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Stories & Lifestyle: A museum for emigrant’s stories

What were the people feeling who were waiting for their passage across the Atlantic to America 150 years ago? The German Auswandererhaus (German Emigration Center) the history of the people emigrating via Bremerhaven comes alive. The modern museum is directly at the new port, where 7 million people once started their journey into the new world. Elaborate reconstructions and spectacular backdrops allow the visitors to get a sense of why these people left, how they survived the passage across the Atlantic Ocean and what became of them. The tour through the museum first of all takes the visitor on a tour of the different stages the emigrants and refuges had to go through between 1830 and 1974 - arrival in Bremerhaven, the farewells at the pier, review of the personal and social reasons that made them emigrate or flee, the conditions on board the ships, arrival and life in the new world with the US as an example. One emigrant biography is the guide that shows the visitor through the different stages of this historical experience.

ONLY WAY OUT: EMIGRATE TO THE USA - One story, for example is that of Justina Tubbe from Brandenburg. When her husband dies and she cannot find a job, she has to sell her house and feels she has lost her livelihood. The 60-year old woman sees only one chance for her two youngest children and herself - America. Her older children already live there. On October 6, 1855, the Tubbe family departs from Bremerhaven. They travel by ship for 54 days before arriving in Texas. The Tubbe family is part of one of the biggest emigration waves in history. More than 44 million Europeans left their home between 1821 and 1914 alone in order to try a new start in North or South America, Australia, or in some cases even Africa. Poverty, political repression and religious persecution were the most important reasons for the mass exodus. More than 230,000 visitors, mostly Germans, have visited the Emigration Center in Bremerhaven since it opened in August last year. "The museum is a place for encounters. Many people donate private documents such as letters and photos from their own family history," says Sabine Wacker of the Auswandererhaus. Currently, the museum has 2,000 biographies in fragments in its collection, as well as approx. 80 full family histories. The museum offers a special service for those who are interested. Upon request, scientists will research whether your relatives or ancestors were among those moving to the other side of the pond. A special exhibition can still be visited until January 28, 2007, with rare documents like tickets to overseas, guarantees, and visas and naturalization documents centering around a painting of Felix Schlesinger, "In der Paß- und Polizeistube vor der Emigration" (The Passport and Police Dispatch pior to Emigration). The 1859 painting by genre painter Schlesinger shows a dramatic moment in an emigrant's life: only those holding a passport could get to the port of emigration at all in times of the German system of mini-states. Anyone who obtained a passport had taken an irrevocable step - he or she was denaturalized.

EMIGRATION MUSEUM IN HAMBURG - Hamburg as well wants to commemorate those people who started into their new lives via the Elbe river. Approx. 5 million people emigrated via Hamburg. Even before they arrived on the dreaded Ellis Island where it was determined whether they were allowed to enter the US or had to turn back, they had sometimes already lost their possessions, their money or their health. The port of Hamburg was an infamous place where the rabble used to hang around and the passage itself in the horrible ‘tween decks cost a lot of lives. In 1901, Albert Ballin, president of the Hapag shipping company, built the Emigration Halls on Veddel Island in the Elbe river, a protected area where the people and their possessions were safe. "There was food, medical care, and all vaccinations including certificates necessary for emigration," says Michael Behrendt, chief executive of the Hapag-Lloyd AG, which has contributed to the project with €600,000. The museum BallinStadt on Veddel Island in the Elbe river will be opened April 2007.

For more information, please refer to www.dah-bremerhaven.de and www.ballinstadt.de.