The Speicherstadt was an architectural monument and place of work. From 1885 to 1927, a quarter of superlatives was built here with 330,000 m² of storage space. All roads and canals as well as 23 bridges had to be rebuilt. The Speicherstadtmuseum illustrates this development with numerous historical photos and plans. The fact that an entire old town quarter was demolished for the construction of the warehouse blocks and the customs canal is not overlooked. As a result, 19,400 people lost their homes. The special exhibition "Lost and Forgotten" focuses on the wartime losses of the Speicherstadt until January 5, 2025. Unique historical photographs, some of which have never been shown to the public before, illustrate the consequences of the Second World War for the Speicherstadt. The reconstruction of the warehouse blocks by architect Werner Kallmorgen is also documented. The Speicherstadt, which has been a Unesco World Heritage Site since 2015, was repeatedly the target of air raids during the Second World War. Of a total of 17 affected warehouse blocks, three were considered total losses. A further twelve blocks suffered such extensive damage that by the end of the war, only individual sections were still intact. Added to this was the destruction of the customs buildings that lined the customs canal. The special exhibition documents these losses. As there are hardly any meaningful photos from the 1920s and 1930s, the exhibition mainly draws on photos from the construction period of the buildings during the German Empire. However, this should not be a problem, as the Speicherstadt was still in its original state at the beginning of the war. During reconstruction, the partially destroyed blocks were reconstructed, while care was taken to ensure that the new buildings blended into the ensemble in terms of material and scale. This fact was explicitly acknowledged when the Speicherstadt was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2015. Nevertheless, when looking at the historical photos, there is no denying that the original character of the Speicherstadt has been irretrievably lost.

Exhibition duration until January 5, 2025

Speicherstadtmuseum Branch Museum of Labor

Am Sandtorkai 36, 20457 Hamburg

www.shmh.de/speicherstadtmuseum