Emigration - Via Bremen into the world

MAUS-project under the special guidance of Karl Wesling

Under this headline we started our emigration project on occasion of the 75th MAUS anniversary in 1999. This project is based on an agreement with the local Chamber of Commerce of 1999 and 2005 for the purpose of editing the passenger lists from 1920 through 1939. According to an arrangement with the Bremen State Archive (Staatsarchiv Bremen) in 2001 we also were able to integrate their emigration collections into our database.

The Database: www.passagierlisten.de

If you have questions, please contact Monika Ayers: JETDOC2@aol.com or Karl Wesling: kwesling@gmx.de

Nearly all of the Bremen sources can be found in the inventory of the Bremen State Archive sources of the migration history, especially of emigration ("Inventar der Quellen zur Geschichte der Wanderungen, besonders der Auswanderung, in Bremer Archiven"). This inventory was revised by Peter Marschalck (Bremen 1986, ISBN 3-925729-10-0) and is available at the Staatsarchiv Bremen.

In the Bremen State Archive, research can be done especially on:

  • the conditions of emigration in Bremen and Bremerhaven (agencies, legislation, welfare, accomodation, health care, police)
  • the transportation of emigrants (navigation, port institutions, conditions on the ships, statistics)
  • data on various emigrant vessels (departures, number of passengers, crew members and references to pictures of vessels)

Passenger lists and files of passenger surnames exist for 1946 to 1974. Further information can only be given as long as the regulations of data privacy are kept according to the rules concerning the use of the Bremen Archives ("Bremische Archivbenutzungsordnung")

Regarding the period before World War II there are personal data available about

  • emigrants from the state of Bremen
  • sailors of Bremen ships
  • emigrants to Brazil from 1826 to 1828
  • individual emigrants whose names appear in the files, e.g. because of complaints or accidents