Passenger shipping: from migration and mass tourism

We invite you to discover the history of shipping since the emergence of regular shipping lines, through the first flourishing of passenger shipping to the beginning of mass tourism.

In the new exhibition on the history of passenger shipping we span a chronological arc from the end of the 18th century to the 20th century. We show different areas of passenger shipping, from emigration, pleasure and luxury travel to shipping as a nascent tourism sector. One focus of our exhibition is on the first peak phase of passenger shipping at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. With the advent of steam propulsion and technical developments in shipbuilding, ever larger and faster passenger steamers were built, which met the demands of an upmarket travel public for luxury and comfort, but above all offered sufficient space for the increasing number of emigrants. Starting from these two groups of travellers and certain ships such as KAISER WILHELM DER GROSSE or BREMEN (IV), the exhibition also shows the political, social and cultural significance of passenger ships for society at that time and the interests behind the booming business of sea travel.