How Germany’s Bremerhaven, once a city of farewells, is attracting immigrants

At the Northern tip of Germany on the banks of the North Sea, Bremerhaven is a seaside town which is relatively young and was developed as a port for Bremen and Hamburg, though its maritime history is long and storied. Along the shore, pretty lighthouses and lofty buildings catch the eye, while century-old buildings, churches and a pretty market square dot the centre of the city.

Bremerhaven’s biggest identity, however, is the fact that it served as the port from where over 7 million Germans emigrated to the Americas through the 19th and 20 centuries. There’s even an evocative museum to commemorate it. But this distinction is also fascinating in the face of the fact that Germany has become an attractive destination for migrants over the last decade: an estimated 1.2 million migrants arrived into the country last year. And this even as the country is embarking on wide-ranging reforms to attract skilled migrants.

German emigration center museum, Bremerhaven.

Walking along the city’s long seaside walkway, there are giant buildings that stand out — the towering Atlantic Hotel Sail City that is designed like a ship’s mast and sails, the zoo and museums. But none is more intriguing than the squat, square building of the Deutsches Auswandererhaus or German Emigration Center, a museum spread over several floors that looks at the why, what and how so many people left.