Internationales Maritimes Museum Hamburg
Encyclopedia
The Internationales Maritimes Museum Hamburg (International Maritime Museum) is a private museum
in the HafenCity
quarter of Hamburg
, Germany
. The museum houses Peter Tamm
's collection
of model ships, construction plans, uniforms, and maritime art, amounting to over 40,000 items and more than one million photographs. It opened in a former warehouse in 2008.
—when Tamm was six years old. As Tamm retold the history, the initial event was when his mother presented him his first model ship. Prior to the opening in the HafenCity, the collection was called "Wissenschaftliches Institut für Schifffahrts- und Marinegeschichte" (Academic Institute of Shipping and Naval History) and located in a mansion at the Elbchaussee street and only open by appointment. In 2004 the Hamburg Parliament
approved a grant for a new museum in the HafenCity
quarter unanimously, with an abstention from voting by the GAL party
parliamentary group. On 25 June 2008, the museum was opened by the German president
Horst Köhler
.
s also supporting the building. It was designed in neo-Gothic
style. Constructed and used as a combination of a grain elevator
and for ground storage for packaged goods. In 1890 the city of Hamburg bought the warehouse, which has been called Kaispeicher B ever since. In 2000 it was listed as a cultural heritage
building but used as a warehouse for goods until the end of 2003. In 2008 the museum was opened after a period of renovation. Mirjana Marcovic (MRLV Architekten) planned the renovations and received an award from the Architekten- und Ingenieurverein Hamburg. The bridge crossing the Brocktorhafen—a steel construction of 80 t (78.7 LT) in the shape of a boomerang
with a length of 60 m (196.9 ft)—by architect Dietmar Feichtinger
(Paris) and WTM Engineers (Hamburg) also received an award in 2008.
The collection contains predominantly samples from the private collection of Peter Tamm and was severely criticised in the media for the lack of distance and historical awareness toward the German U-Boat war
, the German sea war during World War II
, and German colonial history
. Some critics changed their opinion later.
The walkabout starts with a 3,000 years old dugout
, which was found in the Elbe
river. Another exhibit is the baton
of Großadmiral
Karl Dönitz
(1891–1945), displayed in an article about the Nuremberg Trials
in the newspaper Berliner Zeitung
of 1946. This article describes the sentences against the Nazi war criminals. The exhibition of the baton was often taken as an example of the lack of historical awareness about Nazi propaganda and the lack of distance toward Nazi symbolism
, without challenging it. Further the exhibition consists of paintings with a naval or marine theme, model ships made of whale
bones or ivory
, weapons, uniforms, and decorations. Also the reproduction of the James Caird, the small lifeboat of Sir Ernest Shackleton's
Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition
, used by the German explorer Arved Fuchs
in a relived journey in 2000, is displayed. The museum's archive also possesses 47 original letters of Lord Horatio Nelson
, famous for his victory at the Battle of Trafalgar
, and 15,000 cruise ship
menus.
The collection shows more than 36,000 items on 12000 m² (14,351.9 sq yd).
In addition to the permanent exhibition, the museum also has presented several special shows including, for example, one about the Viking
s.
In 2008 the museum participated for the first time in the Tag des offenen Denkmals (Day of the Open Heritage Site), an annual, nationwide event sponsored by the Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz, that opens cultural heritage
sites to the public. It also takes part in the Long Night of Museums
of Hamburg.
(warehouse district) in the port of Hamburg. The building was given to the foundation by lease for free for 99 years by the senate of Hamburg.
53°32′36.04"N 10°0′0.0"E
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
in the HafenCity
HafenCity
HafenCity is a quarter in the District of Hamburg-Mitte in Hamburg, Germany. It is located on the Elbe river island that use to be called Kehrwieder and Wandrahm....
quarter of Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. The museum houses Peter Tamm
Peter Tamm
Peter Tamm is a German journalist and collector. His collection was the basis of Hamburg's International Maritim Museum in 2008.-Career:Peter Tamm started his career as an editor for naval themes at the Hamburger Abendblatt newspaper in 1948...
's collection
Collection (museum)
A museum is distinguished by a collection of often unique objects that forms the core of its activities for exhibitions, education, research, etc. This differentiates it from an archive or library, where the contents may be more paper-based, replaceable and less exhibition oriented...
of model ships, construction plans, uniforms, and maritime art, amounting to over 40,000 items and more than one million photographs. It opened in a former warehouse in 2008.
History
The private collection was started in 1934 by Peter Tamm—former chairman of the board of the Axel Springer AGAxel Springer AG
Axel Springer AG is one of the largest multimedia companies in Europe, with more than 11,500 employees and with annual revenues of about €2.9 billion. The Company is active in a total of 36 countries, including Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Russia and Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland...
