Hamburg Dungeon, Interactive history museum in HafenCity, Germany
The Hamburg Dungeon occupies a building at Kehrwieder 2 in the historic Speicherstadt warehouse district. Actor-led shows and rides lead visitors through staged sets covering the Great Fire of 1842, the 1717 storm flood, the plague, the Inquisition and the pirate Klaus Störtebeker, ending with a free-fall tower.
The museum was founded in 2000 and focuses on events that shaped Hamburg, including plague and devastating floods. These moments are reconstructed with historical details to show how they changed life at the time.
The shows draw on Hamburg's own history: Klaus Störtebeker, beheaded on the Grasbrook in 1401, the Great Fire of 1842, the Christmas flood of 1717 and the cholera epidemic of 1892. Since 2018 the Santa Fu show recalls the Fuhlsbüttel prison, and seasonal pieces such as Aufstand der Kaffeeverleserinnen or Kadaverrevolte 1919 change through the year.
The attraction sits at Kehrwieder 2 in the Speicherstadt, in Hamburg-Mitte. The tour is actor-led and visitors are drawn into the scenes, so groups move through together rather than at their own pace. The circuit ends with a free-fall drop tower, and since 2014 the boat ride has simulated a smuggling run.
The final drop is a free-fall tower from Swiss maker ABC Rides, installed in March 2008. Riders sit in two rows of ten and fall eight metres in the dark at up to about 35 km/h. Since 2018 the drop has been staged as an escape from Santa Fu prison.
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