Führung Weißes Wüstengold. Chile-Salpeter und Hamburg

In the organizer's words:

Guided tour of the exhibition "White Desert Gold. Chile saltpetre and Hamburg"

To mark the 100th anniversary of the Chilehaus in Hamburg, the exhibition focuses on the working and living conditions of saltpetre workers in the Atacama Desert in Chile. Their exploitation and hard labour in the driest desert in the world and the high demand for the "white gold" as a basis for fertilizer and explosives established the wealth of European "saltpetre barons" at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, such as Hermann C. J. Fölsch from Hamburg and Henry B. Sloman, the builder of the Chilehaus.

In the exhibition, historical photographs from private archives show work and life in the saltpetre works. They are juxtaposed with objects from the MARKK and contemporary artistic perspectives from Chile, which shed light on the social repercussions of the saltpetre era right up to the present day.

Price information:

3 € for the guided tour plus museum admission. Free admission up to 18 years plus €3 for the guided tour. Museum admission €9.50; concessions €5.