Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [594]
This is Europe’s largest exhibition on emigration, and it does a superb job of conjuring up the experience. For added piquancy, it’s located on the very spot where more than 7 million people set sail, for the USA and other parts of the world, between 1830 and 1974.
The exhibition recreates their travelling conditions, as you move from a 3rd-class passengers’ waiting room, to dockside, to the gangway, into the bowels of a ship. You also stop in the huge ‘Gallery of the 7 Million’, which contains emigrants’ personal details (a few thousand of them) in pull-out drawers and tries to explain why people left home. Your electronic entry card contains the biographical details of one particular traveller, whom you can follow throughout the exhibition. Everything is available in both German and English.
The early sections are especially interesting, so take your time to read and listen to the descriptions. A later section lands you in the reception centre at Ellis Island, with a moderately interesting film. If your forebears moved from Germany to the States, you can start doing research here; although some trips must be investigated at the Historisches Museum Bremerhaven/Morgenstern Museum (Bremerhaven Museum of History; 308 160; www.historisches-museum-bremerhaven.de; An der Geeste 1; adult/child/concession/family €4/2.50/3/10; 10am-6pm Tue-Sun).
Unfortunately, information about emigrants to countries other than the States is sketchier.
OTHER SIGHTS
Behind the Emigration Centre, the Zoo am Meer ( 308 410; www.zoo-am-meer-bremerhaven.de; H-H-Meier-Strasse 6; adult/child €6.50/3.50; 9am-7pm Apr-Sep, 9am-6pm Mar & Oct, 9am-4.30pm Nov-Feb, last entry 30min before closing) isn’t spectacular on the face of things, but all the kids we saw there during shockingly inclement weather were enthralled, partly because the enclosures are cleverly built into one big artificial ‘rock’ formation. They’ll see a polar bear (or if he’s sleeping, a fluffy pile of fur on a rock), polar foxes, seals, penguins, pumas and chimpanzees. Check the website or ask the tourist office for feeding times.
The space-age and slug-like Klimahaus Bremerhaven 8° Ost (Climate House; 902 0300; www.klimahaus-bremerhaven.de; Am Längengrad 8; adult/concession/family €12.50/8.50/36; 9am-7pm Mon-Fri, 10am-7pm Sat & Sun Apr-Oct, 10am-6pm daily Nov-Mar) is a fascinating new arrival in Bremerhaven. It opened in mid-2009 and offers a journey around the world along the 8° east longitude through climate zones in Switzerland (rather on-the-nose due to cow pats), Italy, Niger, Cameroon, Antarctica, Samoa, Alaska and Germany. The displays have an educational aspect and are very much aimed at kids but are enjoyable for adults, too. The temperatures do soar and plummet considerably (Cameroon gets pretty sweaty), so along with sensible shoes to scale Swiss mountains, and cross stepping stones and rope bridges in Africa, wear two layers of clothing. In fact, any wardrobe choice will be the wrong one at some point of the journey! Other sections focus on climate change and the elements. Late afternoon is the best time to visit because the queues are shorter, and plan about three hours here to get the most out of the experience.
For a spectacular view over Bremerhaven, go up the new Aussichtslattform SAIL City (Viewing Platform SAIL City; 309 900; Am Strom 1; adult/child €3/2; 10am-8pm Apr-Sep, 11am-5pm Nov-Mar). This is part of the Atlantic Hotel SAIL City.
A highlight of the Deutsches Schiffahrtsmuseum (German Maritime Museum; 482 070; www.dsm.museum; Hans-Scharoun-Platz 1; adult/concession €6/4; 10am-6pm daily Apr-Oct, closed Mon Nov-Mar, last entry 30min before closing) is the reconstructed Bremer Hansekogge, a merchant boat from 1380, reassembled (in part) from pieces rescued from the deep. The collection of 500 boats inside is complemented by a harbour bobbing with museum ships and a submarine. Some have additional entrance fees.
Return to beginning of chapter
Sleeping & Eating
If you