Hamburg in the 20th. century
Part 2, Ground Floor

The 20th century characterizes the present like no other century before. The exhibition in the Museum of Hamburg History intends to exemplify the development of the German empire up to the turn of the millenium, in order to give a better understanding of the present political, social, economical and cultural life of Hamburg in its historical dimensions. Therefore, it is of advantage to divide the diversity of themes and historical events into two leading questions:

1. Which continuities and breaks have had a lasting
influence on the history of Hamburg in the 20th century?
2. To what extent does the history of Hamburg demonstrate special features, ie., how far does it live up to the expectations of the German, European and worldwide development?

Apart from the political years of change of 1918, 1933 and 1945, if one takes individual years as an example, the biggest catastrophe for Hamburg in the 20th century occured in the year 1943, when, because of the bombing raids, great grief was spread throughout the population, the city was largely destroyed and the landscape of the city changed drastically. To explain the long- term developments more clearly, in addition to these particulars the exhibition uses two methods: to a large extent, the four areas of topics, right of co – determination of the citizens, changes of conditions of life, development of the economical situation and change of the cityscape are displayed chronologically; at the same time the visitor can reconstruct the situation of life from the empire up to the nineties by gaining an insight into the private lives of the people.


Hamburg in the 20th. century (2)
-    Winter food shortages, refugee misery, black market trading
-    From occupied city to federal state
-    The modern metropolis
-    The exhileration of the consumer Society
-    The ups and downs of the Economic Miracle
-    Social policy and alternative politics
-    The limits of growth
-    Cultural city Hamburg
-    At the end of the Millennium

Hamburg in the 20th. century (1)