Finding a Location -
a Factory-Turned-Museum

The former site of the New York-Hamburger Gummi-Waaren Compagnie ("New York-Hamburg Rubber Products Company"), which now houses the Museum der Arbeit, is located in Barmbek, a central district of Hamburg. Built in 1871, with numerous extensions added over the years, it is now one of the oldest extant production complexes in the city.

During the last war, in the final stages of a series of air-raids known as "Operation Gomorrah", major parts of the installations were destroyed. In 1949 the production plant was sold to the City of Hamburg, and in the early 1950's the entire company moved its headquarters to Harburg, south of the River Elbe. Some of the buildings were pulled down.

By the time the Museum moved in, what remained was a scatter of industrial ruins, including parts of the original factory dating back to 1871, the Torhaus ("Gatekeeper's cabin"), the tin foundry, the boiler house and the New Factory, the latter built in 1908. In this building a few craftsmen and retailers had set up shop. In 1986 the former tin foundry became a centre for social and cultural activities, offering a variety of events and including a pub.

Plans for accommodating the Museum der Arbeit at these premises date back to 1982, and by 1992 work had finally begun. The former boiler house was partly rebuilt, and after a number of modifications the official opening of the Museum's workshops was finally celebrated in autumn 1994. The first building to house an exhibition, the New Factory, should be ready by the middle of 1996, and, with the necessary political support coming forth, by the turn of the millennium construction work on all four buildings should have been completed.