The End of the World Museum

The End of the World Museum is located on the corner of Maipú and Rivadavia Streets where Banco Nación operated until 1976. The museum opened in 1979 and has preserved the historical roots of the island ever since. In 1973 a group of settlers created a civil association known at present as H.A.N.I.S, Yámana for ‘lenga’ and also an acronym for History, Anthropology, Nature, Island and South terms which define the identity of the institution. After being recognized by the government of Tierra del Fuego, the H.A.N.I.S association allowed the population to take an active part in the museum which soon became a social and cultural reference point in Ushuaia City.

Sea Stories The first hall is dominated by the impressive figurehead of the Duchess of Albany, an English ship wrecked on the coast of Tierra del Fuego in 1893. The 800-kilo figurehead was sculpted in honor of Princess Helena Frederica Augusta of Waldeck and Pyrmont, Queen Victoria’s daughter-in-law and was rescued in 1950 in Policarpo Cove, in the southeast of Isla Grande (Big Island). Another hall is devoted to indigenous inhabitants of the region such as the Yámana and the Selk’nam. A wide range of elements and utensils spanning more than 8,000 years of history are on display, among which are harpoons, scrapers and flints, as well as replicas of Yámana canoes and wickerwork. All these pieces bear testimony of the daily lifestyle of these hunter and fisher tribes. The display cases in another hall show the arrival of Anglican missions in 1870 and Salesian missions in 1890, in chronological order. The arrival of the expedition led by Commander Lasserre (1884) and the controversial figure of Julio Popper can be appraised in photos and documents. The Rumanian engineer believed in the europeanization of Patagonia, free from native communities and repopulated by European men and women. Prints of the German aviator Gunther von Plüschow and small objects from his plane the Silver Condor, the first to fly over Cape Horn, are also on display. The remains of the German vessel Monte Cervantes, the first tourist cruiser around Tierra del Fuego which sank in the Beagle Channel in 1930, are also exhibited. Upon entering the second large hall, visitors find themselves in a general store, highlighting the importance of these venues in those days when everything could be bought there, from food to musical instruments, books and clothing. Supplies arrived by sea every three months. General store owners played a crucial part in the development of the town, as they had to estimate the quantity of goods to meet everyone’s needs. Nowadays, the descendants of these picturesque settlers still live in Ushuaia. The most impressive exhibit is the famous prison. Located in present Ushuaia Naval Base, the construction of the prisons for first-timers and recidivists began in 1902. The uniforms worn by the wardens and prisoners, as well as other objects are on display. The remaining halls hold a vast collection of native fauna. The most complete exhibition in Tierra del Fuego comprises one hundred and eighty bird species with specimens from sea, shore and forest ecosystems. A visit to The End of the World Museum is ideal to get to know Tierra del Fuego. Simply a must!