The German Maritime Museum occupies the former Katharinenkloster, a 13th-century Dominican monastery, and is the most visited museum in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The collection covers Baltic Sea natural history, the history of German seafaring, and oceanography — but the setting is as impressive as the content. The Gothic monastery church and cloister are spectacularly restored, with aquarium tanks and ships' instruments filling the medieval spaces.
The museum's star exhibit is the Hanseatic ship — a 14th-century merchant vessel recovered from the harbour and now displayed in a dedicated hall. A life-sized reconstruction of the Bremen Cog (a type of medieval merchant vessel) is also on display. The combined ticket with the Ozeaneum offers good value.