Immigration

Bremen, Germany

The majority of our immigrant ancestors sailed from Bremen, Germany - or more specifically, Bremerhaven, Germany. The majority of those departing Bremerhaven sailed to Baltimore, although some did sail to New York City. Bremen was a booming emigration station in the mid to late 1800s. It was the headquarters of Nord Deutschen Lloyd Shipping Line (North German Lloyd), specializing in emigration runs between Bremen-Baltimore and Bremen-New York.



 Bremen was founded in the 9th century. Located on the Weser River, about 35 miles inland from the sea, it developed into one of the major ports of Germany. Because silt began to reduce the navigability of the river, the city purchased land near the mouth of the river and founded the city of Bremerhaven in 1827. By the time of our ancestor's immigrations, all of the larger passenger vessels were departing from Bremerhaven. Generally, emigrants would arrive overland to Bremen, where they would remain until day of departure, when they would take a train or barge to Bremerhaven to board their ship.


Bremerhaven harbor

In the early 1830s, Bremen/Bremerhaven was doing well in the import trade with America. However, when a ship was ready for the return trip to America, Bremen often did not have enough export goods and the ship often had to return to America empty. This made the shipping process very expensive. To combat this problem, Bremen began to lure part of the emigration traffic away from other European ports such as Le Havre, Antwerp, and Rotterdam. Its efforts proved immensely successful.

However, the collection of emigrants in Bremen caused some problems for the city. Often emigrants were stranded there without food and had to go through the city begging, because they did not have enough money for lodging or passage. Unscrupulous ship's agents enticed them to Bremen with a promise to ship them to America and get them a plot of land. Then they took what money the naive emigrants had without delivering on their promises. There were many other underhanded deals as well. This left the city of Bremen responsible for providing financial assistance to the penniless emigrants.

In order to safeguard its emigration business, Bremen passed a decree in 1832 which freed the city from giving financial assistance to emigrants, while making it obligatory for ship owners to certify the seaworthiness of their vessels, to keep passenger lists, and to keep provisions for 90 days on board. This meant that ship's agents had to deliver what they promised. With this change, Bremen/Bremerhaven became the preferred port of embarkation for Polish, German, and other European emigrants. The city of Bremerhaven processed the emigrants at the Emigration Office, part of which still stands today.

This policy for protection of emigrants not only made Bremen's America trade more profitable, but brought considerable benefit to the Bremen economy. The emigrants, between their arrival and their departure by ship, had to stay in Bremen lodging houses and feed themselves. Also the emigrant ships had to purchase substantial quantities of provisions in Bremen. The increased shipping trade provided business for all trades connected with the shipping industry.


Boarding a steamer at Nord Deutscher Lloyd Pier, circa 1870

The Nord-Deutscher Lloyd Shipping Line (North German Lloyd) was formed in 1856 in Bremen, and operated between Bremerhaven and New York with its port in Hoboken, New Jersey. It soon expanded to other cities. In 1872, Nord-Deutscher Lloyd advertised two weekly steamers from Bremen to New York, and a weekly steamer to Baltimore.

Between 1850 and 1880, 38% of the emigrant ships arriving at Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports of North America were from Bremen/Bremerhaven. And by the 1870's, the North German Lloyd line had taken over the entire emigrant trade from Bremen/Bremerhaven. The company would eventually expand to 93 ocean liners by 1914. It has been calculated that over a two century period, more than 7 million people emigrated through Bremen and Bremerhaven. While there was an ordinance requiring shipping companies to make lists of all their passengers, unfortunately the passenger lists up to 1920 were destroyed - at first purposely, because they ran out of storage room and then later due to fire. Ship manifests do exist however, in the form of passenger arrival lists into the various U.S. ports.

Left:  1891 advertisement for the North German Lloyd Line. Translated below: Baltimore and Bremen on the new and tested First Class Mail-Steamships equipped with all the comforts. Darmstadt built 1891 Munich built 1889 Dresden built 1889 Oldenberg built 1891 Gera built 1891 Stuttgart built 1890 Karlsruhe built 1890 Weimar built 1891 These steamships were built of steel in Glasgow according to the latest designs.  The superiority of their construction and the containment of compartments in water-tight sections offer travelers the largest degree of safety against the dangers of the sea. Electric lighting in compartments and steerage. The arrangements for steerage passengers, with sleeping quarters located on the upper and second decks, are generally considered excellent.  The length of the steamers is 415-435 feet, with a width of 40-49 feet. The steamships of NORTH GERMAN LLOYD have transported some 2,250,000 passengers safely across the sea! This line offers tourists and immigrants a superior choice for the crossing. Cheap train travel from Baltimore to points west. Protection against fraud in Bremen, at sea, and in Baltimore. Immigrants can board trains directly from the steamship and as a result avoid extra costs for the transfer of baggage. No need to change trains between Baltimore, Chicago, and St. Louis. Translators accompany the immigrant on the trip to points west. Good Food !         Reasonable Prices! For further information contact: A. Schumacher & Co., General Agent, 5 South Gay Street, Baltimore, Md.   J. Wm. Eschenburg, General Agent, 104 Fifth Avenue, Chicago, Ill.   or local agents.