Objekt des Monats
Jedes Objekt in der Sammlung des Deutschen Auswandererhauses erzählt eine ganz persönliche Auswanderungs- oder Einwanderungsgeschichte. In dieser Rubrik stellen wir Ihnen jeden Monat ein anderes Objekt vor – eine Fotografie, ein Dokument oder ein persönliches Erinnerungsstück.
October 2018
Photography from 1958
Historical Context
After World War II ended with Germany’s unconditional surrender on May 8, 1945, the Allied powers, namely Great Britain, France, the USA, and the Soviet Union, divided the territory among themselves. Although Bremen and Bremerhaven – or ‘Weser-mouth’, as Bremerhaven was called until March 1947 – were situated in the British occupation zone, the cities were occupied by the Americans and were definitively assigned to the American administration in 1947. The port facilities of Weser-mouth, which were spared from bombing, had already served the Americans as a supply base (referred to as ‘Port of Embarkation’) since June 1945. The USA sent thousands of soldiers, known as ‘G.I.s’, through Weser-mouth/Bremerhaven to the four countries in their occupation zone. Thousands of them, most of whom stayed in Germany for just a few years and then returned, while a few remained permanently, built a life in places like Bremerhaven and started families. And one who remained in the collective memory of the city, though he was only there for about half an hour: Elvis Presley.
Short Biography
Elvis Presley, who disembarked from the troop transport ship ‘General G.M. Randall’ as Private No. 101 in Bremerhaven on October 1, 1958, was born on January 8, 1935, in Tupelo, Mississippi. Just before his 23rd birthday, he was drafted into military service, having already sold hundreds of thousands of records and being a television and film star crowned by the press as the ‘King of Rock’n Roll.’ He completed his service time after basic training in Friedberg, Germany. In March 1960, he returned to the USA to continue his career, which took him back to Germany just a month later to shoot the film ‘G.I. Blues,’ which was shown in German cinemas as ‘Café Europa.’ The film deals with the challenges of a romantic relationship arising from life as a G.I. Presley found his later love happiness in Germany as well: he met the 14-year-old Priscilla in Friedberg, whom he married eight years later. There was also something he brought from Germany into this film: the farewell and emigration song ‘Muss i denn zum Städtle hinaus,’ which he sang in English under the title ‘Wooden Heart,’ incorporating German-language passages. He could have heard it for the first time in Bremerhaven on that October 1, 1958, as the song was often played by the ship’s orchestras during the departure from Bremerhaven around that time.
Meaning of the object
The photo captures a moment in the double sense of the word: a fleeting instant and a historical section. A moment of Bremerhaven’s city history, which those who experienced it still tell today. 700 girls and boys stood on the foggy morning of October 1, 1958, at Columbuskaje to welcome their idol. One of them daringly climbed up the gangway and extended a pen to Elvis. All he wanted was an autograph. Unfortunately, the ‘King of Rock’n’Roll’ dropped the pen and the chance was lost. Instead of the autograph, the boy was left with the photo of him and the ‘King.’ This photo also captures a significant historical period by giving it ‘a face’: the time of the American occupation. Just as Elvis Presley among the 1,300 G.I.s, some of the American lifestyle also made its way to Germany – and Bremerhaven served as its avant-garde. Whatever fashion it was – before it reached the rest of Germany, it was already established in Bremerhaven. Bremerhaven was the city of hamburgers, Coca-Cola, and ice cream. Migration history has not only written Bremerhaven as the temporarily largest emigration port in Europe – but also, so to speak, as the ‘Port of Enculturation,’ as the most important import harbor of American culture after World War II.
Do You Also Have …
… a story of emigration or immigration in your family that you would like to share with the German Emigration Center together with the related objects and documents for its collection? Then please contact Dr. Tanja Fittkau by phone at +49 471 / 90 22 0 – 0
or by e-mail at: t.fittkau@dah-bremerhaven.de