MUSÉE DU PORT DE HAMBOURG
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The Harbour Museum is for experts who would like to get a close look at the ships that made the history of Hamburg's harbour.
You enter one of the few preserved warehouses from the imperial period (1871-1918). The entire site, including the hall and its quays, has been converted into an exhibition space to present the activities of the port of Hamburg and a part of its history. It is a real warehouse where objects are laid out randomly, a sort of mishmash, a bit messy but not uninteresting. There is no chronological presentation but thematic spaces: import-export, shipbuilding, industries, containers, etc. The different trades of the port are presented in showcases. On the other hand, you need a good level of German to be able to follow the panels because the lexicon is very precise.
Outside the depot, on the quayside, a small open-air museum awaits you: boats and cranes on rails allow you to see these steel giants up close. The rails of the train that used to transport goods inland are still there. As part of a guided tour, you can go on board the Peking, a 4-masted ship built in 1911 by Blohm & Voss in Hamburg.
In a few years the brand new harbor museum will open on the Grasbrook, opposite the HafenCity. The museum will focus on the importance of international maritime trade in the lives of men and women around the world and will use different ports of the world as examples. It will also be the new home of the Peking.