Emigrant Museum BallinStadt

The emigrant museum BallinStadt in Hamburg opens its doors and shows in its exhibition the emigration history from four epochs.

The Ballinstadt celebrates its 15th anniversary

For 15 years, the Ballinstadt has been showcasing the lives and aspirations of people who were on their way to a new homeland. In addition to exhibits on immigration and emigration, people can also research their own ancestors at the Family Research Center.

The history of the Emigration Museum

Why should you visit the Emigration Museum in Hamburg during your stay in the Hanseatic City? Since its opening in 2007, it has rightly been one of the city's most popular museums. The core of the exhibition are the three replica emigrant halls of Ballinstadt, named after Albert Ballin. At the beginning of the 20th century he was managing director of the shipping company HAPAG and as such he was very interested in the millions of emigrants who wanted to start from here into the New World and hopefully into a better life. Since the housing situation in the city had become untenable, in 1901 he had the Ballinstadt built on the Elbe island of Veddel, which became a true city in the city with a church, dining rooms, dormitories and a military hospital. For about 5 million European emigrants, Hamburg was the "gateway to the world" between 1850 and 1939. The BallinStadt Emigration Museum is dedicated to these emigrants.

The special exhibition "50 Years of Sesame Street - More than a TV Show"

From 17 February 2023, the BallinStadt will celebrate the 50th broadcast anniversary of Sesame Street in Germany. In the special exhibition "50 Years of Sesame Street - More than a TV Show", visitors can discover objects, props and costumes from the popular TV show. A large number of original puppets from the Sesame Workshop archives in New York will also be on display. For children, there will be a scavenger hunt through the museum with many interactive stations.  "Our special exhibition is a generation-bonding experience for all people who grew up with Sesame Street," says Volker Reimers, Managing Director of BallinStadt.

In addition, the background of the show is explained: Behind the organisation is the Sesame Workshop, a non-profit media and educational organisation that invented Sesame Street in 1969 and today acts as an innovative force for change. Their mission is to help children grow up smarter, stronger and more socially competent.