November 10, 2026 – December 10, 2026
Schule 1939–1945: Erinnern. Verstehen. Weiterdenken.
Mobile hands-on exhibition about school and childhood in Hamburg during World War II; afterward available on loan to schools as a traveling exhibition.
Hamburger Schulmuseum
School history museum of the state teacher-training institute in St. Pauli, with a historic classroom and exhibitions on the German Empire and the Nazi era.
Opening hoursFree admission
Current exhibitions
About the museum
The idea for the Hamburger Schulmuseum (Hamburg school museum) arose in the late 1980s at the University of Hamburg's research unit for Hamburg school history: research on the Nazi era showed that schools were increasingly discarding historical teaching materials and documents. Within about three years, some 10,000 objects were collected from Hamburg schools; with support from the school authority and the GEW teachers' union, the museum opened on October 21, 1991, in an annex of the Rudolf-Roß-Schule in the Neustadt district.
In 2000 it had to move out and relocated to the building of the former Realschule St. Pauli on Seilerstraße, parallel to the Reeperbahn. Today the museum is a branch of the Landesinstitut für Qualifizierung und Qualitätsentwicklung in Schulen (LI), the state institute for teacher training and school quality development, and thus part of Hamburg's school authority.
The museum sees itself equally as a museum, an out-of-school place of learning, and a research center with an archive and library on Hamburg's school history. The exhibitions focus on school and society in the German Empire and on schools under National Socialism and the new start after 1945. It is best known for its historical role-play, in which school classes experience a lesson in the classroom as it was in the Kaiser's day.
Highlights
- Historic classroom with a lesson "as in the Kaiser's day"
- Exhibition on schools under National Socialism and the new start in 1945
- Historical teaching aids and physics apparatus
- Archive and library on Hamburg's school history
- Free admission
Permanent exhibitions
- Schule und Gesellschaft im Deutschen Kaiserreich – Shows how state ideals shaped family life and teaching between 1871 and 1918; with a historically furnished classroom.
- Schule im Nationalsozialismus und Neuanfang nach 1945 – Documents, photos, textbooks, and pupils' notebooks show how Nazi ideology permeated everyday school life in Hamburg.
- Founded
- 1991
- Operated by
- Landesinstitut für Qualifizierung und Qualitätsentwicklung in Schulen (LI) Hamburg
Admission & discounts
Admission is free.
Admission is free.
Accessibility
The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.
Kids & families
The museum education programs (including role-playing in the historical classroom from grade 4) are aimed at school classes.
Getting there & parking
By public transit
Davidstraße · 250 m
Bus 112 to Davidstraße (about 250 m), S-Bahn to Reeperbahn (about 350 m), U3 to St. Pauli (about a 6-minute walk).
Amenities & dining
The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.
Events & venue rental
The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.
Plan your visit
| Guided tours | yes |
|---|---|
| School programs | yes |
| Good to know | Educational programs for school classes (approx. 3 hours each): role-play "Leben und Lernen im Kaiserreich" (Life and Learning in the German Empire) from grade 4 and the tour "Schule im Nationalsozialismus" (Schools under National Socialism) from grade 9 (from grade 8 by arrangement); booking preferably by email. |
