The Formation of Hamburg, 2012

Hamburgmuseum, Hamburg, Germany

After extensive revision, the Hamburgmuseum opened a section entitled “The harbour — a key stimulus” featuring a large-scale interactive media table as its central element. The touch-sensitive installation allows visitors to undertake an interactive journey through time and space, exploring the development of the city from the Middle Ages through to the present day.

The table top is a square 3.5 m² area showing a landscape map of the Hamburg area. Visitors use a mechanical time wheel to navigate their way through eleven epochs and discover how the structure of the city and the landscape were transformed over time.

For each period, graphic indication is provided of the main urban development changes as well as key historical events such as the devastating fire of 1842 and the storm flood in 1962. When visitors touch the respective markings, content fields open to provide more detailed information in the form of short texts, pictures or film sequences relating to Hamburg‘s specific locations and key events. Since this information appears on different sides of the table, the installation can be used by several visitors at the same time.