Stiftung Historische Museen Hamburg

The Stiftung Historische Museen Hamburg oversees several city museums in Hamburg. It was created in 2008 to manage four main institutions under one public foundation. The state’s culture authority supervises the work and appoints the chair of the board.

The idea came from a 25-point plan drawn up in 2006 by an expert group led by Karin von Welck. The plan proposed merging the Altonaer Museum, Helms-Museum, Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte and Museum der Arbeit to improve management. After public protests saved the Altonaer Museum, Kirsten Baumann became chair in 2011. Later reforms removed some sites, and since 2019 Hans-Jörg Czech has led the foundation while also directing the Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte.

Visitors find five main sites across the city. The Altonaer Museum presents art and cultural history with branches at the Heine-Haus and Jenisch-Haus. The Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte explores the city’s past and includes the Kramer-Witwen-Wohnung and Millerntorwache. The Museum der Arbeit shows industrial life with its Speicherstadtmuseum branch. The new Deutsches Hafenmuseum is being built in the HafenCity with two locations planned.