—when Tamm was six years old. As Tamm retold the history, the initial event was when his mother presented him his first model ship. Prior to the opening in the HafenCity, the collection was called "Wissenschaftliches Institut für Schifffahrts- und Marinegeschichte" (Academic Institute of Shipping and Naval History) and located in a mansion at the Elbchaussee street and only open by appointment. In 2004 the Hamburg Parliament
Hamburg Parliament
The Hamburg Parliament is the unicameral legislature of the German state of Hamburg according to the constitution of Hamburg. As of 2011 there were 121 members in the parliament, representing a relatively equal amount of constituencies...
approved a grant for a new museum in the HafenCity
HafenCity
HafenCity is a quarter in the District of Hamburg-Mitte in Hamburg, Germany. It is located on the Elbe river island that use to be called Kehrwieder and Wandrahm....
quarter unanimously, with an abstention from voting by the GAL party
Alliance '90/The Greens
Alliance '90/The Greens is a green political party in Germany, formed from the merger of the German Green Party and Alliance 90 in 1993. Its leaders are Claudia Roth and Cem Özdemir...
parliamentary group. On 25 June 2008, the museum was opened by the German president
President of Germany
The President of the Federal Republic of Germany is the country's head of state. His official title in German is Bundespräsident . Germany has a parliamentary system of government and so the position of President is largely ceremonial...
Horst Köhler
Horst Köhler
Horst Köhler is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union. He was President of Germany from 2004 to 2010. As the candidate of the two Christian Democratic sister parties, the CDU and the CSU, and the liberal FDP, Köhler was elected to his first five-year term by the Federal Assembly on...
.
Architecture
The Kaispeicher B (quay warehouse B) is the oldest preserved warehouse in Hamburg, built in 1878 and 1879 by the architects Bernhard Georg Jacob Hanssen and Wilhelm Emil Meerwein. It was built with a supporting structure of wood and steel columns, the outer walls of brickBrick
A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...
s also supporting the building. It was designed in neo-Gothic
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
style. Constructed and used as a combination of a grain elevator
Grain elevator
A grain elevator is a tower containing a bucket elevator, which scoops up, elevates, and then uses gravity to deposit grain in a silo or other storage facility...
and for ground storage for packaged goods. In 1890 the city of Hamburg bought the warehouse, which has been called Kaispeicher B ever since. In 2000 it was listed as a cultural heritage
Cultural heritage
Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations...
building but used as a warehouse for goods until the end of 2003. In 2008 the museum was opened after a period of renovation. Mirjana Marcovic (MRLV Architekten) planned the renovations and received an award from the Architekten- und Ingenieurverein Hamburg. The bridge crossing the Brocktorhafen—a steel construction of 80 t (78.7 LT) in the shape of a boomerang
Boomerang
A boomerang is a flying tool with a curved shape used as a weapon or for sport.-Description:A boomerang is usually thought of as a wooden device, although historically boomerang-like devices have also been made from bones. Modern boomerangs used for sport are often made from carbon fibre-reinforced...
with a length of 60 m (196.9 ft)—by architect Dietmar Feichtinger
Dietmar Feichtinger
Dietmar Feichtinger is an Austrian architect established since 1989 in Paris. He studied architecture at the Graz University of Technology and graduated [summa] cum laude in 1988. After gaining initial experience with Prof. Huth, Prof. Giencke and Prof...
(Paris) and WTM Engineers (Hamburg) also received an award in 2008.
Interior and contents
U-boat Campaign (World War I)
The U-boat Campaign from 1914 to 1918 was the World War I naval campaign fought by German U-boats against the trade routes of the Entente Powers...
, the German sea war during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and German colonial history
German colonial empire
The German colonial empire was an overseas domain formed in the late 19th century as part of the German Empire. Short-lived colonial efforts by individual German states had occurred in preceding centuries, but Imperial Germany's colonial efforts began in 1884...
. Some critics changed their opinion later.
The walkabout starts with a 3,000 years old dugout
Dugout (boat)
A dugout or dugout canoe is a boat made from a hollowed tree trunk. Other names for this type of boat are logboat and monoxylon. Monoxylon is Greek -- mono- + ξύλον xylon -- and is mostly used in classic Greek texts. In Germany they are called einbaum )...
, which was found in the Elbe
Elbe
The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
river. Another exhibit is the baton
Baton (symbol)
The ceremonial baton is a short, thick stick, carried by select high-ranking military officers as a uniform article. The baton is distinguished from the swagger stick in being thicker and less functional . Unlike a staff of office, a baton is not rested on the ground...
of Großadmiral
Grand Admiral
Grand admiral is a historic naval rank, generally being the highest such rank present in any particular country. Its most notable use was in Germany — the German word is Großadmiral.-France:...
Karl Dönitz
Karl Dönitz
Karl Dönitz was a German naval commander during World War II. He started his career in the German Navy during World War I. In 1918, while he was in command of , the submarine was sunk by British forces and Dönitz was taken prisoner...
