Medizinhistorisches Museum Hamburg

Current exhibitions

About the museum

The museum goes back to an initiative from 2007: after the pathology department moved out of the Fritz-Schumacher-Haus on the grounds of the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), the hospital's board asked the UKE's friends' association to restore the building and give it a new use. In consultation with the heritage authorities, it was renovated in stages; in 2010 the restored large dissection hall was shown to the public for the first time with an exhibition.

The building itself was designed from 1911 onward by Hamburg's director of building, Fritz Schumacher, as a research and institute building. During World War I it served as a military hospital, and the institutes did not begin work there until 1926. The pathology department used the dissection hall until 2006. In 2011 the ensemble was classified as a monument of national importance.

In October 2013 the first part of the permanent exhibition "Die Entstehung der modernen Medizin" (The Rise of Modern Medicine) opened, followed in December 2014 by the small dissection hall and the rooms on the upper floor. In 2017 a learning and memorial site on medical crimes under National Socialism was added. The museum belongs to the Institute for the History and Ethics of Medicine and sees itself as a research institution, with object collections – including around 600 wax moulages – as well as documents and photographs on the history of the Eppendorf hospital.

Highlights

• Large and small dissection halls as they were in 1926
• Wax moulages on the medical and cultural history of syphilis
• Furnished practice of the internist Hans-Joachim von Leitner
• Learning and memorial site "Medizinverbrechen im Nationalsozialismus" (Medical Crimes under National Socialism)
• Historic microscopes and X-ray technology

Permanent exhibitions

• Die Entstehung der modernen Medizin – Permanent exhibition on the transformation of medicine since the late 19th century – from nursing, pathology and dental technology to microscopy, X-rays and the pharmaceutical industry, centered on the historic dissection halls.
• Lern- und Gedenkort „Medizinverbrechen im Nationalsozialismus“ – Two rooms commemorate Hamburg victims of "euthanasia," forced sterilization and human experimentation and ask about the responsibility of science; bilingual texts, with a research terminal.

Founded

2007

Operated by

Institut für Geschichte und Ethik der Medizin, Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE)

Director

Prof. Dr. Philipp Osten

Admission & discounts

Free admission also for UKE staff, UKE patients, members of the Deutscher Museumsbund and ICOM, and anyone who cannot afford admission.

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials
• Audio description: no information

Not fully accessible throughout; the museum provides assistance if arranged by phone in advance (040 7410-57172). The learning and memorial site is wheelchair-accessible. Free companion booklet in Easy Language (Einfache Sprache) for some areas. Assistance animals only with prior approval from the UKE. At one point, the visitor information also mentions accessible entry for wheelchair users.

Kids & families

Only partly suitable for kids

Because of the impact of some exhibits, a visit accompanied by adults is recommended for young people under 16; the darkened room with realistic wax moulages of diseases is not well suited for children. Tours for school classes and children's groups through the Museumsdienst Hamburg.

Getting there & parking

Access via the side entrance at Frickestraße/corner of Schedestraße.

Amenities & dining

The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.

Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent
• Corporate events

Up to 196 guests.

Available for rent: the large lecture hall (196 seats), the large dissection hall (approx. 150 seats), the small dissection hall (approx. 30), the foyer and the museum lab (approx. 20), for conferences, concerts, readings and film shoots. The dissection halls currently cannot be booked because of an exhibition; no food or drinks in the dissection hall. Lecture hall requests unrelated to the museum go through the dean's office.

Plan your visit