Ready to delve into Hamburg’s intriguing past? We are standing before the Polizeimuseum Hamburg. It is Germany’s largest police museum. This museum is not just about crime. It is about the evolution of law enforcement and the city itself.
The Polizeimuseum Hamburg gives an overview of 200 years of police work in Hamburg. It presents forensic methods and selected Hamburg criminal cases from the beginning of the 20th century. The Hamburger Polizeiverein co-manages the Polizeimuseum.
Let’s step inside the Polizeimuseum Hamburg. The building itself has a history. It served as a Wehrmacht canteen in 1937. After 1945, Danish and British military units occupied it. In 1957, it was handed over to the Hamburg police. It became the canteen of the Landespolizeischule in the sixties. The new Polizeimuseum Hamburg opened in the former economic building in 2014. It is located on the grounds of the Akademie der Polizei Hamburg. The address is Carl-Cohn-Straße 39.
Inside the Polizeimuseum Hamburg, the displays cover 1,400 square meters. There are 21 showrooms. All information panels are in German and English. The Polizeimuseum Hamburg is accessible with an ID. It is also wheelchair accessible.
On the ground floor, we find 200 years of police history. The exhibition shows how the work of the police was subject to political movements. Historical events and different values in society influenced it too. You’ll see examples of traffic control methods. There are exhibits about the Reserve Police Battalion 101. It was involved in murders during the National Socialist tyranny. Other displays include the bloodless handover of the city to the British occupation forces. There is a replica of a police station with a detention cell from the 1960s.
The flood disaster of 1962 is also represented. A picture of the Hamburger Kessel can be seen too. Police headgear is on display. It ranges from the Pickelhaube to the Tschako. You can see the white and blue peaked caps too.
A scientific advisory board ensured a proper representation of the police during the Nazi era. Doubts arose during public and parliamentary discussions. People questioned whether the history was being portrayed appropriately. The advisory board’s recommendations were incorporated into the museum’s concept.
Let’s ascend to the first floor of the Polizeimuseum Hamburg. Here, criminal technology takes center stage. See a cross-section of a police vehicle. A police helicopter is also on display. Methods of securing evidence are presented. Fingerprints, DNA evidence, and the extraction of computer data are all explained. Investigation methods are showcased. These include police photos, descriptions of perpetrators, and the creation of composite sketches.
Finally, on the top floor of the Polizeimuseum Hamburg, we find selected criminal cases. The “St. Pauli Killer” Werner Pinzner is featured. The accidental discovery of corpses in a burning house is explored. This involved the female murderer Fritz Honka. The forged Hitler diaries of Konrad Kujau are also presented.
The raids of the “Lord of Barmbeck,” Julius Adolf Petersen, are examined. A hostage-taking and liberation on Steindamm is shown. The attacks of the “Kaufhauserpresser Dagobert” are detailed. Bullet holes in a life-saving notebook are displayed. A corpse in an oil barrel is also part of the exhibition.
The Polizeimuseum Hamburg does hold a collection that isn’t open to the public. This collection will be set up in the basement. It will serve as a teaching aid for police officers. It will be based on an archival corpus of approximately 5,000 cataloged items.
The Polizeimuseum Hamburg offers a comprehensive look at the history of law enforcement in Hamburg. It shows how policing has evolved over time. It reflects the changing social and political landscape of the city. It is more than just a collection of artifacts. The Polizeimuseum Hamburg is a journey through time. Thank you for joining me on this tour.