Museum of Hamburg History

Museum of Hamburg History

Entrance area of ​​the museum
Data
place	Hamburg , Germany Coordinates: 53 ° 33 '4 "  N , 9 ° 58' 23"  E
Art	City history
architect	Fritz Schumacher
opening	1922
operator	Hamburg Historical Museums Foundation
management	Hans-Jörg Czech (Scientific Director and sole director of the Hamburg Historical Museums Foundation)
Website	www.shmh.de
ISIL	DE-MUS-059814

Location of the Museum of Hamburg History

The Museum of Hamburg History was founded in 1908 and built from 1914 to 1918 according to plans by Fritz Schumacher on Holstenwall in Hamburg's Neustadt district . The cultural history museum provides an overview of the history of Hamburg from around 800 to the present day and is part of the Hamburg Historical Museums Foundation .

History and organization

The Museum 1930. The south facade is modeled on the former Villa Rücker , the salvaged interior of which will find its place here.

The beginnings of the museum go back to the collection of Hamburg antiquities , which the Association for Hamburg History , founded in 1839, put together. Early objects were u. a. Architectural fragments of the demolished cathedral . After the fire of 1842, the collection was supplemented by other parts of houses, such as the two portals of the burned down town hall. However, there was still no permanent exhibition location for the steadily growing collection, so from 1849 the exhibits were temporarily housed in the basement of the Johanneum . The collection was nationalized in 1849, but continued to be cared for on a voluntary basis.

Among the subsequent expansion of the collection, the inclusion of the holdings from Hamburg's armory , which brought some particularly valuable pieces in 1875, should be emphasized.

Starting in 1884, Hamburg personalities such as Hans Speckter and Alfred Lichtwark called for the establishment of a museum . In 1906 the Senate decided to found a museum for Hamburg history and in 1908 appointed Otto Lauffer as its first director, who ran the house until 1946. His successor Walter Hävernick shaped the face of the museum in the post-war period with a chronological rather than thematic order of the collection and a reorientation towards the economic and transport history of Hamburg. The archaeologist Jörgen Bracker was appointed director in 1976 and held this office until 2001. He was followed as director by folklorist Gisela Jaacks , who had worked in the house since 1971. From 2008 to 2015, the museum was under the academic direction of historian Lisa Kosok , who previously directed the Museum of Labor . Hans-Jörg Czech has been director of the museum since January 1, 2016 .

From 1947 to 1964 the museum was responsible for the maintenance of ground monuments and the collection of archaeological finds from Hamburg, the archaeological collection was transferred to the Helms Museum in 1972 , the task of maintaining the ground monuments was transferred to an independent authority in 1964 and finally to the Helms Museum in 1987 .

Inner courtyard of the museum

Since 1985 the museum has been run by the Association of Friends of the Museum for Hamburg History. V. supports. Among other things, it owes the full glass roofing of the inner courtyard to his initiative. As a result, an additional area could be gained that can also be used for concerts or the like. On January 1, 2008, the museum was brought into the newly established Hamburg Historical Museums Foundation by the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg .

The museum has a branch in the Kramer-Witwen-Wohnung , Krayenkamp 10. The museum also owns some objects from the Oevelgönne museum harbor , for example the floating crane HHLA I - Karl Friedrich Steen .

Since 2011, the museum has been cooperating with Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons under the title GLAM - Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums , in which collection and exhibition objects are made digitally accessible and images are published under a Creative Commons license . Since November 2012, QR codes have been installed in the museum's exhibition which link to Wikipedia articles using the QRpedia system.

building

The museum, built from 1914 to 1922 according to plans by Fritz Schumacher , is located on the western side of the Holstenwall , less than 100 m from the Millerntor . The Henricus Bastion, built in the 17th century by the fortress builder Valckenburgh as part of the baroque Hamburg ramparts, was located on the site of the museum . After the ramparts had been razed, the Planten un Blomen park was built in the lower terrain around the bastions . The Hamburg observatory stood on the bastion from 1826 until it was demolished at the beginning of the 20th century . The flanks of a bastion are not at right angles to the baseline of the wall , which means that the bastion site is rotated against the Holstenwall. The former wide moat of the ramparts is integrated into the park as a watercourse, which would have made it difficult to expand the property by filling it up. That is why Schumacher, whose representative Hamburg buildings usually have symmetrical facades and structures clearly aligned with the street axes, relied on a design with a two-part structure that protrudes at an acute angle into the ramparts, rotated 45 ° against the street line.

