The (Hamburg Archaeological Museum; formerly the ') is an

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

in the Harburg borough of Hamburg, Germany. It houses the archaeological finds of the city of Hamburg and the neighbouring counties to the south of the city. It focuses on northern German prehistory and early history as well as the history of the former city of Harburg. The museum is also home to the cultural heritage landmarks commission of the city of Hamburg and the adjacent district of Harburg in

Lower-Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

and thus supervises all archaeological undertakings in the region. The museum has two major exhibition spaces. The future City Museum of Harburg, temporary exhibitions, the library, offices and small storage facilities are located in the main building, which is shared with the Harburger Theater at . The permanent archaeological exhibition and education facilities are located nearby, at . In addition, the Museum maintains as external branches the exhibition area of the 12th-century (Bishop's Tower) in Hamburg's old town, the archaeological trail at and the 8th-century

hillfort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

Hollenstedt Hollenstedt is a municipality in the district of Harburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 25 km southwest of Hamburg, and 12 km south of Buxtehude. Hollenstedt is also the seat of the ''Samtgemeinde A ''Samt ...

Exhibition

With more than 2.5 million objects, the museum holds the largest collection of

prehistoric Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...

finds. On exhibit are mostly local examples of the

Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...

and

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

eras, the

Bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

and

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

s, the

Migration Period The Migration Period was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories by various tribes, and the establishment of the post-Roman ...

and the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...

in northern Germany. In 2009, the newly designed permanent archaeological exhibition opened. It is structured in the following subject areas: materials, food, violence, death, innovation and mobility. In more than 160 glass display cases, models and large exhibit items represent all aspects of human cultural development over the last 40,000 years. In addition, installations on cultural heritage landmarks, the archaeology of Hamburg, and methods of collection and preservation provide information about the work of the museum and archaeologists. Some of the notable exhibits are the

Duvensee paddle The Duvensee paddles is the preserved part of a Mesolithic spade paddle, which was found during archaeological excavations of a Mesolithic dwelling area at Duvensee near Klinkrade (Herzogtum Lauenburg) Schleswig-Holstein, Germany in 1926. Aft ...

(one of the oldest surviving paddles), the

Metzendorf-Woxdorf head burial The Metzendorf-Woxdorf head of burial is the Neolithic burial of a single human skull that was found in 1958 in the Seevetal district of Woxdorf, in Harburg, in Lower Saxony. The find is currently the only one of its kind of the Single Grave Cul ...

, the Bronze Age

Daensen folding chair The Daensen folding chair consists of the metallic remains of a folding chair which were discovered in 1899 in sand from a Bronze Age tumulus near Daensen, a part of Buxtehude, Lower Saxony, Germany. The chair is the southernmost and most richly d ...

, the

Ovelgönne Bread Roll The Ovelgönne bread roll is the remaining part of a bread roll originating from the Pre-Roman Iron Age of Northern Europe, which was found in 1952 during archaeological excavations in a loam mine in the Buxtehude district Ovelgönne in Lower Sax ...

, the Saxon Wulfsen horse burial, the Tangendorf disc brooch, a section of the

Wittmoor Bog Trackway The Wittmoor bog trackway is the name given to each of two historic corduroy roads, trackway No. I being discovered in 1898 and trackway No. II in 1904 in the ''Wittmoor'' bog in northern Hamburg, Germany. The trackways date to the 4th and 7th c ...

and the

Maschen disc brooch The Maschen disc brooch (german: Scheibenfibel von Maschen) is an Early Medieval fibula, which was found in 1958 during archaeological excavations of the late Saxon grave field near Maschen, in the Lower Saxony district of Harburg, Germany. On it ...

. A second permanent exhibition on the local history of the Harburg borough is due to be opened in the near future.

History

The museum's foundation was initiated in 1898 by the Hamburg Senator August Helms, who was joined by other public figures in a museum association. Their aim was to create a museum for the then independent

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

n city of Harburg (Elbe) and their county. In 1925, the founder's sons deeded the museum a prestigious villa in to use as an exhibition hall, and the museum was renamed ''Helms-Museum''. By that time, the collection already had more than 50,000 catalogued objects. In 1937, the Helms-Museum became a public institution. In 1955, the Museum left the villa, which had been damaged by a bomb in World War II, and moved to a new main building next to the Harburger Theater. In 1953, Director Willi Wegewitz initiated the open-air . In 1972, the Helms-Museum became Hamburg's only archaeological museum, and all archaeological holdings at other Hamburg museums were transferred to it. Since 1987, the museum has been entrusted with the preservation of cultural heritage landmarks. For space reasons, the archaeological permanent exhibition was moved to its present location at . A third exhibition area was maintained from 1990 to 1999 at the old Harburg Fire Station. On 1 January 2008, the ownership of the Helms-Museum transferred to the (Foundation of Hamburg Historical Museums), and it was renamed '. On 14 May 2009 the newly designed permanent archaeological exhibition was opened.

Visitors

The museum participates in the ''

Long Night of Museums The Long Night of Museums (german: Lange Nacht der Museen), or the Night of Museums, and, since 2005, the European Night of Museums, is a cultural event in which museums and cultural institutions to remain open late into the night to introduce ...

of Hamburg'', and offers a variety of

educational Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Vari ...

programs for children and school classes. Since 15 November 2012 the Museum has provided an interactive electronic museum guide as an

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

mobile app A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on d ...

, also available for Android operating systems.https://plus.google.com/112946114730381657998/posts?hl=en

Literature

References

External links

Official website

AMH-Guide - Archäologisches Museum Hamburg
Electronic museums guide as App for

Virtual tour of the Archäologisches Museum Hamburg
provided by

Google Arts & Culture Google Arts & Culture (formerly Google Art Project) is an online platform of high-resolution images and videos of artworks and cultural artifacts from partner cultural organizations throughout the world. It utilizes high-resolution image technol ...