From 15 November 2011 to 25 March 2012, the special exhibition “140 Years of Hamburg Süd” can be viewed at the International Maritime Museum in Hamburg. It allows a unique glimpse into the history of the shipping group – with a host of historical paintings, posters and model ships. The occasion for the special exhibition is the 140th anniversary of Hamburg Süd, which was founded on 4 November 1871 by eleven eminent Hamburg merchants and ship owners. The highlights of the show include the original model of the museum freighter “Cap San Diego” from 1961 and a 4.5-metre-long model of the celebrated Hamburg Süd passenger liner “Cap Arcona” from Blohm + Voss. Also on display are oil paintings by the well-known marine painters Hans Ritter von Petersen, Johannes Holst and Leonhard Sandrock, as well as ship posters from the 20s and 30s. The latter convey a unique impression of the glamorous era of Hamburg Süd cruises.
Completing the broad sweep of the special exhibition is a film on the history of Hamburg Süd, incorporating numerous historical sequences, and an interactive sea chart showing the current location of all the shipping group’s owned vessels. “The exhibition is like a living journey through time covering the different epochs of our history,” says Dr Ottmar Gast, Chairman of the Executive Board of Hamburg Süd. “It shows the dynamic development of a shipping company that started out in 1871 with three small steamers sailing to Brazil and La Plata and today links up the continents as one of the world’s 15 largest container lines.”