In Hamburg, an international maritime museum has been opened

Hamburg - The International Maritime Museum was opened today in the northern German port city of Hamburg. It is located in a former port warehouse and covers an area of 16,000 square meters, divided into nine floors, detailing not only the history of navigation and discoveries but also various sagas and legends about captains, sailors, and life on ships. The museum was ceremonially opened to the public by German President Horst Köhler.
    The core of the exhibits consists of the world's largest collection of ship models, navigational instruments, maps, uniforms, and paintings with maritime themes, originating from the personal collection of former Springer publishing house head Peter Tamm. He donated the collection to a private museum, for which the city of Hamburg promised to provide and renovate the brick building of the port warehouse in neo-Gothic style from 1878. The reconstruction cost 30 million euros (approximately 723 million CZK).
    "The history of navigation shows that visions are an essential prerequisite for discovering something new," President Köhler declared at the museum's ceremonial opening. "The task of the museum is to make history communicable, thus inspiring future generations for navigation," he added.
    Each floor of the museum is dedicated to a specific theme, from exploratory voyages to pirates. The ship models provide an overview of shipbuilding from Greek triremes to Viking longships, Hanseatic cog ships to the most modern container ships. Historical compasses and reflectors sextants show how sailors navigated the vast oceans before radar and GPS, which are used today.
    Among the curiosities in the exhibits is the so-called monoxyl, a boat carved in the prehistoric manner from a single trunk, or a six-meter model of the luxury ship Queen Mary II made from Lego bricks. The exhibition is complemented by screenings of excerpts from the films Moby Dick, Treasure Island, and Submarine.