German Emigration Centre, Bremerhaven

The German Emigration Centre in Bremerhaven is the first German museum to address the topic of migration from a historical perspective. Since opening in 2005, it has become one of the country's most popular museums, attracting an average of 180,000 visitors per year. These high visitor numbers have necessitated two expansions: one in 2012 and a complete renovation with an extension in 2020/21. KAEFER Construction GmbH, based in Bremen and responsible for the interior construction, faced a series of challenges. Numerous staircases and parapets were robustly constructed using particularly hard and robust Rigips Habito drywall boards. The outdoor ceiling, as well as the wall and ceiling coverings in the large kitchen, were constructed using a corrosion-resistant substructure and special moisture-resistant Glasroc X Rigips boards. Several ceiling canopies were also created using perforated acoustic boards, which were specially pre-manufactured by RIGIPS, and a multi-stepped ceiling was installed in the cinema hall. A key challenge was to ensure seamless transitions between the new and old buildings, while addressing the high installation density typical of museum buildings.