BallinCity Emigrants World Hamburg
How to Find European Ancestors in the former Emigration Port
Aug 14, 2008
Two islands defined the turning points for millions of immigrants to the United States: Ellis Island in New York, where they hoped to be welcomed to their new home country – and the island of Veddel, on the river Elbe in Hamburg, Germany, from where they set out for America. On the Veddel people from all over Europe gathered to wait for a ship to take them over the Atlantic. To them Hamburg was a "gateway to the world" - a title that Hamburg still carries with pride.
Emigration Business - Albert Ballin Founded BallinStadt in 1901
Shipping company owner Albert Ballin saw the demand for services around the mere boarding of one of his HAPAG-ships. He organised it and he built a town to accomodate newcomers and get them registered – first at the Amerika-Kai, and when numbers of emigrants kept soaring, on the Veddel island. The 14 baracks on 25000 square metres (over 269000 square feet) contained basic accomodation in dormitories as well as hotels, refectories, baths and desinfectant facilities, a church and a synagogue.
In a second step the BallinStadt more than doubled in size by 1905 and generated its own electricity and heating in a steam power station. Ballin presented models of his emigration town at the Great Exhibitions of Paris and St. Louis to establish it further. By 1924 emigration figures started to drop due to immigration quota of the US government; by 1939 most parts of the old BallinStadt had been replaced by new roads and buildings. Only the one-storey pavillon 13/14 remained unchanged.
Living Past - The BallinStadt Emigrants World Opened in 2007
In 2005 the reconstruction of several buildings, a park and a mooring started. In July 2007 the new BallinStadt opened its gates for the public. Exhibtions inform visitors about the history of Hamburg as an emigration port and about the people who stayed in it, their hopes and fears. The reconstructed dormitories offer a unique opprtunity to see the quarters of the waiting emigrants as if they just left them. Visitors can order refreshments in an equally authentic refectory, which also offers some typical dishes of the old days, adapted to the varying demands: Labskaus, Irish Stew or kosher food were cooked for the emigrants.
Genealogy - Emigrant Records Made Public for Research
An emigration museum cannot be complete without information for genealogists. Descendants of emigrants who passed through Hamburg or visitors who know of relatives who emigrated can access a database to research in the old records. Passenger lists from 1850 til 1934 are avaialable and skilled archivists are there to assist interested visitors. Apart from Germans many Russians, Lithuanians, Latvians and Ukrainians passed through Hamburg on their momentous journey.
BallinStadt is open every day from 10 am til 6 pm. Take a Circle Line ferry from Landungsbrücken in Hamburg's port or go by train, S 3 or S 31 from Hamburg Hauptbahnhof to Veddel. Admission 9,80 Euro (about US$ 14,50), discounts for children, families and groups.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
