Francesco Sangiorgi
Francesco Sangiorgi fondly remembers his childhood on his parents’ farm in Sicily. However, when he turns 15, he and his family face the question of how his future path should proceed. The region does not offer many perspectives for the youth. His mother wants him to become a priest, but Francesco soon realizes that it’s not a desirable career for him. Instead, he goes to Tuscany, where his aunt and uncle operate a restaurant in the town of Marina di Cecina. The contrast to Southern Italy is so striking that Francesco Sangiorgi today says: “For me back then, it was like America!” Unlike Sicily, young men and women can meet and socialize in public – in his hometown, that would have been unthinkable. Initially, Francesco helps out in the restaurant, then he completes an apprenticeship as a hotel specialist. During his one-year military service in touristy Rome, his desire to see the world grows. He looks for a job abroad, starting in England, but since he knows no one there, he chooses the Federal Republic, where family friends arrange housing for him. He arrives by train in Hagen, Westphalia in 1978 – at that time a city with a large Italian diaspora, between 17,000 and 20,000, as Francesco Sangiorgi remembers. After 14 months of working various jobs there, it becomes too much for him. “I live in Germany, but I live like in Italy,” he thinks and moves to Bremerhaven, where his cousin lives. In the seaport, the Italian community counts only about 150 people. It is only here that Francesco Sangiorgi starts to learn German intensively. Here, he wants to fulfill his dream of owning a restaurant. In 1983, he buys the suitable property. On August 15, 1984, it finally happens: the restaurant “Italia” opens. Later, another branch is added. Due to the numerous US troops, gastronomy booms in Bremerhaven. The GIs leave good tips, sometimes Italian-Americans drop by, but communication with them in Italian is difficult due to the many regional dialects. His future wife, who comes from L’Aquila, the capital of Abruzzo, met Francesco Sangiorgi in Northern Germany – she was just on vacation there. The couple now has three children. Additionally, Bremerhaven holds family history for him – his grandfather had already been in the city in 1899 before emigrating to the USA. However, he returned to Italy in 1908.
A portrait of Francesco Sangiorgi is one of the faces visible on the facade of the new German Emigration Center since June 2021. Before the opening of the extension building with its artistically designed facade, the Nordsee-Zeitung introduced the people behind the faces. You can watch the corresponding film portrait of Francesco Sangiorgi here.