The Great Flood – Catastrophe, Challenge, Perspectives
Special exhibition at the Hamburg Museum
In the night of 16th to 17th February 1962, the most powerful storm front for over 100 years swept over Hamburg. Numerous dykes burst; 315 people died.
Based on this traumatic event in the city’s history, this exhibition links historical events with modern-day knowledge and outlooks on the topic of flood prevention, spanning a timeline from the Middle Ages through to the present day and ending on the discussion of prospects for the future.
PROJECT DETAILS
- Client: Museumsdienst Hamburg (Hamburg Museums Service)
- Display space: approx. 500 m2
- Held: February–September 2012
SERVICES
- Detailed thematic exhibition concept for the display areas “Catastrophe” and “Survival”
- Object research
- Interviews with contemporary witnesses
- Exhibition and catalogue texts
- Design concept
- Implementation planning
- Construction management
Fotos: © Museumsdienst / Michael Zapf
Many of those affected have kept objects that hold the memory of the flood: items that could be saved or salvaged from the mud; things that symbolise the arduous days and weeks that followed the natural catastrophe.
A huge dyke installation illustrates the dimensions of coastal protection needed at present, with a cross section showing the internal structure of the dyke.
The storm front of 1962 was the first natural disaster covered on television. The images projected in television newscasts and cinema newsreels and those published in the daily press have become iconic in our collective memory.