Reichsbanknote, 1910
In 1923, the young Weimar Republic is shaken by a severe economic crisis. Seventeen-year-old Martha Hüner from Geestemünde has a job, but her wages barely cover the essentials for living. Since she was 15, Martha has been employed as a nanny and housekeeper in the family of a carpenter. With the little she earns, she supports her parents and her two younger sisters. Her two aunts, Käthe and Johanne, who emigrated to America, write in letters about prosperity and good earning opportunities. They encourage their niece to follow them to the USA. In fact, Martha decides to embark on her journey in the summer of 1923. Her aunt Käthe arranges the sponsorship, pays for the ship passage, and sends Martha some travel money. In America, Martha meets the German-American baker Willy Seegers and marries him in her second year in the USA. Together, they open a bakery in New Jersey in 1932. Martha’s life remains eventful and is marked by highs and lows. In the 1980s, after her husband’s death, the elderly lady feels homesick, so her sister Hanna and her husband soon bring her back to Bremerhaven. Just two days after her birthday, Martha Seegers dies on July 3, 1987, at the age of 81, childless in her other sister Käthe’s home. Migration and money have always been closely intertwined. Money represents possession, work, a (good) livelihood – the hope of achieving all this is the motivation for many people to migrate. Many support their left-behind relatives later, once they have settled, with money transfers – as does Martha Hüner.
