Tall ship “Peking” returns to Hamburg

8 September 2020

Historic four-masted barque as new landmark and symbol of Hamburg’s planned German Port Museum

Built by Blohm+Voss in Hamburg 109 years ago, she survived two world wars and was a museum ship in New York for more than 40 years – The tall ship Peking returned to Hamburg on Monday 7 September. The historic four-masted barque is regarded as the symbol of the German Port Museum to be created in the Port of Hamburg by 2025. The Peking tied up at her provisional berth on the Bremen Quay at Hamburg’s current Port Museum in the evening, where she was formally transferred to the Hamburg Historical Museums Foundation (SHMH). She had been thoroughly restored beforehand at the Peters Dockyard in Schleswig-Holstein. The arrival could be watched via the SHMH and NDR Livestream and from various viewing points along the banks of the Elbe.

Symbol of the German Port Museum

“With the Peking, Hamburg is gaining a new landmark,” Hamburg Mayor Peter Tschenscher said. “During a history of more than 100 years, the Peking rounded Cape Horn 34 times, survived two world wars, and spent more than 40 years as a museum ship on a Manhattan pier.” The Hamburg Historical Museums Foundation now aims to fit out the ship over the months ahead before moving it to its final berth along the Holthusen Quay where it will serve as a museum ship. Eighty-eight years after the Peking sailed from the Port of Hamburg for the last time, it is now providing a view of the planned German Port Museum. The tall ship is expected to be ready to accept visitors in the summer of 2021. Until then, the ship can be viewed from the quayside during Hamburg Port Museum’s opening hours.

Federal funding for establishing the German Port Museum

Setting up the German Port Museum, along with the restoration and transfer of ownership of the four-masted barque will be fully funded to a total of 185.5 million euros by the federal government’s culture and media commissioner in line with a resolution passed by the Bundestag (German parliament). The preparatory measures ahead of the arrival of the PEKING in Hamburg, as well commissioning the ship, are being funded by the Culture and Media Office of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg.
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