Former south portal of the main church Sankt Petri in the inner courtyard of the museum

Schumacher created the first designs for the building in 1909. Construction began in 1914, but was interrupted in 1916 in the middle of the First World War. A special feature of the building are the spoils recorded in the facade, in the outdoor area as well as inside the exhibition rooms, namely architectural fragments of former civil and state buildings. The components are part of the building's first collection and were saved, especially in the 19th century after major urban planning cuts - such as the Great Fire of 1842, the construction of the Speicherstadt from 1883 or the demolition of the Gängeviertel . The south portal of the main church of St. Petri, which was destroyed in the Hamburg fire in 1842, was built into the inner courtyard in 1604/05 by Georg Baumann .

The museum was opened in 1922.

During the Second World War , parts of the building were destroyed in several air raids , especially in the attacks of November 18, 1943, July 27-29, 1944 and September 30, 1944. In the standard work on the destruction of West German buildings in the air war, the museum is called "Characteristic example of the gradual wear and tear of many buildings due to numerous minor damage". A large part of the collections could be relocated in good time.

In 1946 the house was the last Hamburg museum to reopen after the war. Since 1976, the museum, including the "documents on Hamburg's architectural and art history" installed inside, outside and on the property, has been a listed building .

There is a café on the main floor, which is available to museum visitors and - via a separate entrance - also to other guests.

In 1989 the L-shaped inner courtyard of the building was roofed over with a glass roof and from then on referred to as "Fritz-Schumacher-Hof". The design for the renovation came from the architects Gerkan, Marg und Partner , while Jörg Schlaich was responsible for the statics . Two barrel-shaped net domes span 14 and 17 m respectively. The field elements made of flat bars with pre-tensioned diagonal cables are single-glazed with solar control glass, the transition from the glass roof to the building does not close tightly, which means that the indoor and outdoor climates are approximately the same. If the snow and ice loads become too great, the roof can be heated. In 1995, the restoration of the Petri portal was completed, which after its damage in 1842 and installation in the inner courtyard of the museum was again badly destroyed during the Second World War.

collection

Reconstructed merchant's hall as it was to be found in many old Hamburg town houses

In addition to archives, in which documents relevant to Hamburg are collected, and the library with Hamburg literature, the museum's collection areas also include other architectural decorations and components of old Hamburg buildings, exhibits on craft and trade, shipping and transport, living and gardening culture, Judaica , Crafts, militaria , musical instruments, toys, technical cultural assets as well as models of ships, buildings and the city of Hamburg at different times. In a small painting depot, selected paintings from the collection are also presented in changing exhibitions, giving an insight into the holdings.

Permanent exhibition

The permanent exhibition comprises six departments: on the first floor, a city ​​history tour is designed from the beginnings of Hamburg in the 9th century to the present day. The theme of Hamburg in the 20th century is exhibited on the ground floor and the basement, the fashion, music, art and theater area is also on the ground floor. The 400-year history of the Jews in Hamburg and historical living quarters are on display on the second floor , as well as the traffic history system of the model railroad .

City history tour

Historic model of the Hamburg port facilities, around 1800. In the foreground the Große Grasbrook , behind the moat the Katharinenviertel with church , the wall frame - and the Kehrwiederviertel , behind the inland port

Grocery store around 1830

The central part of the exhibition is a tour on the first floor, which thematizes the history of the city from its beginnings as a settlement in Hammaburg in the 9th century to the present day and in particular gives insights into the development of the economy, trade and the port . The development and growth of the city from the Middle Ages and the Reformation period , through the early modern period and the dawn of modernity, through to port and urban development , is comprehensible through numerous very detailed city models.

The exhibition rooms are multi-layered. In the replica of a cog and its interior, the Middle Ages and the topic of fighting pirates with the legends of Klaus Störtebeker are shown. The collection includes a 600 year old skull discovered in 1878 on Grasbrook, which is traditionally attributed to the pirate. This exhibit was stolen in 2010 and returned in March 2011 through an intermediary.

The 16th century and the Reformation are thematized among others through a large number of sacred sculptures . The economic and cultural upswing of the city from the 17th century can be traced in the construction of a baroque merchant's hall. Shipping and shipbuilding from the 18th century find expression in the large shipyard model of the Wapen of Hamburg III and the copper bars from Wittenbergen from a shipwreck , along with many other exhibits .

The importance of the port for the history of the city is shown in the exhibition area " Zeitgeber Hafen" with various exhibits and media coverage. Since 2012, the so-called Hamburg media table with digital city maps and a time wheel has made the history of the city of Hamburg interactively understandable.

See also : Museum of Hamburg History / List of Manufacturing Companies in Hamburg

Hamburg in the 20th century

The twentieth century is represented by the museum with an exhibition area located on both the basement and the ground floor. The events and developments from the German Empire to the turn of the millennium are thematized in particular by means of everyday scenes, such as a living room from the imperial era, a milk shop from the 1930s, an air raid shelter from the Second World War , a living room from the 1950s, and a shared apartment from 1972 and a designer loft from the 1990s the respective living environments. Other topics include the revolution in Hamburg , life under the swastika , Hamburg's path to the firestorm and the economic miracle .

