The Hanfmuseum Berlin or Hemp Museum was opened on December 6, 1994 in Berlin's Nikolaiviertel. It is the only museum in Germany to house a permanent exhibition on the hemp plant. The museum also actively promotes the protection of children and young people and offers individually tailored tours through the exhibition with support staff. It serves as a meeting place for the organizers of the Hanfparade. The Hemp Museum regularly takes part in the Long Night of Museums, the Berlin Fairy Tale Days and the Historale held in the Nikolaiviertel. In 2017, the Hemp Museum took part in the Kirchentag in Berlin as a self-organized event on the subject of the drug war with speakers from South America, including Reverend Martin Diaz from El Salvador.
The exhibition covers around 250 m² and shows everything to do with
the cultivated plant. Starting with the general presentation, the growth
and cultivation, the harvest and the processing of hemp are described
from a historical perspective. Furthermore, the numerous possible uses
are presented and consumer products are presented. The importance of
hemp for different cultures of the world and also as a drug is
highlighted. An example of drug users in Berlin is Wolfgang Neuss, who
was known to many not only as a cabaret artist, but also as a free
spirit, biting lateral thinker and convinced user of cannabis as an
intoxicant. Special exhibitions, such as the cannabis as a medicine law
of February 19, 2017, complement the current status.
The
exhibition also documents the prohibition history of hemp containing
THC.
Selected artists can present their works in the basement.
There is an opportunity to linger, watch films and talk to each other.
The association publishes its own publications. In 1994 the club magazine Hanf Forum was published as the first publication. On the 20th anniversary of the Hemp Museum's existence on December 6, 2014, a chronicle was published as a commemorative publication.
The Hemp Museum conducts research and publishes it. A scholarly
discussion took place, for example, on the Germania painting from 1848.
In 2009, the Hemp Museum, together with partners, carried out a
labyrinth in the hemp field in Berlin, which was open to the public and
e.g. attended by school classes.
In 2015, a cooperation was
carried out to improve the hemp harvest. The aim was not only to harvest
hemp fibers or hemp seeds, but both products from one field. The
previous developments in harvesting techniques could not achieve this.
The project has been carried out successfully.
In cooperation
with the Museumsdorf Düppel, a hemp field based on a historical model
was created in 2018. Archaeological research in the museum village has
shown that hemp was also cultivated there. This historical model should
now be used as a model for medieval cultivation and processing of hemp.
Additional information boards were prepared and presented for this
purpose.
The Hemp Museum also provides premises for the
presentation of research results, such as those in the Industrial Design
course at the Berlin University of Applied Sciences. A hemp design
project entitled HEMP INSPIRED was presented in the winter semester
2020-2021, in which students showed their product developments.