Hafenmuseum Bremen

The Hafenmuseum Bremen stands in Speicher XI, a 400-metre-long warehouse in the Überseestadt quarter. The museum shows how the city’s harbours changed from busy docks to modern urban space. Large parts of the old harbour basin were filled in during the late 20th century. The new district now stretches from the former overseas harbour to the old town. Exhibits and texts explain the port’s past life of ships, cargo and dock workers. The building itself was built between 1908 and 1912 as a cotton store. Klaus Hübotter, a local builder and patron, saved it from demolition in the 1990s. After a full renovation finished in 2003, the warehouse became home to the University of the Arts and other organisations. The museum opened in 2004 on the south-eastern end of the building. Since 2010 it has been part of the Northwest Industrial Culture Route. Visitors find displays of harbour tools, models of cranes and ships, and recorded stories from people who worked there. The long brick walls and tall windows keep the original warehouse feel. Outside, the Überseestadt waterfront shows how the area has been transformed. The museum keeps the memory of Bremen’s port alive while the district moves forward.