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.
February 2025
Photography„Villa Blechhügel“, 1924
Historical Context
In the 1920s, the aftermath of World War I and the economic crisis complicate daily life in Germany. One way out: emigration. The most popular destination for Germans before the war, the USA, however, restricts immigration with a quota system. Latin American countries, including Brazil, become more popular. In the 1920s, around 8,400 Germans emigrate there each year, a figure that is never matched in the decades before or after.
Short Biography
Due to the difficult economic situation, the Isenbügel family from Mettmann establishes a cooperative in the early 1920s that aims to buy land in Brazil. After two years of preparation, a group of those willing to emigrate, including the Isenbügels, departs for Brazil in 1924.
Two members of the cooperative had already gone to Brazil earlier to buy land and prepare for the arrival of the other emigrants. However, when they arrive, they are met with a nasty surprise. Hans Isenbügel finds the settlement – contrary to what he had been told by those who went ahead – utterly inadequate:
„Then we discovered the lack of rooms for our accommodation, found that the purchase contract of the Facienda shown to us in Germany was forged, and much more. Everyone was offered an apartment, but one that no housing office in Germany would provide. We were assigned a small tin house without windows, which in the following days received the name „Villa Blechhügel.“
The land has not been purchased yet. The advance-sent cooperative members had deceived their fellow travelers before their departure and are now beginning to financially exploit them with overpriced food prices.
Shortly after their arrival, Hans Isenbügel warns other prospective emigrants from Mettmann via letter not to follow them. Alongside the deception, the newcomers are struggling with the climate and the unfamiliar wildlife. Daughter Hanna Isenbügel becomes seriously ill and within just five weeks, the first emigrant of the settlement dies. Just a few weeks after their arrival, Hans Isenbügel plans to return together with several other families, though this is postponed until late summer 1924.
Approximately one year after their departure, on February 9, 1925, the family reacquires their old house in Mettmann and moves back in during the course of the year. Another year later, in January 1926, the family’s furniture has also arrived back in Germany.
Significance of the object
Migration – this is often still associated with a simple, clear process in general understanding: A person starts in country 1 to settle in country 2 and remain there. However, many stories, such as that of the Isenbügels, do not proceed in a linear fashion. Emigrations with (planned or unplanned) returns or even continuing to a third or fourth location are common.
The photo, as well as Hans Isenbügel’s subsequently compiled report, testify to a failed endeavor. With the reason for their return, the family is not an isolated case – for in the 19th and early 20th century, migrants in various countries of immigration repeatedly fall victim to fraudsters.
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