The construction of the Landungsbrücken, the great piers for the passenger ships, was started in 1839. Like most of Hamburg´ s buildings for public transport, built around 1910, the piers were given an impressive facade. The massive square building seems rather archaic. Allegorical sculptures on either sides of the middle part of the building, restored between 1975 and 1976, depict the winds. The tower on the east side of the building has a water gauge for the Elbe. The pier, destroyed during the war, was rebuilt between 1953 and 1955. 688 metres in length, it is made of concrete and covered by a deck.