The industrial volume
High ceilings for very large work.
Deichtorhallen Hamburg GmbH — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Flocci Nivis — CC BY 4.0 · Ajepbah — CC BY-SA 3.0 de · Alchemist-hp (talk) — CC BY-SA 3.0
The Deichtorhallen are among Europe's largest contemporary art halls, originally two covered market halls built at the turn of the twentieth century in steel and glass in the manner of Victorian railway stations — vast open industrial space with almost no internal columns. The two halls specialise differently: the northern for contemporary art with major exhibitions of sculpture, installation and painting, and the southern as the House of Photography, devoted to the photographic image, with a collection including the F. C. Gundlach archive — one of Germany's most important fashion photography archives. Scale is what distinguishes the place: the ceilings are very high and the spaces open, so work can be shown that traditional museums could not accommodate — installations the size of whole rooms and pieces suspended from the roof. There is generally no permanent collection on show; the programme is exhibitions changing several times a year.
High ceilings for very large work.
A major German fashion photography holding.
Deichtorstrasse 1-2, 20095 Hamburg
ChocoversumChocoversum is a chocolate museum in central Hamburg, but it does not work like 4 minutes walk4.5
Dialogue in the DarkDialogue in the Dark is not an exhibition to view but an experience to undergo i4 minutes walk4.7
ChilehausThe Chilehaus is a brick office building of 1924, among the best-known works of 5 minutes walk4.6
Prototyp Car MuseumPrototyp is a small car museum in Hamburg's HafenCity, housed in a reused indust5 minutes walk4.5
German Customs MuseumThe German Customs Museum occupies a genuine customs office building in the Spei6 minutes walk4.6It depends on the current exhibition more than on the hall itself, since the programme changes completely several times a year. In practice: if photography interests you, the House of Photography in the southern hall is relatively dependable because its focus is fixed, while the northern swings between sculpture, installation and painting — check what is on before deciding.