The figurehead row
Life-size painted wooden figures.
Bahnmoeller โ CC BY-SA 3.0 ยท Hinnerk11 โ CC BY-SA 4.0 ยท Hinnerk11 โ CC BY-SA 4.0 ยท Hinnerk11 โ CC BY-SA 4.0
Because it belonged to the Duchy of Holstein, which the Danish king ruled as duke โ making it a border city that competed commercially with Hamburg for centuries and attracted those constrained by its neighbour's laws, being more religiously tolerant. It passed to Prussia after the war of 1864 and only became part of Hamburg in 1938, under a Nazi law that redrew the city's boundaries.
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The Altonaer Museum is a regional museum covering the culture of northern Germany and the North Sea coast, and its location carries meaning: Altona was not a Hamburg district but an independent rival city under Danish rule until 1864, and was only absorbed into Hamburg in 1938 โ the museum having been built in 1901 as an independent city's museum. Its strongest holdings are maritime: detailed ship models, navigation instruments, and an exceptional collection of carved figureheads โ life-size painted wooden figures once mounted on the bows of sailing ships, displayed here in a full row that produces an odd sense of a crowd of faces. Other sections cover rural life in Schleswig-Holstein: entire farmhouse rooms moved with their furniture, fishing equipment, traditional dress and folk art. There is also a historic puppet theatre giving performances for children. The museum is quiet and local in character, well off the usual visitor routes.
Life-size painted wooden figures.
Whole interiors moved with their furniture.
Museumstrasse 23, 22765 Hamburg