Hamburg's International Maritime Museum Weaves China's Seafaring Legacy into Global Tapestry
Published Time：
2025-10-07 10:32
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May 17, 2025 — The International Maritime Museum in Hamburg has launched a stunning exhibition tracing 3,000 years of Chinese maritime civilization. From a statue of Zheng He and models of his treasure ships to a scale model of COSCO's modern container ship "Taurus," the display integrates China's nautical history into the global maritime narrative, highlighting its role as a pioneer, participant, and shaper of seafaring history. It also underscores the vibrant cultural and economic ties between China and Germany.
Housed in a converted port warehouse with ten floors of exhibits, the museum showcases the lifelong collection of the late maritime historian Peter Tamm. Deliberately moving beyond a Eurocentric viewpoint, the exhibition begins with the 3rd-century BCE voyages of Xu Fu, sent by Emperor Qin Shi Huang. Through Chinese ship models, Qing dynasty naval uniforms, and ivory ship carvings, it vividly illustrates that China was not an outsider but a central architect of global maritime civilization. "We display not just ships and technology, but the stories of seafarers—their courage and wisdom turned oceans into bridges between civilizations," stated Director Gerrit Menzel.
On the first "deck," Zheng He stands honored among the "Seven Great Figures of Navigation," his treasure ship model—a 2008 gift from Fujian Province—silently on display. "Zheng He's advanced fleet and spirit of exploration lit a beacon for the world's maritime civilization a full century before Europe's Age of Discovery," Menzel noted, affirming the pioneering contributions of Chinese explorers to global exchange.
On the ninth floor, the model of COSCO's "Taurus"—one of the world's largest container ships at a 1:200 scale—stands out among 50,000 miniature vessel models. "It is not only a symbol of modern China's shipping capability but also a testament to Hamburg's centuries-old maritime friendship with China," Menzel remarked. This connection spans from 1731, when the first Chinese merchant ship entered Hamburg's port, to 2024, with China remaining Hamburg's largest trading partner, handling 2.2 million TEUs and accounting for nearly 30% of the port's total container volume.
Deep within the galleries, aged blueprints of the Dingyuan warship reveal another chapter of Sino-German maritime exchange: commissioned by the Qing government and built by Germany's Vulkan Shipyard in 1881, these documents represent early technological collaboration. "The construction of the Dingyuan deepened mutual understanding and trust between China and Germany," explained Song Shi, a researcher at Hamburg University of Technology, framing this history as a prologue to long-term cooperation.
From the ancient voyages of Xu Fu and Zheng He to the modern global shipping networks of COSCO and the mutually beneficial partnership with the Port of Hamburg, the museum uses artifacts to chart the brilliant course of Chinese maritime civilization on the map of world history. "The old Mr. Tamm often said, 'The sea never divided humanity—it connected us,'" Menzel shared. More than a museum of nautical history, this space serves as a bridge for Sino-German and global maritime cultural exchange, allowing 3,000 years of Chinese seafaring heritage to converse with the world, and letting the bonds of open cooperation shine more brightly than ever in the new era.
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