The Museum am Rothenbaum – Kulturen und Künste der Welt (lit.

This collection later became part of the Museum for Natural History in Hamburg, and in 1867 was opened to the public as "Die Ethnographische oder Sammlung für Völkerkunde im Anschluss an das Naturhistorische Museum in Hamburg".

The collection, which at that time numbered 645 objects, was curated by Adolph Oberdörfer and Ferdinand Worlée.

On 1 October 1904 Georg Thilenius took over the position of full-time administrative director of the "Museums für Völkerkunde und Vorgeschichte".

Georg Thilenius strongly supported the building of a freestanding museum to house the collection.