A guide to the International Maritime Museum Hamburg. Find ticket prices, opening hours, and visitor tips for this comprehensive collection.
The building announces itself before you even see the exhibits. Kaispeicher B, a red-brick warehouse from 1878, dominates this corner of Hamburg‘s HafenCity with its turrets and stepped gables. When I walked in expecting a modest collection of ship models, I found nine decks packed floor to ceiling with maritime history. Over a million items, all collected by one man who received his first model ship as a child in 1934. The scale is overwhelming in the best possible way.
Quick answer
The International Maritime Museum Hamburg costs €18 for adults, with reduced tickets at €13 for students, pensioners, and disabled visitors. A family ticket (two adults plus up to four children aged 6 to 17) costs €38. The museum opens daily from 10am to 6pm year-round, including weekends and most holidays. Hamburg CARD holders pay €14. After 4:30pm, the Störtebeker ticket drops the price to €9 for anyone. Tickets are available at the entrance or online.
At a glance
| Price | Opening hours | Address | Free for | Last entry |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| €18 adults, €13 reduced | Daily 10am – 6pm | Kaispeicher B, Koreastrasse 1, 20457 Hamburg | Members of Freundeskreis (friends circle), children under 6 | 30 minutes before closing |
How much does the International Maritime Museum Hamburg cost?
The pricing is more complex than most museums, with multiple ticket types and combination options.
| Ticket type | Price | Who qualifies |
|---|---|---|
| General admission | €18.00 | Adults aged 18 and over |
| Reduced admission | €13.00 | Students, pensioners, severely disabled people, unemployed (proof required) |
| Hamburg CARD | €14.00 | Valid Hamburg CARD holders |
| Störtebeker ticket (after 4:30pm) | €9.00 | Anyone entering after 4:30pm |
| Small family ticket | €21.00 | One adult plus up to four children aged 6 to 17 |
| Family ticket | €38.00 | Two adults plus up to four children aged 6 to 17 |
| Groups (10+ people) | €14.00 per person | Groups of ten or more |
| School classes | €3.50 per person | School groups with teachers |
| Kindergarten | €2.00 per child | Kindergarten groups |
| Children under 6 | Free | With accompanying adult |
| Freundeskreis members | Free | Annual membership holders |
| Hamburg City Pass | Free | Valid Hamburg City Pass holders |
Public guided tours cost an additional €3 for adults or €6 for families, plus the admission price. These run regularly and are worth considering if you want context for what you’re seeing, though the exhibits are well labelled in German and English.
Several combination tickets exist. The Rainer Abicht combination ticket includes a harbour tour plus museum admission. The Maritime Circle Line Blue Ticket combines hop-on hop-off harbour transport with museum entry. Prices vary depending on tour length.
Tickets purchased are valid for one year from the date of purchase, which gives you flexibility if your plans change. You can book online if you want to.
Is the International Maritime Museum Hamburg free to enter?
No, unless you’re a member of the Freundeskreis (friends circle) or hold a valid Hamburg City Pass. Children under 6 get in free, as do journalists with accreditation and certain official visits.
The Störtebeker ticket, available after 4:30pm for €9, is the closest thing to a discount period. This gives you 90 minutes in the museum before closing at 6pm, which sounds tight but works if you’re selective about which decks you explore.
Hamburg CARD holders get reduced admission at €14 instead of €18, which adds to the card’s value if you’re visiting multiple attractions. The Hamburg CARD also includes unlimited public transport.
The museum shop and WEDE bookshop are technically accessible without entering the exhibition areas, though in practice you’ll walk through the entrance foyer where staff might reasonably expect you to have a ticket.
5 great things to do in Hamburg
- 🚢 Glide through the Speicherstadt warehouses on a two hour harbour cruise.
- 🪞 Head to the Museum of Illusions for spectacular selfies.
- 🏰 Get a gruesome take on the city’s history at the Hamburg Dungeon.
- 🚶 Take a Reeperbahn walking tour to discover Hamburg’s wild side.
- 🍺 Hear the stories of St Pauli on a guided pub crawl.
What time does the International Maritime Museum Hamburg open?
The museum keeps consistent hours year-round, which makes planning straightforward.
All year: Daily 10am to 6pm (including weekends and public holidays)
Museum shop and WEDE bookshop: Daily 10am to 6:30pm
The museum closes on Christmas Eve (24 December) and New Year’s Eve (31 December). It opens on Christmas Day and Boxing Day (25 and 26 December) at the regular 10am to 6pm schedule, and on New Year’s Day (1 January) from 10am to 6pm.
