Rickmer Rickmers

Current exhibitions

About the museum

The Rickmer Rickmers was launched in 1896 at the Rickmers shipping company's yard in Bremerhaven as a steel full-rigged ship and initially sailed to East Asia, carrying cargo such as rice and bamboo from Hong Kong. After being badly damaged in 1904, she was re-rigged as a barque. In 1912 she was sold to a Hamburg shipping company as the MAX and sailed in the saltpeter trade to Chile.

During World War I, Portugal seized the ship in the Azores in 1916. Renamed FLORES, she first carried war materiel; the Portuguese Navy later converted her into the sail training ship SAGRES, and around 1930 she was fitted with diesel engines as auxiliary propulsion. Decommissioned in 1962, she lay at a naval dockyard as the depot hulk SANTO ANDRÉ.

The association "Windjammer für Hamburg," founded in 1974 around Wilhelm "Fiete" Schmidt, brought the hull to the Elbe in 1983 for the Hamburg Port Anniversary. Volunteers, and later workers from a public job-creation program, restored the ship, which has been moored at the Fiete-Schmidt-Anleger near the Landungsbrücken since September 1987 and is open to visitors every day. It is run by a foundation that operates without public subsidies.

Today the ship presents an exhibition of about 800 m² on its four "lives" as a cargo sailing ship, war prize, training ship and museum, along with the engine room, officers' quarters and changing art shows in the "Galerie unter der Elbe."

Highlights

• Original tall ship from 1896 with complete rigging
• Exhibition deck on the four phases of the ship's life
• Officers' quarters in the poop and engine room with steam engine and Krupp diesel
• "Galerie unter der Elbe" with changing art exhibitions
• Climbing the shrouds (April–October, Saturdays)
• Official ship's post office with a special postmark

Permanent exhibitions

• Ausstellungsdeck: Die vier Leben der Rickmer Rickmers – A chronological tour covering the ship's construction, cargo voyages, years as a training ship and use as a museum, with large-format graphics, display cases and hands-on stations.

Founded

1987

Operated by

Stiftung Rickmer Rickmers (Stiftung des Vereins Windjammer für Hamburg e. V.)

Director

Joachim Stratenschulte (geschäftsführender Vorstand)

Admission & discounts

Climbing the shrouds and the escape room "Hidden in Hamburg" can be booked separately.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible: not available
• Elevator: not available
• 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: no information
• Audio description: no information

Due to the historic construction, there is no accessible entrance. The restaurant can only be reached via a separate entrance by prior arrangement.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Kids’ birthday parties

Children's birthday parties with a scavenger hunt at the harbor and a discovery tour of the ship, bookable through Stadterlebnis; children's meals in the onboard restaurant can be added. Family ticket for two adults with children up to age 14.

Getting there & parking

Amenities & dining

• Restaurant

Onboard restaurant (Rickmer Rickmers Gastronomie) daily 11:00–18:00, tel. +49 40 3196373.

Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent
• Private parties
• Corporate events
• Weddings / ceremonies

Up to 250 guests.

Parties, corporate events, conferences and symbolic (non-legal) wedding ceremonies on board through the onboard catering, for up to 250 guests.

Plan your visit