Internationales Maritimes Museum Hamburg
The Internationales Maritimes Museum Hamburg showcases over 100,000 maritime artifacts across nine decks, including ship models, paintings, and navigational instruments.
Planning your visit
The Internationales Maritimes Museum occupies the Kaispeicher B, the oldest surviving warehouse in Hamburg's Speicherstadt, and it holds Peter Tamm's collection — one man's accumulation over seventy years, beginning with a model ship given to him at six, and running to over 100,000 objects.
Nine decks organise it: ship models in vast numbers, from bone models carved by Napoleonic prisoners of war to precise builder's models several metres long, navigational instruments, uniforms, maritime paintings, naval history, merchant shipping, and a deck on shipbuilding and cargo. The model collection is the largest of its kind anywhere.
The sheer quantity is both the attraction and the challenge — this is a collector's museum, dense and encyclopaedic, and it rewards selecting decks rather than attempting everything.
The naval history sections have drawn criticism for their treatment of the German navy's twentieth-century record, which is worth knowing before visiting.
The Speicherstadt around it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Allow three hours. The main booking is an entrance ticket. Current availability is listed below.
Before you book
Where is Internationales Maritimes Museum Hamburg?
Internationales Maritimes Museum Hamburg is in Hamburg, Germany. The map on this page marks its exact location.
How long should I allow for Internationales Maritimes Museum Hamburg?
Allow three hours. That is the time the collection itself takes at an unhurried pace, before any queue.
Do I need to book Internationales Maritimes Museum Hamburg in advance?
Tickets can be bought on the door at quiet times, but booking ahead fixes the date and avoids the queue at busy ones. Live availability is shown on this page.
