| Early emigration from Germany was from whatever port was
most convenient. Those who lived along the Rhine normally used Rotterdam or Amsterdam in
the Netherlands, both located at or near the mouth of the Rhine, or Antwerp located nearby
in Belgium. Emigrants from Switzerland, Baden and Alsace often found it preferable to
cross France on foot or by wagon to the port at La Havre rather than pay the many tolls
along the Rhine. Those in the interior of Germany might journey overland or on the the
Elbe and Weser Rivers and their tributaries to reach the ports of Hamburg or Bremen. These
two ports, however, were seldom used for emigration before the 1830s.. The conditions
which the early emigrant faced at all ports was deplorable. As strangers, often coming
from rural areas, they did not have the experience necessary to cope with the large
port-city environment and were easily taken advantage of. Before 1840 ship departures were
not regularly scheduled so emigrant had to find lodgings in the port cities, sometimes for
weeks, while their ships lay at anchor either waiting for all places on board to be booked
or waiting for a favorable wind with which to set sail. During this period the emigrant
was subjected to very high prices for food, lodging and provisions. These conditions,
which existed at all port cities, might even lead to complete impoverishment of the early
would-be emigrant and keep him from making the journey at all.
In the 1840s and 50s the construction
of railroads began and that would eventually make travel
from home in the German interior to port a lot easier,
and, at the same time, would normally give the potential
emigrant more than one port to choose from. This resulted
in the ports having to compete with one another for the
emigrant trade and in time caused them to offer better
services than they had done previously. This development
of rail transportaion to port was probably less important
a consideration for Emslanders who may have had to go
some distance out of their way to get
to a railroad.
At the same time that railroads were
devoloping, the two German ports, first Bremen
(and Bremerhaven) then Hamburg, were starting to seriously
look after the welfare of their departing emigrants, giving
them a reputation as better ports of departure for emigrants
than La Havre and Rotterdam. By the 1870s extensive rail
had been laid and the overseas voyage had become rather
well organzied. Also by then steam ships were replacing
sailing vessels, cutting travel time down considerably,
while conditions on the ships and at port continued to
improve.
 |
Emigrants wait on the docks in Bremen
Image and caption from the book German Settlement in Missouri, New
Land, Old Ways by Robyn Burnett and Ken Luebbering, p. 14 (crediting A E Schroeder
Collection, Western Historical manuscipt Collection, Columbia, MO, courtesy Countess von
Lippe, Stuttgart), |
|
Die Zeit (German Newspaper), Jul 27, 1990, page 13-14, Auf nach Amerika
by Godehard Weyerer
Fame, Fortune and Sweet Liberty; The Great European Emigration Dirk Hoerder and
Diethelm Knauf, editors, Edition Temmen, 1992.
German Ports: Gateway to America by Raymond S Wright III (on Ancestry .com)
http://ancestry.com/library/view/ancmag/686.asp
|
