Internationales Maritimes Museum Hamburg

The International Maritime Museum is housed in the heritage listed building, Kaispeicher B. Three thousand years worth of maritime history are displayed on nine ‘decks’ with precious exhibits, model ships and paintings. There is an entire deck dedicated to marine research.

At the beginning there was the ocean. Humans stood at the shore, ready to sail unto new horizons. From there the journey through three thousand years of seafaring history begins. Historical documents and sea charts reveal how the modern world-view has developed. Particularly valuable: a copy of the „Atlantis Majoris“ from 1657, the first nautical atlas printed in the Netherlands.

Hand painted crown compasses and shining, golden sextants lead into an era in which a keen eye and steady hand were required to determine the course. A „signal station“ with Teletype machinery and signal codes demonstrates how seafarers communicated up until the twentieth century.

Selected models show various strands of development in shipping: from Phoenician galley and Roman trireme to Viking dragon boats, from cog ships of the Hanseatic period and the explorer’s caravels to the last of the windjammers.

Since the stone ages to modern day, shipbuilding has mirrored the technological possibilities of each era. The first form of the boat was the ‘dug-out’. A tree trunk, thousands of years old, hollowed out with the simplest of tools that was pulled from the Elbe near Geesthacht, is the oldest piece on display in the museum. It was only centuries later that shipbuilders planned their work based on blueprints and scale models. The block-model of an English ship from 1650 and sketches out of William Keltridge’s manuscript, „His Book“ from 1675 are two of the oldest documents and reminders of this era.

Medals and uniforms from navies around the world, displays of commercial and passenger shipping, as well as works by well-known maritime painters, are presented on other decks and the treasury holds ship models made of ivory, amber, silver and gold.

An entire deck is reserved for marine research. The exhibit was developed in collaboration with leading scientific institutions and is constantly updated. Research instruments, samples from the sea bed, films that diving robots have taken of the deep sea, an actual wall of ice and fascinating underwater audio samples deliver a vivid impression of the seas. We still know too little about the oceans, the efforts of marine.

You can book guided tours in English (60 / 90 minutes). Choose one of the following tours:

The launching - An introduction to the International Maritime Museum

The best piece - Highlights of the collection

The progress of the world: Navigation and communication

Setting out for the new world - The great explorers

With the wind around the world: Ships under sails

History of shipbuilding: From craft to science

War and peace: From the age of colonialism to the cold war period

Modern seafaring: Merchant and passenger shipping

Prices for guided tours

60 minutes: 70.00 EUR + entrance fee
90 minutes: 80.00 EUR + entrance fee

HOW TO REACH

You can conveniently reach the museum by public transport within 15 minutes from Hamburg Central Station or 10 minutes from Town Hall. The museum is located close to the following stations:

Tube
Underground line U4, station “Überseequartier”

Metrobus
Bus number 6, station “Bei St. Annen”

Bus
Bus number 111, station “Osakaallee”

Use the following service to search for connections:
HVV

Parking places

Parkhaus (covered car park) “Überseequartier”
Überseeallee 3
20457 Hamburg

“Hop-On Hop-Off“ near the best attractions in the Port of Hamburg
Starting daily at “St. Pauli Landungsbrücken 10“ the launch boats of the MARITIME CIRCLE LINE sail through the harbour, the old "Speicherstadt“ (warehouse district) and the new Hafen City, past cruise ships and giant container ships. On their scheduled round tour they link various tourist attractions like the International Maritime Museum. Special condition: Passengers pay their fare only once and may get off and on again as often as they like to visit the various attractions. The jetty “Maritimes Museum” is just in front of the Museum.

ADMISSION

Tickets

Adults (17 years and over) € 13.00
Reduced (Pupils, students, pensioners, severely handicapped persons, unemployed persons) € 9.50
Small Families (1 adult + max. 4 children up to 17 years) € 15.00
Families (2 adults + max. 4 children up to 17 years) € 27.00
Groups (of 10 persons or more) € 9.50 per person
School classes € 3.00 per pupil
Nursery schools € 1.50 per child
Störtebeker-Ticket (after 4:30 p.m.) € 6.00
With Hamburg Card € 9.00
Audio Guide € 3.50
Friends of the museum, annual fee € 72.00