by Becky T
Originally published in the December 2003/January 2004 Currents

Geteilte Welten (separate worlds) is about immigrants to Hamburg. Since 1473, according to the oldest relic on display, people have migrated to Hamburg; in this case they were Dutch cloth makers. Then, there were the Africans on display like animals at Hagenbeck Zoo. An immigrant’s welcome depended on the economic situation in Hamburg. In bad times, the “foreigners” were made to go, the worst situation being the Holocaust.

Closer to the present time, whole groups of Gastarbeiter (guest workers), many from Turkey and Poland, arrived in 1955-73. They toiled without knowing a word of German and lived under harsh conditions, often separated from their families. Women also came for a better life (which, as we know from Amnesty for Women, is often disappointing). They worked in factories and as Putzfrauen (cleaning ladies). They came with their cooking pots and native dress. They took pictures of each other standing in the snow for the first time. They bought things; radios were popular. They joined churches and planned their free time. Some sought support from their countrymen (sound familiar?) and some sloughed it out alone. Students arrived (my husband, from Indonesia, for example). I also benefited from the generous economic situation in 1964, when teachers were being imported from the U.S. Much was made of the first black U-Bahn driver in 1974. Count the immigrants on the roster of Hamburg’s soccer players.

There were always two roads leading to Hamburg: the high (or king’s road as the museum committee says) and the low or illegal road. Just recently the press reported on a young African girl, forced to leave because she arrived without a visa, although her mother lives here legally and the girl has no one in her original country. People came to stay or left for various reasons, but they were always Quiddjes, or non-Hamburgers. But what is a Hamburger? Without the immigrants, Hamburg would not be as prosperous as it is now, with 1.7 million inhabitants speaking 100 mother tongues.

The last part of the exhibit is a seat, fashioned to look like a taxi. You can put on headphones and “participate” via film in a taxi ride through Hamburg -- your first glimpse of your new city.

In conjunction with this exhibit, the museum will host a travelling exhibit called “Crossing Borders,” which is part of a project called “Migration, Work and Identity, A History of European People Told in Museums.” This exhibit will stay in Hamburg Dec 11-Feb 29, parallel to the local exhibit.

Museum für Arbeit, Wiesendamm 3, U and S-Bahn Barmbek. Open daily 10-17:00; Sun 10-18:00, and Mon 13-21:00. Cost EUR 6. Also see www.Geteilte-Welten.de.