International Maritime Museum Hamburg

The development of seafaring

Shipbuilding impressively reflects the technical achievements of its time. This development started with the dugout canoe. Thus, the oldest exhibit on display at the museum is a hollowed-out tree trunk from the Elbe near Geesthacht. The developmental strands of maritime history are supplemented by seafarers' aids such as gleaming golden sextants, hand-painted crown compasses, Morse code devices and signal books.

Visitors can also admire historical globes and nautical charts. Particularly valuable among these is a copy of the Atlantis Majoris, a marine atlas dating from 1657. Tens of thousands of books, such as the Liber Nauticus, dealing with seafaring also highlight the exciting developments.

A huge collection of ship models

Whether Phoenician galleys, Roman ferryboats, Viking ships with dragons or cogs from the Hanseatic era - the core of this museum comprises a whole 50,000 models, some of which were made in miniature format. Dioramas of famous ports and battles are also exhibited. A special highlight among these exhibits are 35 bone ships. These were made by French sailors in captivity during the Napoleonic Wars.

Maritime painting and marine research

A deck of the museum has also been dedicated to art. Numerous paintings from the marine painting period are presented here, which include images of captains as well as seascapes. The oldest work dates back to 1570, and there are also over a million photographs to admire on the themes of shipbuilding and seafaring. The marine research deck was designed with leading scientists and is updated regularly. Specimens, research equipment and diving robots are part of this part of the museum.