Fashion, music, art and theater

The fashion, music, art and theater exhibition area presents facets of cultural life in Hamburg since the 17th century. It deals in detail with the history of costumes from 1750–1830 and 1830–1920 as well as the exhibition of the artist's clothes Hans Leips and flamenco costumes by the dancer Sylvin Rubinstein . In the field of music and theater in the 17th and 18th centuries, numerous exhibits from the theaters of the city are on display, for example the harpsichord by Carl Conrad Fleischer from 1716 or a trombone from 1587. An important piece of the collection is from the Baroque period the model of the Temple of Solomon, built from 1680 to 1692 .

Jews in Hamburg

On the second floor, the exhibition Jews in Hamburg , the 400-year history of the Jewish residents of the city, from the first immigration in 1600, the emancipation process until the legal equality in the late 19th century, the time of Nazi persecution and rebuild the community by 1945. One of the central objects is the replica of the interior of a synagogue . Numerous exhibits show the importance of the Jews for the city's history, their integration as well as their discrimination as well as the persecution and extermination of the Jews during the Nazi regime .

Historic living spaces

The exhibition area Historic Living Rooms on the second floor shows evidence of Hamburg's living culture, rooms with interiors from Classicism, Biedermeier or Historicism, decorated ceilings, wall panels or illusionistic wall paintings. Highlights in this corridor include the ceiling from the Catharinenstrasse room , the ballroom from Deichstrasse 53 , the Klopstock room and a picture clock with a panorama of the Alster .

Model railway system

Front of the model railway with HH-Harburg station

With a track length of over 1200 meters on a 1:32 scale ( nominal size 1 ; track 1, 45 mm model track width; 250 switches) on an area of ​​around 250 m², the model railway association Hamburg e. V. (MEHEV) is the largest of its kind in Europe.

The association was founded in 1931, and in 1946 its first chairman became director of the museum. After numerous difficulties, the facility on the second floor was opened on October 7, 1949; it was expanded in 1956. Vehicles, substructures and superstructures , buildings and a contemporary panorama were mostly created in-house. The “ Flying Hamburger ” (VT 04 000) has been in service since 1949 and is therefore the oldest still running model on the layout .

After a short circuit and an involuntary “renovation break” (1994 to 1996), there are again daily demonstrations of rail operations between Harburg and Hamburg Central Station . There are also photos, models and objects on the development of long-distance railways and urban local transport.

Special exhibitions

→ Main article : List of special exhibitions at the Museum of Hamburg History

Research projects

With the support of the Hamburg Foundation for the Promotion of Science and Culture in cooperation with the Foundation Historical Museums Hamburg / Museum for Hamburg History, the Hamburg art historian Ole Wittmann led a research project on the subject of "The estate of the Hamburg tattoo artist Christian Warlich (1890–1964)", which began on December 1, 2015. The project culminated in a special exhibition that has been on view at the Museum of Hamburg History since November 26, 2019. Wittmann took over the tasks of curator in 2018, he was supported in his research and the preparation of the exhibition by Manfred Kohrs . The opening speech was given by the curator Wittmann, the museum director Hans-Jörg Czech and the senator for culture and media Carsten Brosda .

literature

Monographs and edited volumes on museum history and collections

• Victoria Asschenfeldt, Olaf Matthes (ed.): Sources on the history of the Museum for Hamburg History 1839 to 1973 . Verlag Cord Oltmanns, Hamburg 2014, ISBN 978-3-9816634-8-8 .
• Gisela Jaacks (ed.): Churches, cannons and commerce . Museum for Hamburg History, Hamburg 2003, ISBN 3-9809110-1-2 (guide through the departments from the Middle Ages to the 17th century).
• Herbert Hötte: The historical museum in motion: The museum for Hamburg history; a case study . Dölling and Galitz, Hamburg 2001, ISBN 3-933374-87-1 .
• Olaf Matthes, Arne Steinert (Ed.): Museum - Muses - Sea . Museum for Hamburg History, Hamburg 2001, ISBN 3-9805772-7-9 (Festschrift).
• The historical museum as a task: research and reports from the Museum of Hamburg History 1946 - 1972 . In: Wilhelmine Jungraithmayr (Hrsg.): Messages from the Museum for Hamburg History NF . No. 6 . Museum of Hamburg History, Hamburg 1972.
• Otto Lauffer (Hrsg.): Honorary gift from the Museum for Hamburg History to celebrate its centenary . Museum of Hamburg History, Hamburg 1939.

