Sunday, July 6, 2014

Emigration History in Hamburg


On to the second day trip from this past week. On Wednesday we made our way even further north, to a second German city-state- Hamburg!

Hamburg is a large port city on the North Sea and is special to many of us Americans, as over 85% of the 5 million people leaving this port made their way to America. With our trip to Hamburg, we were able to travel back in time and stand where many of our ancestors had begun their journey to their new lives in the U.S!

For this reason, we started our day at Ballinstadt, a museum documenting the history of emigration from Hamburg.


Originally, Ballinstadt was actually a city in itself, built to house emigrants who came to Hamburg and had to wait there for a ship to take them to the New World. The ‘Hamburger,’ Hamburg’s native residents, feared the emigrants were carrying disease with them and infecting the town; thus, they were forced to this area outside of town to live until they could find passage on a ship. Albert Ballin, a savvy businessman, decided to build up a town there to house and care for the emigrants, and Ballinstadt was born.


 
 The museum consists of three of the original housing buildings, and takes you through the entire emigrant/immigrant experience- explaining reasons for emigration from Germany/Europe, procedures for gaining passage on a ship, the differences between 1st, 2nd, between-deck and 3rd class passenger experiences, and what it was like to arrive, earn entrance into and start a new life in the United States. The museum ends with a research center where we all took turns typing in our last names to see how many results came up and if we could recognize any family members. It is an excellent museum, and we highly recommend it if you ever find yourself in Hamburg!




After the museum we took the S-Bahn to the historical port, which now houses ferries, tour boats and cruise ships, and ate a bit of lunch from the stands there. Some of us were missing some American grub and enjoyed hamburgers and cheeseburgers, while others opted for some local seafood – the ‘Fusskrebsbroetchen’ (shrimp roll) was particularly delicious. Eating seafood and being at the harbor made us feel like we were almost home in Baltimore!





We then took a brief walk to the ‘Alter Elbetunnel,’ which is a former tunnel for cars passing under the Elbe River to the islands in the port. It’s now used primarily for foot and bike traffic, so we walked down and through the tunnel- a bit like an old Harbor Tunnel.






Afterwards it was time to enjoy the water and we boarded one of the ferries for a round trip through the port. It was beautiful weather and we saw just how massive and industrial the port really is.








Finally we made our way to the downtown, to see the historic Rathaus, the high-end stores and the waterways which flow throughout the city. Another half-hour of sightseeing and snacking and then we were on our way back to the train station and home. A very enjoyable day in northern Germany!







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