to the South, and the former Wallanlagen (now made up by a string of parks) to the West and North-west; among those: Planten un Blomen.

Important squares in Neustadt include Johannes-Brahms-Platz, Gänsemarkt, Großneumarkt, Millerntorplatz, Schaarmarkt, Sievekingplatz, Stephansplatz, and Zeughausmarkt.

Up until the late 19th and early 20th century, Neustadt was famous for its many "Gängeviertel": quarters with narrow alleys (Low German: Gänge).

Designed by Alexis de Chateauneuf (1799–1853) and built in the year after the Great Fire (1842), it was one of the first buildings in the redeveloped urban ensemble between Jungfernstieg and Rathausmarkt.