Europe’s emigration museums chronicle journey to U.S.

  • By Rick Steves Herald Columnist
  • Thursday, March 7, 2013 9:51pm
  • Life

When traveling to Europe, I sometimes crank up the voice of my grandmother telling stories of her journey from Norway to Canada.

The boat ride was miserable. The only thing she could keep down was beer — she became a teetotaler the day she saw the Statue of Liberty.

Having entered North America like a bad traveler — not speaking the language, packing too much luggage and not enough money — she navigated the immigrants’ road to Edmonton, Alberta, where she eventually met her Norwegian husband.

Today, I zoom across the same ocean that took her weeks to cross. I enjoy my glimpses of the Old World, while remembering that millions of Europeans left it behind forever in search of the New World.

For those who want to take a closer look at this exodus, visit Europe’s emigration museums, which chronicle the flood of departures in the 19th and 20th centuries.

If you have Norwegian roots as I do, a trip to the southern Norway port of Stavanger should include the Norwegian Emigration Center (www.emigrationcenter.com).

This fine facility is in an old warehouse near the wharf where the first boats sailed with emigrants to “Amerika” in 1825.

Its exhibits trace the story of the Norwegian diaspora: why they left, their journey, and what life was like in the New World.

You’ll learn how the Norwegian population boom in the early to mid-19th century led to a critical shortage of basic resources, forcing 677,000 Norwegians to leave during the steamship era (1865 to 1915).

At the museum’s study center, the staff can help answer genealogy questions. You don’t need to be in Stavanger to use this service, but searching for your roots in the place where your ancestors took their last steps on Norwegian soil has a certain romantic appeal.

For Swedish Americans, the House of Emigrants in Vaxjo — in Sweden’s Glass Country — offers powerful insights into the lives of Swedes who sought refuge in North America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries (www.utvandrarnashus.se).

As economic woes wracked Sweden (even a potato famine hit at one point), the country was caught up in an “American fever.” Nearly 1.3 million Swedes endured long voyages and culture shock to find prosperity and freedom in the “promised land.”

The museum’s life-size Snusgatan exhibit re-creates the main street in a Swedish American neighborhood (like in Chicago’s “Swede Town” or Minnesota’s Twin Cities).

Other displays cover Swedish lifestyles, religion, women’s experiences, and prominent Swedish-Americans, including Charles Lindbergh, and the second man on the moon, Buzz Aldrin.

Don’t miss the display about the Titanic, which takes pains to point out that — after Americans — Swedes were the second-largest group to perish on that ill-fated vessel.

On view are a few items that went to the bottom of the Atlantic with one of those Swedes.

In Germany, Hamburg’s BallinStadt Emigration Museum depicts European emigration from the mid-19th century through World War II (www.ballinstadt.net).

Especially after 1890, many emigrants from the Austro-Hungarian and Russian empires went first to Hamburg, by train or even on foot, before crossing the ocean. The museum is in dormitory buildings that once housed sick emigrants until they were healthy enough to leave.

Ireland offers two good choices. The Ulster American Folk Park near Omagh (about 70 miles west of Belfast) is a combination museum and folk park commemorating the many Scots-Irish who left their homeland, most settling in the southern United States (www.nmni.com).

In Cobh, near Cork on the island’s south coast, travelers can view exhibits on the potato famine, Irish emigration and Australia-bound prison ships at the Cobh Heritage Centre (www.cobhheritage.com).

There’s even a statue of the first immigrant to arrive at Ellis Island. Those with Irish roots can use the Heritage Centre’s genealogy search (costs about $13 for 30 minutes of research assistance, email ahead to travel guidebooks and hosts travel shows on public television and public radio. Email rick@ricksteves.com, or write to him c/o P.O. Box 2009, Edmonds, WA 98020.

© 2012 Rick Steves/Tribune Media Services, Inc.[/URL]

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Life

Brandon Hailey of Cytrus, center, plays the saxophone during a headlining show at Madam Lou’s on Friday, Dec. 29, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lynnwood-based funk octet Cytrus has the juice

Resilience and brotherhood take center stage with ‘friends-first’ band.

FILE - In this April 11, 2014 file photo, Neko Case performs at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. Fire investigators are looking for the cause of a fire on Monday, Sept. 18, 2017, that heavily damaged Case’s 225-year-old Vermont home. There were no injuries, though a barn was destroyed. It took firefighters two hours to extinguish the blaze. (Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP, File)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Singer-songwriter Neko Case, an indie music icon from Tacoma, performs Sunday in Edmonds.

Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli
Tangier’s market boasts piles of fruits, veggies, and olives, countless varieties of bread, and nonperishables, like clothing and electronics.
Rick Steves on the cultural kaleidoscope of Tangier in Morocco

Walking through the city, I think to myself, “How could anyone be in southern Spain — so close — and not hop over to experience this wonderland?”

chris elliott.
Vrbo promised to cover her rental bill in Hawaii, so why won’t it?

When Cheryl Mander’s Vrbo rental in Hawaii is uninhabitable, the rental platform agrees to cover her new accommodations. But then it backs out. What happened?

The Moonlight Swing Orchestra will play classic sounds of the Big Band Era on April 21 in Everett. (submitted photo)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Relive the Big Band Era at the Port Gardner Music Society’s final concert of the season in Everett.

2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD (Honda)
2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD

Honda cedes big boy pickup trucks to the likes of Ford, Dodge… Continue reading

Would you want to give something as elaborate as this a name as mundane as “bread box”? A French Provincial piece practically demands the French name panetiere.
A panetiere isn’t your modern bread box. It’s a treasure of French culture

This elaborately carved French antique may be old, but it’s still capable of keeping its leavened contents perfectly fresh.

(Judy Newton / Great Plant Picks)
Great Plant Pick: Mouse plant

What: Arisarum proboscideum, also known as mouse plant, is an herbaceous woodland… Continue reading

Bright green Japanese maple leaves are illuminated by spring sunlight. (Getty Images)
Confessions of a ‘plantophile’: I’m a bit of a junky for Japanese maples

In fact, my addiction to these glorious, all-season specimens seems to be contagious. Fortunately, there’s no known cure.

2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited (Hyundai)
2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited

The 2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited is a sporty, all-electric, all-wheel drive sedan that will quickly win your heart.

The 2024 Dodge Hornet R/T hybrid’s face has the twin red lines signifying the brand’s focus on performance. (Dodge)
2024 Hornet R/T is first electrified performance vehicle from Dodge

The all-new compact SUV travels 32 miles on pure electric power, and up to 360 miles in hybrid mode.

Don’t blow a bundle on glass supposedly made by the Henry William Stiegel

Why? Faked signatures, reused molds and imitated styles can make it unclear who actually made any given piece of glass.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.