Hafenmuseum, Maritime museum in Hamburg-Mitte, Germany.
Hafenmuseum is a maritime museum in Hamburg displaying ship models, navigation tools, port equipment, and historical vessels. The collection documents the long traditions of seafaring and trade that define this port city.
The museum opened in April 2005 as a display depot in the listed 1950s shed 50 at Bremer Kai, a branch of the Museum der Arbeit; it grew from 700 to 2,500 square metres in 2008. In April 2022 it became the Deutsches Hafenmuseum under the Stiftung Historische Museen Hamburg. A second site at Schumacherwerder, centred on the four-masted barque Peking, is planned.
The museum shows how the harbor shaped life in Hamburg and what role ships, trade, and fishing played for the city. Visitors can see how people here lived with water and the port over many centuries.
The site sits on the Kleiner Grasbrook at the Bremer Kai on the Hansahafen, in Hamburg's eastern port area; the outdoor grounds with the quay cranes and the floating steam crane are visited on foot, partly on paved quay surfaces. The planned second site on the Schumacherwerder between the Norderelbe and the Moldauhafen is not yet built, so check which location is open before setting out.
The museum's guides are former dockworkers and barge operators, who explain the cargo-handling process from the steam cranes down to the small tools under the motto "All about sheds, ships and dockers". The open-air section holds port equipment that still works, including van carriers, quay cranes and vehicles of the historic harbour railway.
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