Off into the world- A trip to Bremerhaven 2006 -
by Daniela Ullrich & Susanna Polanz
After Dr. Bettina Hofmann had organized a study trip to "Jewish New York" last year, the destination of this year's trip maybe seemed less spectacular at first sight; however, we were to learn that less spectacular does not necessarily means less fun. The group that gathered around Dr Hofmann consisted of old "New Yorkers" and some new members – all of them willing to virtually "emigrate" from Bremerhaven to the New World . Having already been to the States last year, this time we were to get an impression of the austerities emigrants had to face to see this "Promised Land" that we were allowed to visit so easily. The German Emigration Centre therefore was on the top of our "to-do" list (see the report on our visit below). Even a dinner at night in a very British Pub could not prevent us from discussing what we had seen in the museum in the afternoon (see the pictures below to get an impression of our non-academic activities).
We reach the German Emigration Centre on March 9, 2006. It's a cold day, and while Dr. Simone Eick, the curator, is giving us a short introduction about the centre's concepts and its history, still everything seems very present to us…people hurry into the warm, doff their thick jackets and scarves, and vanish into the waiting hall, which –thanks to the graffiti- seems very up-to-date from the outside.
Yet the illusion the museum wants to construct surprises us soon. After having used our "boarding passes" as an interactive door opener we step into a totally different world: The Waiting Hall of 1888 . Here we get to know the first problems emigrants had to face: "Warnung. Die Auswanderer werden vor Bauernfängern (namentlich Kartenspielern), Taschendieben und solchen Personen, die sich ihnen auf der Straße, in fremden Wirtschaftshäusern u.s.w. zum Geldwechseln oder zum Ankauf von Schiffskarten aufdrängen, gewarnt. […]". After having passed this, we are drawn into a dark harbour scene and, being totally amazed, stand in front of the fast steamer Lahn . Here the "real" emigrants from all different ages, cultures and centuries are waiting at The Wharf , ready to go aboard; but since they are made of wax, it is us who climb the gangway, not them.
Before we can board the ship we first pass The Gallery of the Seven Millions . It is an impressive archive that gives us information about those people who left from Bremerhaven. For the first time we learn about our emigrant's origins: Interactive drawers allow us to retrieve personal impressions such as written letters, old pictures or even their passports, and we come to know their reasons why they left their old lives behind. One of the emigrants is called Hertha Nathorff. She was a doctor and a Jew. Due to the political circumstances, she left the Third Reich in 1939. Another emigrant was Richard Morgner, a young baker. He and his wife left Germany 1954 and tried their luck in the States.
Now we finally climb the gangway and go aboard. In the first room, The Luggage Room , we can see three different types of ships that left the harbour: the Bremen , the Columbus , and the M.S. Olympia. We learn which of the Norddeutsche Lloyd steamers our emigrant took, and if we are lucky we can also read about the weather conditions and the port of destination. Richard, for instance, travelled third class and arrived in New York on a warm, sunny day on April 26, 1954. Following The Floor we get deeper into our emigrants lives and learn about the conditions they had to face during their trip: The cabins of the ships have been authentically rebuilt, and even the floor slants to evoke a “real ship-feeling". It works perfectly – we all feel like drunken seamen.
The first cabin we enter represents The Bremen's Tween Deck of 1855 . On this ship up to 418 passengers were brought to the United States . We immediately feel cramped; no wonder, since the decks were only 1, 80 metres high. Chamber pots instead of restrooms, foul food and diseases intensified the bad situations on board. The next cabin offers us already more space: it is the Third Class Cabin of the Lahn , a steamer from 1887 . On this ship up to 928 passengers spent 6-10 weeks on their way to the United States. The invention of toilets and washing facilities already helped improving the hygiene conditions, yet it was not enough: The narrow space offered enough possibilities for epidemic diseases. However, as we could tell on the face of one of our fellow students the restrooms were obviously comfortable enough to have a nicer trip to the States as with the Bremen. Another nice way to empathize with the 19 th century and our emigrants was the possibility to step into authentically remade clothes. As you can tell on the pictures people had a totally different clothing style, which for instance always involved a headgear. The last cabin draws us into the Third Class of the Columbus, a liner from 1929. We are astonished: instead of large rooms with about 30 beds we now enter a little chamber with two bunk beds, including a little mirror, a small cupboard and the possibility to wash. We are further on led into the galley where people could choose from a rich menu. Although it may seem strange at first, a little cinema, various concerts, dance events and games were already usual to entertain the 1735 passengers on board of the Columbus .
Although it was a lot of fun to experience so many different stages of emigration, we are nevertheless happy to finally arrive at a miniature edition of the Ellis Island Arrival. Again, we can listen to information about our emigrant, for example if there were any troubles at his arrival. Having made it so far still did not grant third class passengers that they would actually be allowed to emigrate after all, because they first had to pass a questionnaire as well as a physical examination. If they succeeded both, they were in, if not, they had to go back to Europe . Of course we are curious whether or not we would be let into the United States and immediately test ourselves at touch screens. There are questions such as: Are you a bigamist? Are you able to read and write? Do you have any relatives in the United States of America ? The difficulty behind such rather silly questions was that one had to answer within about four seconds – otherwise you would prove to be lying, because you had to think about the answer first.
After having passed The New World, a room where five huge maps are presented to give an overview of emigration, we reach the Room of Ancestors, where our emigrant eventually leaves us. In the middle of the room there is a huge map of the United States and by pressing on one of the 20 European cities such as Frankfurt or Vienna you get to know where there are still cities called that way. This shows the strong impact that European immigration had on the foundation of new towns and cities. At last we get to know about our emigrant's future life after s/he had left the ship. We can see pictures with the family, their new homes, and in addition to that also a map, where they settled after all. Hertha, for example, did not practice medicine again, but she committed herself to charity work and tried to improve the situation for women, and girls in particular. Richard settled in Vienna, Virginia, and succeeded in building up a steel-empire that comprised 13 factories in 1992. He made it, as one could say, from rags to riches.
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