Hanf Museum Berlin (Berlin Hemp Museum)

Located in the centre of Berlin, in the picturesque district of Nikolai, is the Hemp Museum. The exhibition vividly describes the age-old use of hemp in various industries. Installations and displays illustrate, across approximately 250 square metres, the uses people have found for this versatile crop: from textile and insulation material to medicine. Discover the benefits hemp has brought to people throughout history, as well as its psychoactive effects.

All about hemp: from clothing to medicine

No other museum in Germany hosts an exhibition dedicated to the hemp plant. In the winter of 1994, H.A.N.F. e. V. opens in the Nikolai district as part of an initiative to reintegrate hemp into economical use. Your journey of discovery begins in front of a small, neat town house. Inside the museum's eight rooms, you will find exciting information and exhibits that explain the versatility of hemp. Your tour continues in an almost homey atmosphere: you learn about the hemp seeds that were discovered in pre-Christian graves. In the cultural history zone, you discover how Hemp strings play an important role in ancient China. Hemp is also critical to textile and material production. Locate the old spinning wheel on which plant fibres are made into threads and transformed into items of clothing, ropes and mats. The Museum's "Green Cabinet" exhibits hemp plants themselves. Take a close-up look at the inconspicuous and yet exceptional specimens growing there. The next exhibition room presents cosmetics, hemp paper, medical preparations and hemp-based oils. The art gallery showcases the use of the hemp plant as a stimulant. These images by self-confessed consumers from past and present are attention-grabbing to say the least. One small exhibit shows historical smoking pipes from turn-of-the-century Vienna. Finally, the adjacent room revolves around Rastafarians and the Middle East. Your tour culminates in the cellar where a small café offers THC-free cannabis specialities such as hemp tea and a regular music and culture programme. In addition, there are books and magazines on the topic.

Exhibition highlights

• Information about the medical use of cannabis.
• Exhibition area about textile manufacturing.
• Hemp as food and a raw material for paper.
• Historical smoking pipes from turn-of-the-century Vienna.
• "Green Cabinet" growing hemp plants.

Medieval Berlin: A stroll through the Nikolai district

Also located in the Nikolai quarter, only a few steps from the Hanf Museum Berlin, is the oldest church in the capital. This is the city's reconstructed Medieval nucleus. The former church now serves as an ecclesiastical, construction and urban history museum. The permanent exhibition presents the origin of the building "from the city floor to the top of the double spire". Another distinctive feature of the Nikolai district is the magnificent Ephraim-Palais from the 18th century. The three floors of this rococo building show rotating special exhibitions about Berlin's art and cultural history. The Stadtmuseum also displays its graphical collection here.

Our tips for your visit

You can reach the Hanf Museum Berlin via the U and S-Bahn lines S5, S7, U5, U8 and S75 to Berlin Alexanderplatz. From here, it's only about 600 metres walk to the museum. Alternatively, you can use the underground station Klosterstraße on the U2 line. The M48 bus also stops at the Nikolai district. Entrance is free for children under ten years of age. Groups of over six people and anyone using the Berlin Pass receive discounts. Throughout the museum, you will find prompts to listen to an electronic guide, which you can pick up at the entrance. Groups of under 10 people pay an additional 5 euros.

 

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