Rathausausstellung 2026 - Tafel 12: Kult um germanische »Ahnen« | Town-hall Exhibition 2026 - Panel 12: The cult of Germanic ancestors

Museum-based archaeology during the Nazi era The Nazi regime promoted prehistoric and ancient archaeology, in an attempt to prove the superiority of the so-called Aryan race and of the Germanic culture. The Hamburg archaeologist Prof. Dr Walter Matthes, a member of the SA, was was a leading proponent of the Germanic cult. In 1934 he was appointed head of the prehistoric department at the Völkerkundemuseum [Museum of Ethnology] and of the newly founded Institute of Pre-history and Early Germanic History at the University of Hamburg. Together with the Hamburg Office of Cultural Affairs, he sought to establish a separate museum for prehistory and early history in the former Masonic lodge at Moorweidenstraße. The building was later used as a gathering point for deportees, among other things.