Occasionally, the museum closes early for special events. Check the website for any special opening hours around your visit.
Last entry is 30 minutes before closing (5:30pm), which the staff enforce. With nine decks to explore and 12,000 square metres of exhibition space, arriving at 5:30pm is futile. You need at least two hours to do the museum justice, preferably three if you’re especially interested in maritime history.
I visited on a Wednesday morning in October and had plenty of space. Weekends bring more families, but the museum rarely feels oppressively crowded given its size. Cruise ship days (when passengers flood Hamburg from the Altona terminal) are busier, typically mid-morning to early afternoon.
Do I need to book International Maritime Museum Hamburg tickets in advance?
Not essential, but booking online saves time at the ticket desk.
The museum doesn’t use timed entry slots or capacity limits. Your online ticket gives you access any time during opening hours on your chosen date (or within one year given the unusual validity period).
If you’re visiting during peak tourist season (June to August) or on a weekend, buying online means you skip the queue. On quiet weekdays, the ticket desk moves quickly and online booking offers minimal advantage.
For the combination tickets with harbour tours, advance booking is necessary because you’re coordinating with boat schedules. Book at least a day or two ahead, particularly in summer.
From childhood hobby to world-class collection
The International Maritime Museum exists because of Peter Tamm, a Hamburg shipping magnate who spent 70 years collecting maritime objects. In 1934, when Tamm was six years old and ill in bed, his mother gave him a model ship to cheer him up. That first model sparked an obsession.
Tamm collected systematically and obsessively. Ship models from every era and region. Paintings and prints of sea battles and harbour scenes. Nautical instruments: compasses, sextants, chronometers. Uniforms from dozens of navies. Construction plans, photographs, books, maps. By the 1990s, his private collection had grown to over 50,000 items and was considered the world’s largest private maritime collection.
In 2004, Tamm established a foundation to preserve the collection and make it publicly accessible. The City of Hamburg provided Kaispeicher B, the oldest surviving warehouse in the Speicherstadt, built in 1878 and renovated specifically for the museum. The collection moved in over 18 months, with curators organizing items across nine exhibition decks.
The museum opened in June 2008. Peter Tamm continued adding to the collection until his death in 2016 at age 88. Today the collection includes approximately 100,000 books, over one million photographs, 38,000 ship models, 5,000 paintings and drawings, and countless smaller objects. New acquisitions continue through the foundation.
Kaispeicher B itself adds to the experience. This warehouse stored luxury goods, tobacco, and coffee in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The thick brick walls, narrow windows, and wooden beams create an atmospheric setting. The building was damaged during World War II air raids but survived largely intact. It’s now a protected monument.
The building’s ten floors work perfectly for the museum’s chronological and thematic organization. You start at the top (Deck 9) with ancient seafaring and work your way down through maritime history, ending at ground level with modern shipping and the museum shop.
Navigating nine decks of maritime history
The International Maritime Museum sprawls across nine exhibition decks plus a ground floor entrance area. Each deck covers specific themes, which helps you navigate the overwhelming quantity of objects.
Deck 9 covers 3,000 years of seafaring history from ancient reed boats to the age of sail. Hundreds of ship models in glass cases show the evolution of vessel design. Ancient Egyptian boats, Viking longships, Chinese junks, Mediterranean galleys. The models are exquisitely detailed, some over three metres long. This deck sets the pattern: wall-to-wall exhibits with limited empty space.
Deck 8 focuses on the age of exploration and naval warfare from the 15th to 19th centuries. Models of Columbus’s ships, Portuguese caravels, Spanish galleons, British ships of the line. A section on naval battles includes dioramas of Trafalgar and other major engagements. The collection of navigation instruments (astrolabes, cross-staffs, early compasses) shows how sailors found their way across oceans before GPS.
Deck 7 deals with deep-sea research and underwater exploration. This was Peter Tamm’s particular interest. Submersibles, diving suits, underwater photography equipment. A model of the bathyscaphe Trieste that descended to the Mariana Trench. Equipment from the Cousteau expeditions. Maps of the ocean floor showing underwater mountains and trenches.
Deck 6 covers maritime art. Hundreds of paintings from the 17th to 20th centuries showing ships, harbours, sea battles, storms. Some are by well-known maritime artists like Willem van de Velde. Others are by relatively unknown painters who captured specific vessels or events. The quality varies wildly, which is oddly charming. It feels like someone’s personal collection, which it was.