Works on the architecture of the museum

• Hermann Hipp : The Museum of Hamburg History. Architect Fritz Schumacher. Hamburger Bauheft 23, Schaff-Verlag, Hamburg 2018. ISBN 978-3-944405-35-3 .
• Hartmut Frank (Ed.): Fritz Schumacher, Reform Culture and Modernity . Hatje, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-7757-0491-4 (catalog for the exhibition of the same name in the Deichtorhallen , 1994).
• Erwin Ockert: The Museum for Hamburg History in Hamburg. Built by Dr.-Ing. Fritz Schumacher . In: Zentralblatt der Bauverwaltung . No. 43/44 , May 30, 1923, pp. 253-258 . urn : nbn: de: kobv: 109-opus-56777 .
• Dieter Skull (Ed.): Hamburg State Buildings by Fritz Schumacher . No. 3 1920-1933 . Dölling and Galitz, Munich 2006, ISBN 978-3-937904-29-0 .

The museum's publication series

• Messages from the Museum of Hamburg History. Hamburg 1909-1922 and 1952-1977, ZDB -ID 504167-3 .
• From the exhibition collections of the Museum of Hamburg History. Hamburg 1962-1976, ZDB -ID 256362-9 .
• Hamburg portrait. Hamburg 1976–, ZDB ID 540865-9 .

Web links

Commons : Museum for Hamburg History  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Literature from the Museum of Hamburg History in the catalog of the German National Library
• Official website of the Museum of Hamburg History
• Museum of Hamburg History . In: Hamburg.de
• Museum of Hamburg History on YouTube
• Model Railway Hamburg e. V.
• Irene Altenmüller: Visit to the Museum of Hamburg History . In: NDR.de, May 23, 2018

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Victoria Asschenfeldt, Olaf Matthes (ed.): Sources for the history of the Museum for Hamburg History 1839 to 1973 . Verlag Cord Oltmanns, Hamburg 2014, ISBN 978-3-9816634-8-8 , p. 40 .
2. ^ Hans Speckter: The necessity of a museum for Hamburg history. Lecture given at the Verein f (ür) Hamb (Ur) History on January 7th (among others) r and at the Architects and Engineers Association on January 16, 1884. L. Voss, Hamburg 1884, pp. 1–32.
3. ↑ Victoria Asschenfeldt, Olaf Matthes (ed.): Sources for the history of the Museum for Hamburg History 1839 to 1973 . Verlag Cord Oltmanns, Hamburg 2014, ISBN 978-3-9816634-8-8 , p. 84 .
4. ↑ Victoria Asschenfeldt, Olaf Matthes (ed.): Sources for the history of the Museum for Hamburg History 1839 to 1973 . Verlag Cord Oltmanns, Hamburg 2014, ISBN 978-3-9816634-8-8 , p. 217 .
5. ↑ Mirjam Briel: The "Reitergrab" of Hamburg-Schnelsen. Findings and interpretation - a contribution to Saxony research . University of Hamburg, Hamburg 2011, p. 90, appendix (master's thesis).
6. ↑ Branch office - Kramer widow apartment
7. ^ Museum of Hamburg History / QRpedia : Museum of Hamburg History: Wikipedia in the Museum , accessed on November 15, 2013.
8. ^ Ralf Lange: Architectural Guide Hamburg . Ed. Menges, Stuttgart 1995, ISBN 3-930698-58-7 , p. 56-57 .
9. ↑ Hartwig Beseler (ed.): War fates of German architecture: losses - damage - reconstruction: a documentation for the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany . tape 1 : north. Karl Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1988, ISBN 3-529-02685-9 , pp. 56 .
10. ↑ List of monuments of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. ( Memento from June 27, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 894 kB) Monument Protection Office in the Authority for Culture, Sport and Media, as of April 13, 2010, p. 84, list of monuments no. 559.
11. ↑ Museum for Hamburg History - Roofing the inner courtyard ( Memento of the original from January 31, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 1.5 MB) from Schlaich, Bergermann und Partner; Retrieved January 17, 2010. 
12. ^ Klaus-Dieter Weiss: Museum expansions in Paris and Hamburg: Architects Van Gerkan, Marg and Partners . In: Werk, Bauen + Wohnen , Swiss edition. Volume 77 (1990), No. 4, doi: 10.5169 / seals-58362 , pp. 54-58.
13. ↑ Hamburgmuseum - Chronicle ( Memento from February 20, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
14. ↑ Die Welt: Hamburg has its Störtebeker skull back , March 17, 2011 , accessed on August 23, 2011.
15. ↑ Interactive map in the Hamburg Museum, June 19, 2012 ( Memento of the original from June 5, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed November 17, 2013. 
16. ↑ Warlich estate. Research and exhibition project "The estate of the Hamburg tattoo artist Christian Warlich (1890–1964)". Retrieved January 22, 2016 . 
17. ↑ Ole Wittmann: Call of October 30, 2015 /. (No longer available online.) In: www.christian-warlich.org. Archived from the original on January 22, 2016 ; accessed on January 22, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.