QUEENSLAND'S GERMAN CONNECTIONS - PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

Deutsches Auswanderer Haus

The German Emigration Center (DAH) opened on 8 August 2005 in Bremerhaven, situated on an historic site in the New Harbour, which itself was opened in 1852 and became the departure point for about 1.2 million emigrants prior to 1890. The New Harbour was adjacent to the Old Harbour (Alter Hafen), the Imperial Harbours ( Kaiserhäfen ) and the Columbus Quay, all departure points for the 7.2 million emigrants who sailed for the New World from Bremerhaven. More than 20 years’ work by social, political and civic groups supported the concept of an emigration museum in what was once Germany’s largest embarkation port. The Freundeskreis Deutsches Auswandererhaus (Society of Friends of the German Emigration Center) and the Initiativkreis Deutsches Auswandererhaus (German Emigration Center Initiative) particularly supported the museum project. Thanks to their commitment it was finally possible to realise the building of a museum unique in Europe dedicated to the German and European history of emigration and immigration. The German Emigration Center is a private-public partnership project financed by funds from the federal state of Bremen and the city of Bremerhaven.

On 22 April 2012, the German Emigration Center opened its new extension wing, which focuses on the history of Germany as a country of immigration. By relating emigration and immigration in the past and the present the German Emigration Center has become the first migration museum in Germany. In 2007 the German Emigration Center won the prestigious European Museum of the Year Award for its innovative exhibition concept. The German Emigration Center is full of state-of-the art museum technology, beginning with the admission ticket, an iCard. The electronic boarding pass allows visitors to embark on a personal journey of 300 years of immigration and emigration history. Each iCard contains the story of an individual who either emigrated to the New World or found a new home in Germany. The iCard also activates many audio stations and interactive displays making a museum visit a thoroughly personal and emotional experience. Individual information and pictures enable identification with the actual person and invite visitors to become more involved with their story and, thus, the history. RFID (Radio Frequency Identity) technology can be used in many ways. For example, visitors can dress up in historic emigrant clothing and have their picture taken at a photo station, then have it printed later on their way out. Or research results for emigrated ancestors from one of the four international databases may be stored and then printed out for visitors to take home. Although mostly TransAtlantic and Americas-orientated in its opening stages, the DAH includes other countries as well as Australia, and actively seeks additional materials. The DAH notes that the very last emigrant ship to depart Bremerhaven, on 17 May 1974, was the Chandris Lines’ Britanis , bound for Australia. Top: The Australian flag is among those flying outside the DAH on the Columbus Quay, and (left): the 45 so-called “silent witnesses” – mannequins in different period costumes – stand on a replica quayside from which visitors enter ‘the ship within a ship’ exhibit. Text and images reproduced by kind permission of the DAH

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