Wellington Museum

Wellington Museum

Wellington Museum is an exciting place in Wellington, New Zealand. It is in the old 1892 Bond Store on Jervois Quay by the Wellington Harbour. In 2013, it was named one of the world’s 50 best museums by The Times.

The museum shows Wellington’s history over four floors. It talks about the city’s time near the water, stories from Māori and European settlers, and how the area grew for 150 years as New Zealand’s capital. Visitors can watch big films about Wellington and see three special theatre areas. One tells Māori legends with a Pepper's ghost, another remembers the Wahine ferry that sank in the harbour, and a third feels like a “Wellington Time Machine” on the top floor. In late 2015, a new area called The Attic opened after being carefully fixed up.

Background

The Wellington Museum started in 1972 as the Wellington Maritime Museum of the Wellington Harbour Board.

In 1989, the museum moved to the Wellington City Council and added more about the region's history. The building became the Museum of Wellington City & Sea in 1999, and it was renamed Wellington Museum in July 2015. Today, it is run by Experience Wellington.

Exhibitions

The Wellington Museum has many interesting exhibits across four floors of the old Wellington Harbour Board Head Office and Bond Store building. One exhibit shows what the building looked like in the late Victorian era when it was used to store goods.

The Maritime Gallery tells the story of Wellington’s sea history. You can see a full-size captain’s cabin and learn about Paddy the Wanderer. The Wahine Theatre remembers the TEV Wahine disaster and shows a short film about it.

The Von Kohorn Room was once the boardroom of the Wellington Harbour Board. It is named to honor Baron Ralph Steven von Kohorn for his many years of help and support to the museum and the city.