Deck 5 focuses on merchant shipping and shipbuilding from the 19th and 20th centuries. Steamships, ocean liners, container ships. A massive model of the Queen Mary dominates one room. Another section displays construction plans showing how ships are designed and built. Technical drawings, rigging diagrams, cross-sections of hulls.
Deck 4 covers naval uniforms and insignia from dozens of countries and eras. Display cases packed with jackets, hats, medals, buttons, badges. It’s more interesting than it sounds, particularly seeing how different navies distinguished ranks and roles. The sheer variety of uniform designs from around the world makes this deck oddly fascinating.
Deck 3 deals with maritime communication and navigation in the modern era. Radio equipment, radar systems, early GPS units. A section on maritime flags and signalling. The Morse code displays and signal books show how ships communicated before radio. A ship bridge simulator lets you attempt to navigate Hamburg harbour (book separately, costs extra).
Deck 2 focuses on the two world wars. Naval battles, U-boats, convoy systems, mine warfare. A section on the Battle of the Atlantic with models of Allied and German vessels. This deck doesn’t glorify warfare but treats it as a significant part of maritime history. It’s sobering rather than exciting.
Deck 1 covers modern shipping, container transport, and Hamburg’s role as a major port. Contemporary cargo ships, cruise vessels, offshore oil platforms. A section on piracy (historical and modern) includes weapons, flags, and accounts of notable pirate attacks. The museum takes you from ancient times to the present without missing much.
Ground floor houses the museum shop, WEDE maritime bookshop, cloakroom, and entrance to the Alte Liebe bistro. The shops stock maritime books, model ship kits, and nautical instruments alongside standard souvenirs.
Free lockers (€1 coin deposit, refundable) are mandatory for bags larger than A4 size and coats. Seating is available on every deck, which you’ll appreciate given the scale. There’s free WiFi throughout.
What’s included with your ticket
Your admission to the International Maritime Museum includes:
- Access to all nine exhibition decks
- Over 38,000 ship models from 3,000 years of maritime history
- 5,000 paintings and maritime artworks
- Historical navigation instruments, uniforms, and maritime equipment
- Temporary special exhibitions (subject to change)
- Seating areas on every deck
- Free WiFi throughout the museum
- English and German labelling for all exhibits
Not included:
- Public guided tours (€3 adults, €6 families, plus admission)
- Ship navigation simulator (separate booking and fee required)
- Audio guides (not available)
- Cloakroom (free, but €1 deposit required)
- Museum shop and bookshop purchases
Things to do near the International Maritime Museum
Miniatur Wunderland (450 metres, 6-minute walk) – The world’s largest model railway exhibition, spread over 1,500 square metres with over 15 kilometres of track. Tiny trains run through miniature versions of Hamburg, Switzerland, Italy, and even Las Vegas. Planes take off from a working model airport. Obsessively detailed and genuinely impressive even if you’re not into model railways. Advance booking essential.
Elbphilharmonie (650 metres, 8-minute walk) – Hamburg’s wave-shaped concert hall completed in 2017, built on top of a 1960s brick warehouse. The free Plaza viewing platform at 37 metres offers harbour and city views (advance booking required online). Multiple restaurants and a hotel occupy the building. The architectural contrast between old brick base and modern glass structure is striking.
Speicherstadt (immediate area, museum is located within) – The world’s largest warehouse complex, built between 1883 and 1927 on timber piles. Red-brick Neo-Gothic warehouses line narrow canals. UNESCO World Heritage Site. Free to walk the streets and bridges. The area houses multiple museums including the Spice Museum, Hamburg Dungeon, and Speicherstadt Museum, plus coffee roasters and carpet merchants.
St Nikolai Memorial (450 metres, 6-minute walk) – The bombed-out shell of Hamburg’s former tallest church, left as a war memorial after the 1943 air raids. Glass lift to a viewing platform 76 metres up, with photos showing what Hamburg looked like when it was burning. Museum in the crypt covers Operation Gomorrah. Deliberately confronting rather than uplifting.
Museum ship Rickmer Rickmers (1.5 kilometres, 20-minute walk) – A three-masted steel sailing ship from 1896, permanently moored at the Landungsbrücken piers. You can explore the entire vessel from cargo holds to captain’s quarters. Combination tickets available with the Maritime Museum. The nearby museum ship Cap San Diego (1961 cargo ship) offers a similar experience from a later era.
Practical tips
Location: Kaispeicher B, Koreastrasse 1, 20457 Hamburg. In the Speicherstadt warehouse district, part of HafenCity.
