Franjo Spahić
When Franjo Spahić arrives in Bremerhaven in March 1973 at the age of 19, his parents and siblings are already there. His mother Ruža was the first to leave Yugoslavia to work as a so-called guest worker in the Bremerhaven fish industry. She encourages the rest of the family to follow her. Franjo is the last to arrive. He had hesitated to give up his friends and his job – a risk. Franjo Spahić and his siblings grew up in modest conditions. Their parents worked hard. Franjo earned his own money as early as age 14: as a fairground worker, on construction sites, and finally in a furniture factory. In Germany, he initially takes odd jobs and lives together with his parents and siblings in Grünhöfe. Shortly after his arrival, he meets Susanne in the Bremerhaven disco “Superstar” – his future wife. The two move in together and marry in 1976. Franjo Spahić works his way up diligently: When his son Marinko is just a few months old, Franjo completes his secondary education through a Yugoslavian distance learning school in 1981. In the following years, he earns a vocational qualification as a steel construction locksmith and a degree as a certified mechanical engineering technician. The desire for a better future for his children drives him. “He always tried to make everything possible for us that we wanted to do,” says his daughter Mirjam. Every year – until the outbreak of the war – the family goes on vacation to Yugoslavia to visit friends and relatives. In 1988, Franjo gets a job in Bremen, and the family builds a house in Weyhe. Bremerhaven remains an important point of reference, as a large part of the family still lives there. A negative turning point for Franjo Spahić is the civil war in Yugoslavia. The Yugoslav community in Germany also splits apart. Franjo does not want to and cannot identify with any of the groups. He still sees himself as a Yugoslav. As there is no longer a state of Yugoslavia and Franjo refuses to become a citizen of one of the new states, he is stateless for several years. Eventually, he decides to apply for German citizenship. For several years, he helps support refugees through the foreign council of the Weyhe community. In 2013, Franjo Spahić is now self-employed with his own company and moves back to the seaside city with his wife. After a sudden and severe illness, Franjo Spahić passes away in 2016 in Bremerhaven. Susanne Spahić describes the role of the city to her husband: “His siblings are here. This is his home, his second home. He arrived here, and here he started his family. Here he got married.” A portrait of Franjo Spahić is one of the faces that has been displayed on the facade of the new German Emigrant House since June 2021.
