18501850–1934 · Hamburg-Veddel

Emigration through Hamburg

The towered reception building of the HAPAG emigrant halls on the Veddel in Hamburg, around 1900 — Archival image: Unknown photographer. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

About five million people left Europe through Hamburg for the Americas, many of them Jews and peasants from the Russian Empire and Austria-Hungary. To keep them healthy and away from the city, the shipping line HAPAG under Albert Ballin built emigrant halls on the Veddel island in 1901, with dormitories, washrooms, a church and a synagogue. The passenger lists survive and are searched by descendants today.

Social History
Ancestry & Genealogy
Maritime History
Hamburg and Lübeck, Germany

Sites

Site 1: BallinStadt Emigration Museum, VeddelRebuilt emigrant halls with family stories and a research centre for passenger lists.Map ↗
Site 2: St Pauli LandungsbrückenThe harbour piers, with views across the Elbe to the port.Map ↗