Haus der Versicherungsgeschichte

Haus der Versicherungsgeschichte stands in Germany as a historicist building shaped by two centuries of insurance history. Bruno Eelbo designed it in 1893 for the Gothaer Lebensversicherungsbank, combining Renaissance details with romantic forms. Massive stonework and elaborate ornament give the façade a sense of permanence.

Inside, the staircase draws your attention to Adolf Lehnert’s three-part relief celebrating tradition and progress. The building once held the Museum of German Insurance History. From 1998 to 2006, its rooms presented insurance documents, company trophies, memorabilia and the nineteenth-century Sparuhr, a savings clock. The Hamburg Fire of 1842 and Ernst Wilhelm Arnoldi connected these objects with moments and people in German insurance history.

A library of more than 5,000 volumes and the Arnoldi Archive added specialist books, company papers and personal documents. Since 2009, the Deutsche Versicherungsmuseum Ernst Wilhelm Arnoldi has continued exhibitions, lectures, concerts and special events through a local association. Concert sounds can fill the staircase foyer, where stone, glass and Lehnert’s relief bring the building’s past into view.