Did you know that a tropical sea exists inside a former monastery? That’s the German Maritime Museum for you. Since 1951, the German Maritime Museum has resided in Stralsund’s historic Dominican monastery of St. Katharinen. It is the oldest of the German Oceanographic Museum Foundation’s four locations.
The German Maritime Museum is currently undergoing modernization and is expected to open in 2024. The plans include a redesigned entrance area and faithful installations of marine animals. There will also be an impressive large aquarium featuring a reef. The aquariums in the monastery complex’s historic vaulted cellar will be completely redesigned. Visitors will once again embark on a journey through warm seas.
But it has so much more to offer than just an aquarium. The German Maritime Museum shows exhibitions about oceanography and marine biology. You can also learn about fishery plus the Baltic Sea’s fauna and flora.
Imagine standing before the 15-meter-long skeleton of a fin whale. Picture a polar bear and a Japanese spider crab. Don’t forget the leatherback turtle! These fascinating exhibits await you.
The 36 aquariums display sea horses and colorful coral fishes. Sharks swim here, too. Huge sea turtles inhabit their 350,000-liter aquarium, and you can see them through a three-by-eight-meter window.
Originally founded in 1951 as the Natural History Museum by Prof. Otto Dibbelt, it evolved over time. In 1966, it became the Oceanographic Museum. Later, in 1974, it was renamed the Museum of Oceanography and Fisheries of the GDR.
Between 1989 and 1990, a museum café and shop were constructed. The aquarium wing was expanded, starting in 1988. The permanent exhibition “Man and the Sea” continued, and public relations improved. The museum assisted in building the Western Pomerania Lagoon Area National Park. They created an exhibition center in the Darßer Ort lighthouse complex, which later became Natureum Darßer Ort. The whale exhibition was redesigned.
On the island of Oie, the DMM station expanded. A quarantine facility for tropical marine life and a filter system for the cold water area were completed. A 6,000-liter aquarium with live coral and other marine invertebrates was added. In 1991, the museum café and shop opened. The collections expanded to over 800 objects. The extension wing was completed in 1992, with a new aquarium for tropical marine fish. The museum building was dedicated to Hermann Burmeister.
In 1994, the town-owned museum became a foundation under civil law. In 1996, the vessel “Adolf Reichwein” was restored in the museum courtyard. The Baltic Sea walking tour and museum shop were also restored.
So, while the German Maritime Museum is being modernized, remember its rich history. Think of the sea creatures awaiting your visit in 2024.