Amber B.-N. moved from Hamburg to London in 2009 and was given this sandwich box as a farewell gift. It replaced an old plain blue one, which she had used whilst living in Hamburg, a place she fell in love with after she moved there as a teenager.

The skyline on the sandwich box shows both old and new parts of the city. On the far right, what looks like a very large sail, is the new concert hall, which is located by the waterfront. The wordplay Stullencontainer hints at Hamburg’s regional identity, both linguistically and economic. Stulle is a local idiom for sandwich and container gestures to Hamburg’s main revenue source, the commercial port, which sees 10,000 ships carrying containers coming through every year.

Amber was born in Portsmouth in England but was sent to Germany to go to high school – for a ‘better education’. She left Hamburg again to study German at Oxford University, only to return to Germany thereafter. Most recently, she moved back to the UK in order to be with her British husband.

‘Despite the British passport, I feel at home in Hamburg’, she says, and continues: ‘I love the city, the proximity to the water, the fleets of boats, the Elbe and its inlet, the Alster’. When she lived there, Amber spent much time outdoors, running, cycling, surfing, or sailing. The lunch box also retains memories of the, at times, harsh storms. However, even when caught in bad weather, her Stullencontainer kept her sandwiches dry. With it, she carries a piece of Hamburg everywhere she goes.

Object Information

• Year Received: 2009
• Producer: Budni
• Place of Production: Hamburg
• Material: Plastic
• Size: 18 cm x 5 cm x 10 cm
• Colour: white, red; Hamburg Stullencontainer written in white