Getting there: U-Bahn U4 to Überseequartier station (450 metres, 6-minute walk). Bus 111 to Koreastrasse stop (190 metres). Bus 6 or 2 to Singapurstrasse (200 metres). From Hamburg Hauptbahnhof (main station), it’s a 20-minute walk. The Maritime Circle Line harbour ferry stops directly outside the museum on weekends.
Parking: Three CONTIPARK underground car parks nearby. Elbarkaden at Hongkongstrasse 6A (170 metres), Überseequartier at Überseeallee 3 (300 metres), Speicherstadt at Am Sandtorkai 6 (400 metres). Expect to pay €2 to €3 per hour.
Time needed: Two to three hours minimum. Maritime enthusiasts could easily spend five hours. The museum recommends planning two to three hours, which feels accurate for a thorough visit without reading every label. Racing through in 90 minutes (Störtebeker ticket time) means skipping several decks entirely.
Photography: Allowed throughout for private use. No flash or additional lighting. Many exhibits are behind glass which creates reflections, so angle your shots carefully. The ship models photograph particularly well.
Dress code: None. Standard tourist clothing is fine. The warehouse is climate-controlled but temperatures vary between decks.
Accessibility: Fully accessible. Two lifts provide access to all exhibition decks. Wheelchair-accessible toilet available. Free wheelchair loan from the ticket desk (advance registration recommended, call +49 40 300 92 3090). Assistance dogs welcome. The museum has received official accessibility certification.
Crowds: Busiest on weekends and during school holidays. Cruise ship days (when passengers flood Hamburg) bring afternoon crowds. Weekday mornings are quietest. The museum’s size means it never feels uncomfortably packed.
Facilities: Free cloakroom with lockers (€1 coin deposit, refundable). Bags larger than A4 and coats must be stored. No food or drink allowed in exhibition areas. Alte Liebe bistro next to the museum shop (Tuesday to Sunday, 11am to 7pm) serves light meals. Catch of the Day restaurant adjacent to the museum offers more substantial dining (Wednesday to Sunday, closed Monday and Tuesday).
Children: Engaging for children interested in ships, though the volume of exhibits can overwhelm younger visitors. No specific children’s trail or activities in the permanent collection. School programs available for organized groups. The ship bridge simulator (extra cost) appeals to older children and teenagers.
Languages: All exhibits labelled in German and English. Staff at ticket desk speak English. No audio guides available, which seems like a missed opportunity given the collection’s depth.
FAQs
How long does it take to see the entire museum? Two to three hours for a thorough visit covering all nine decks. Maritime history enthusiasts could easily spend four to five hours. If you’re selective about which areas interest you most, 90 minutes covers the highlights.
Is the museum suitable for children? Depends on the child. Kids fascinated by ships will love it. Children with limited interest in maritime history will be bored within 30 minutes despite the huge model ship collection. There’s no specific children’s interactive zone or hands-on area in the permanent exhibition.
Can I take photos in the museum? Yes, for personal use. No flash photography or additional lighting. Many of the ship models are behind glass in low light, so photos can be challenging. Mobile phone cameras work better than you’d expect.
Do I need to understand German? No. All exhibits have English labels alongside German. The staff at the ticket desk speak English. Public guided tours are available in English with advance booking.
Is there a café in the museum? The Alte Liebe bistro is adjacent to the museum shop on the ground floor (Tuesday to Sunday, 11am to 7pm, closed Mondays). Catch of the Day restaurant is next door to the museum building (Wednesday to Sunday evenings, closed Monday and Tuesday). Several other restaurants and cafés are within 5 minutes’ walk in the Speicherstadt.
Which decks are the most impressive? Deck 9 (ancient seafaring and ship models) and Deck 8 (age of exploration) have the most visually stunning exhibits. Deck 7 (deep-sea research) is particularly interesting for the unusual equipment. If time is limited, prioritize these three.
Can I re-enter the museum on the same day? The website doesn’t specify, but the ticket is valid for one year from purchase, which suggests single-entry per visit. Ask at the ticket desk if you need to leave and return the same day.
Is the ship bridge simulator worth the extra cost? If you’re interested in navigation and ship handling, yes. You attempt to pilot a vessel through Hamburg harbour with realistic controls and weather conditions. Book separately at the ticket desk or online. Not included in standard admission.
More Hamburg travel
Other Hamburg travel articles on Planet Whitley include:
- 9 reasons to take a Hamburg city break.
- Why Hamburg’s vibe comes from St Pauli, musicals and the port.
- Where to eat, drink, shop and stay in Hamburg.
- What to expect at the St Nikolai Memorial in Hamburg.
- Guide to visiting St Michael’s Church in Hamburg.
