Henry Dohrmann
The loss of a parent is a harsh blow for any child – for little Henry, however, the death of his mother additionally means the loss of his former home. His immigration story and its consequences occupy the family even more than 130 years later. In June 1884, Henry Dohrmann is born as the son of merchant Herrmann Heinrich Dohrmann and his wife Auguste in Brooklyn / New York. Both parents immigrated from Germany. Complications arise at the birth of Henry’s sister Mary. In the event of her death, the mother stipulates that Henry should be raised by her parents in Wulsdorf – but not his sister, who should remain with foster parents in the USA. The motives of Auguste Dohrmann remain unclear to this day. Then she actually passes away. Accompanied only by an employee of the shipping company, as the family remembers, Henry embarks on the journey to Germany as a toddler. After his childhood with his grandparents in Bremerhaven, Henry Dohrmann initially works as a fish dealer at Robert Lewens in Wilhelmsburg (now in Hamburg). There, he meets his future wife. Ultimately, he returns to Bremerhaven, where he manages a branch of the Wilhelmsburg fish merchant. He advises his children to learn English well; for Henry, the language is important. In 1929, Henry Dohrmann buys a villa on Vieländer Weg in Wulsdorf with the money he earned from fishing – still known today as the ‘Villa Dohrmann.’ Henry Dohrmann spends much time in the garden of the house, also with his granddaughter Anna-Gesine. Photos of these moments in the garden give great-granddaughter Berit Seitz and her father Hartmuth Seitz an impression of Henry, whom they never got to know. Anna-Gesine Seitz, however, lived her early years in the same household as Henry. “She was a grandpa’s child,” her daughter says today. Anna-Gesine remembers her grandfather’s sadness whenever his sister was mentioned. The contact with Mary Dohrmann, who stayed in the USA after their mother’s death, was lost. Despite numerous efforts, neither Henry Dohrmann nor his descendants could find out what happened to her. On May 2, 1953, Henry Dohrmann passes away in Wulsdorf, without having managed to return to New York, the place of his early years. For his sons, too, the USA remains a dream location they never see. However, the story is not over. In 2019, granddaughter Anna-Gesine Seitz and her husband Hartmuth set out for the USA. They attempt to reconstruct where Grandpa Henry lived. “With this journey, she has essentially fulfilled the legacy of Henry Dohrmann,” Berit Seitz says about her mother. However, there are not many places that still exist as they did at the end of the 19th century. One exception is the Zion Church in Brooklyn. Shortly after Anna-Gesine saw her grandfather’s baptismal font there, she passes away in New York – on the same day of the same month as Henry Dohrmann: May 2, 2019.
A portrait of Henry Dohrmann is one of the faces visible on the façade of the new German Emigration Center since June 2021. Before the opening of the extension building with its artistically designed façade, the Nordsee-Zeitung introduced the individuals behind the faces. You can watch the corresponding film portrait of Henry Dohrmann here.