(1891–1945), displayed in an article about the Nuremberg Trials
Nuremberg Trials
The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals, held by the victorious Allied forces of World War II, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of the defeated Nazi Germany....
in the newspaper Berliner Zeitung
Berliner Zeitung
The Berliner Zeitung, founded in 1945, is a German center-left daily newspaper based in Berlin, published by Berliner Verlag. It is the only East German paper to achieve national prominence since unification. In 2003, the Berliner was Berlin's largest subscription newspaper—the weekend...
of 1946. This article describes the sentences against the Nazi war criminals. The exhibition of the baton was often taken as an example of the lack of historical awareness about Nazi propaganda and the lack of distance toward Nazi symbolism
Nazi symbolism
The twentieth century German Nazi Party was notable for its extensive use of graphic symbolism, most notably the Hakenkreuz , which it used as its principal symbol, and, in the form of the swastika flag, became the state flag of Nazi Germany....
, without challenging it. Further the exhibition consists of paintings with a naval or marine theme, model ships made of whale
Whale
Whale is the common name for various marine mammals of the order Cetacea. The term whale sometimes refers to all cetaceans, but more often it excludes dolphins and porpoises, which belong to suborder Odontoceti . This suborder also includes the sperm whale, killer whale, pilot whale, and beluga...
bones or ivory
Ivory
Ivory is a term for dentine, which constitutes the bulk of the teeth and tusks of animals, when used as a material for art or manufacturing. Ivory has been important since ancient times for making a range of items, from ivory carvings to false teeth, fans, dominoes, joint tubes, piano keys and...
, weapons, uniforms, and decorations. Also the reproduction of the James Caird, the small lifeboat of Sir Ernest Shackleton's
Ernest Shackleton
Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton, CVO, OBE was a notable explorer from County Kildare, Ireland, who was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration...
Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition
Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition
The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition , also known as the Endurance Expedition, is considered the last major expedition of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Conceived by Sir Ernest Shackleton, the expedition was an attempt to make the first land crossing of the Antarctic continent...
, used by the German explorer Arved Fuchs
Arved Fuchs
Arved Fuchs is a German explorer. On December 30, 1989, he and the famous mountain climber Reinhold Messner were the first to reach the South Pole without animal or motorised help, on skis and with wind-assistance...
in a relived journey in 2000, is displayed. The museum's archive also possesses 47 original letters of Lord Horatio Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté, KB was a flag officer famous for his service in the Royal Navy, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. He was noted for his inspirational leadership and superb grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics, which resulted in a number of...
, famous for his victory at the Battle of Trafalgar
Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar was a sea battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy, during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars ....
, and 15,000 cruise ship
Cruise ship
A cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way...
menus.
The collection shows more than 36,000 items on 12000 m² (14,351.9 sq yd).
- 10th floor: Cultural Forum "10th Longitude", special exhibitions
- 9th floor: The big world of ship models, water sports
- 8th floor: Maritime Art (art gallery and "treasure trove")
- 7th floor: marine research, energy and fisheries
- 6th floor: merchant shipping, cruise and ports
- 5th floor: navies of the world (from 1815 to present)
- 4th floor: life on naval vessels, ship's armament
- 3rd floor: The development of shipbuilding and engineering
- 2nd floor: sailing ships - from antiquity to the Hanse Sail, Cape Horniers and piracy
- 1st floor: explorers, navigation, communications and children's area
- Ground floor: foyer, reception area, restaurant and museum shop
In addition to the permanent exhibition, the museum also has presented several special shows including, for example, one about the Viking
Viking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
s.
Visitors
On 28 February 2009 the 100,000th visitor was counted. The museum's budget is calculated based on an estimate of 150,000 visitors per year.In 2008 the museum participated for the first time in the Tag des offenen Denkmals (Day of the Open Heritage Site), an annual, nationwide event sponsored by the Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz, that opens cultural heritage
Cultural heritage
Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations...
sites to the public. It also takes part in the Long Night of Museums
Long Night of Museums
The Long Night of Museums or the Night of Museums is a cultural event organized together by multiple museums and cultural institutions in a location during which the establishments remain open late into the night...
of Hamburg.
Owners
The museum is owned by the foundation Peter Tamm Sen. Stiftung. The remodeling of the building was supported by a €30 million grant from the city of Hamburg.Location
The museum is located in the SpeicherstadtSpeicherstadt
The Speicherstadt in Hamburg, Germany is the largest timber-pile founded warehouse district in the world. It is located in the port of Hamburg—within the HafenCity quarter—and was built from 1883 to 1927.The district was built as a free zone to transfer goods without paying customs...
(warehouse district) in the port of Hamburg. The building was given to the foundation by lease for free for 99 years by the senate of Hamburg.
External links
53°32′36.04"N 10°0′0.0"E