Organisation
The Hamburg Historical Museums Foundation (SHMH), established on January 1, 2008, is a legally independent, non-profit foundation under public law. It is managed and represented externally by the Executive Board. The central decision-making body is the Foundation Council, chaired by the President of the Ministry of Culture and Media. The Foundation Council decides on all fundamental issues and matters concerning the foundation, unless these are directly assigned to the Executive Board. The Board of Trustees supports the work of the Foundation’s Executive Board in an advisory capacity.
Structure
The foundation comprises a total of nine locations. It consists of four main buildings, each managed by its own directorate, with affiliated branch offices:
Museum of Hamburg History with the branch offices Kramer-Witwen-Wohnung and Millerntorwache
Altona Museum with the branch offices Jenisch Haus and Heine Haus
Museum of Work with the branch office Speicherstadtmuseum
German Port Museum (under construction) with the four-masted barque PEKING at location Schuppen 50A
The Central Services Management department, headed by the Commercial Management team, is responsible for all cross-institutional administrative tasks (e.g., human resources, controlling, procurement). The Hamburg Museum Service is also affiliated with Central Services Management as the central booking and booking agency for a total of 29 museum institutions in the city.
The press office, the PR & Marketing department, and the special working groups dealing with cross-departmental tasks report directly to the Foundation’s Executive Board.
EMPLOYEES
The foundation currently employs around 240 people (as of August 2025). It regularly provides scientific volunteers with fundamental training. With the Hamburg Practical Year in Restoration, centrally coordinated at the Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte, the SHMH, together with other cultural institutions and cooperating restoration workshops in Hamburg, has been offering a curriculum for a practical preparatory year that is unique in Germany since 1994. In addition, the SHMH provides interns and federal volunteers in their voluntary social year (FSJ) with insights into the various fields of activity of one of Germany’s largest museums of urban and regional history.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHARTS
The following organizational charts, which are updated regularly, provide an overview of the structures and areas of activity of all institutions belonging to SHMH:
Organigramm Stiftungsleitung – Stabsstellen
Organigramm – Management Zentrale Dienste
Organigramm Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte
Organigramm Altonaer Museum
Organigramm Museum der Arbeit
Organigramm Deutsches Hafenmuseum (im Aufbau)
LEGAL INFORMATION
The SHMH, a foundation under public law, is subject to the legal and technical supervision of the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. The underlying law governing the establishment of museum foundations in the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (Hamburg Museum Foundation Act – HmbMuStG) can be found in full online on the Hamburg State Law portal.