[3] In February 1863 the Altonaer pastor Georg Schaar - alongside others including the naturalist Carl Christian Gottsche and the shipowner Ernst Dreyer[4] - founded a private society for the construction of a museum, which at that time was located at Palmaille 112.

Altona, which had developed into a large industrial city with 180,000 inhabitants (1890) wanted to present itself through representative institutions, which in those days included a museum.

A new building, situated between the new town hall and the new railway station on the Kaiserplatz (now Platz der Republik/Museumstraße), was inaugurated on 16 September 1901.

For its expansion, a concept was developed by Altonaer teacher Otto Lehmann that placed Schleswig-Holstein regional and folklore studies at the centre of the "Folk Education Museum", thus setting it apart from the museums in the neighbouring city of Hamburg, which had more of a large-scale claim (Der Tor zur Welt; 'The Gateway to the World').

As the concept met with considerable visitor interest, the museum was expanded to twice its original size in August 1914 on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the city.