Boulderwelt Hamburg
Hamburg, Germany
Specs: Boulderwelt GmbH—founded in 2010 and owned by Markus Grünebach, Sebastian Oppelt, Thomas Peter and Dave Cato—recently opened its eighth bouldering gym in Germany. According to Nadia Hoffmann, Head of Marketing at Boulderwelt, friends and climbing enthusiasts Cato, Grünebach and Peter “had the crazy idea to build the world’s biggest bouldering gym in Munich, Germany,” in 2009. At the time, bouldering was still a small niche sport in Germany, practiced primarily in training caves at lead climbing gyms—most of which were owned by the public organization Deutscher Alpenverein (DAV), or German Alpine Club, Hoffmann explained. “The private sector back then was not really existent, and our friends were called completely mad to build the gym [of] about 21,500 square feet,” she shared.
The first Boulderwelt gym, which opened in July 2010 at the Munich East train station, was built after “lots of trial and error, and immense help from friends,” Hoffmann recalled. “The main Boulderwelt vision was, and still is nowadays, to create a community for boulderers and provide a fun and safe space where people of all ages, backgrounds, and skill levels can come together and share their passion.” In 2012, the team started expanding its vision and built two more gyms in Frankfurt and Regensburg; in the same year, Sebastian Oppelt, now CEO of Boulderwelt, joined the ownership team. The fourth gym was built in Munich West in 2014. “The years between 2025 and 2019 we used as a [foundation] to expand our team, rethink all our processes, our brand values, and [corporate] design,” Hoffmann said. “In 2019, we opened our fifth gym in Dortmund with this new concept, moved our first gym in Munich to a new building, and in 2020—only two days before COVID hit us with lockdowns—we opened our sixth gym in the South of Munich.” Later, in 2022, the team added Boulderwelt Karlsruhe, and in December 2024 the most recent Boulderwelt Hamburg gym opened—both of which were constructed in their respective city centers.
Hoffmann stated the Boulderwelt team has been looking for new locations for years, and due to Hamburg’s size and potential it has always been on the list. “After years, we finally found this amazing place just in the city center, in a building whose ground floor—with over 32,000 square feet—had been empty for over 15 years,” she stated. “The gym has been renovated to our needs, and we just finished building and setting the gym just before Christmas on the 21st of December. What a great Christmas present to us and all boulderers!”
According to Hoffmann, the team’s long-term strategy has been “to grow at a healthy pace within a feasible timeframe,” a goal that has guided their development plans. “We prefer to do one location thoroughly rather than managing three or more locations only light-heartedly,” she added. Hoffmann also acknowledged the current economic situation carries some risk, noting “the bouldering market is not what it used to be, after COVID-19. Many German facilities are up for sale, and big investors…are pushing into the market.” Given those factors, establishing the brand as a “healthy, crisis-resistant and future-oriented company” has been paramount at Boulderwelt, Hoffmann stated, which sometimes has meant being patient with a project.
The Boulderwelt team nearly opened a gym in Hamburg in 2018 but decided against it in the end, feeling the facility didn’t match their vision. “We have ambitious standards when it comes to the building itself, as we really want to be able to build the gyms as we need them to be, to guarantee our broad target group and vision to offer bouldering to everyone,” Hoffmann continued. “Ultimately, the amazing location we then found later was the reason for opening Hamburg, not the timing.” She described Hamburg as an ideal spot for the gym and, while it is near the sea and far from large mountains, said “the people love climbing here.” Hoffmann also noted “the city has almost two million inhabitants and its purchasing power is pretty high.”
The Hamburg gym is situated in a 26-story-high skyscraper and shares a roof with several large firms, such as IBM and Siemens. The landlord’s original idea had been to open a supermarket on the ground floor—a space “that was never finalized and has been empty for ages,” Hoffmann added—but that plan didn’t work out. “We are super happy to now have this amazing, big place in Hamburg’s city center,” she said, noting the accessibility by public transport, height of the space, lack of columns, and “opportunity to run a comfortable, professional café” were deciding factors for the team. Boulderwelt Hamburg offers 17,250 square feet of bouldering surface with a separate children’s area, a family area, and courses and training for both youth and adult climbers. Additionally, the 27,000-square-foot gym features a training area with Moon and Kilter boards, a spray wall, and other climbing tools. “Plenty of fun events, like community nights, after-work events, competitions, pub quizzes” and other programs are also held in the facility, said Hoffmann.
Walls: Citywall
Flooring: Blocmatting
CRM Software: owner/contractor
Website: www.boulderwelt-hamburg.de/
Instagram: @BoulderWeltHamburg
In Their Words: “We are so happy how the gym turned out! The atmosphere is great, the gym itself is super modern, cozy, and contains all the high tech we need—for example, a good ventilation system. What really stands out is the size, as we are the biggest gym in Hamburg and right in the city center. And I must say, I personally am super proud of the interior design of our walls and our café area.” – Nadia Hoffmann, Head of Marketing at Boulderwelt
