Arrival in the German fatherland. -Stay in Hamburg and Ottensen.

When our ship had come quietly to anchor in the Hamburg harbor, I went into the city to make arrangements for quarters for us and here the same thing happened to me again as happened to me when I stepped on land the first time in Philadelphia; a daze came over me. It seemed to me that the ground were so uneven that soon I had come into a gulch and then again onto a hill; the houses and other objects moved and this lasted a short quarter hour. I found quarters there indeed where I wished them, namely close to the water with the innkeeper Peter Bachmann, second choice; but it was too expensive for us and yet I did not want to go too far into the city because of the transportation of our things which we had on board our ship. On the fifth of July we took our quarters and had our things brought by a shipper on a wagon close to the door of our hotel. Many of our things were supposed to be subject to duty and the lower customs officials did not want to let such pass free; but when I made my request to the higher officials on this account, they immediately put it in writing for me that they should let all my things that I had with me pass free. I was received by the police officials in a right friendly way there every time that I did business with them; they also did everything for me free of charge and never let me pay anything.

In the first days of my stay in Hamburg I immediately wrote to many acquaintances and one time good friends in my Braunschweig fatherland, informed them of my safe landing in Hamburg and I also acquainted them with my needy situation on account of which I wished to appear in my fatherland among my friends, relatives and acquaintances the sooner the better because the stay in Hamburg was too expensive for me to be able to remain there much longer and I asked for counsel and support for this intention, With joyous hope and consoled countenance I awaited the answer from my friends and reckoned with complete certainty on the news that they would at least have a dwelling ready for me; for one will remember the promise given to me by a relative mentioned in the twenty-first chapter. But oh! Instead of this I got the news with return mail: that fortune would never again smile on me in my fatherland, never again would I be employed in the same, etc. The relative (it went on) who had promised me shelter and bread in the event of my return was now poorer than I and could not even help me. Therefore they gave me the advice to seek my fortune in Hamburg and so forth. One can easily imagine how I felt at this unexpected news. I could not remain in Hamburg long for I had too little money to do that and there was no hope at all for me to earn something there. Out of fear I did not know at all what I should say and yet it was necessary to say something in order to uplift my wife who tore the hair out of her head out of consternation and then lay unconscious on the floor, and to pacify her somewhat.

With a heavy heart I then went to our former innkeeper, mentioned several times in the second chapter if this book to whom I had written from America and requested, in case it should be necessary, upon my return to give us quarters in his house once again for a short time to now repeat this request. As I stepped into hi room he was standing in front of the mirror, tied on his scarf and upon my greeting he answered with a nasty, threatening face with the accusation that I had written him from America and that he had to pay postage due on it, then put his coat on, took hat and cane, went out of the room and left me standing there. I had counted on it with complete certainty that this man would now make right to some degree again by the granting of my request the wrong done to me recounted in the second chapter and believed I could bring some comfort to my poor, unfortunate wife through joyful news which, however, I was now much in need of myself. With bitter tears I left the house of this man and told my wife nothing of what had transpired.

For lodging alone I had to pay Peter Bachmann four marks weekly; of course there was opportunity to live more cheaply, but I wanted to stay close to the water so that, if perhaps the opportunity would arise soon to leave Hamburg, which I so heartily wished, and for this reason, in spite of the comfortless news from my fatherland, sent still another letter there so that, if more favorable news would follow, I could take my things directly to the ship and have them transported by water to Haarburg. But when I had waited in vain for four weeks for different news, I attempted to find cheaper quarters somewhere in the country which was offered to me in Ottensen near Altona in the Danish territory, but the Altona police confronted me in a very coarse and brutal manner and among other things said: "Because you couldn't find your fortune in America, much less will you find it in Ottensen! Such people go from one state to the next and nowhere do the roasted pigeons fly into their mouths," and so forth. I told these gentlemen that I did not want to seek any fortune in Ottensen, but rather wanted to travel to my fatherland but was first awaiting news from there and wanted to stay only a short time until this news came. Finally they gave me a paper, but only for eight days for which I had to pay eight shillings, whereupon I moved into my new quarters in Ottensen and when the eight days were up, I had to have the term extended again to eight days for eight shillings and so forth. In Hamburg I paid nothing to the police and also a visa was granted me without payment and here I had to pay one shilling each day that I stayed in the Danish state.



After we had lived in Ottensen for several days, I took it upon myself each day to go to some town in the neighborhood if the weather was not too bad, for I thought perhaps in one way or the other the opportunity would arise to better our fortune. First I went to Blankenese to the schoolteacher Lorenz there, acquainted him with my personality and my fate and a short discussion with this alert man was balm for my wounded heart; for up to that time no one had shared so warmly in my unfortunate fate as this kindly man. First of all he gave me the advice to become a secondary teacher in a school somewhere in his area until better prospects would come along; for a primary teacher, he told me, no foreigner would be allowed to be employed in Danish territory.

There are very large communities there and very numerous schools in which always only one teacher is employed who then chooses one for himself, also indeed two assistant teachers or aides. The schoolteachers in the Holstein territory are really well paid and are very well off. Lorenz also had no doubt at all that within eight, at the most fourteen days I would get such a position because such assistant teachers who often got 200 royal thaler and even more were very much sought after and he wrote two letters which he gave to me regarding this to men who just a short time ago were making the effort to find such an assistant teacher. When this man heard that I also understood agriculture he offered me yet another suggestion. He told me he owned a small farm twenty miles distant from there which he had alway rented to others up to now but because of the distance had not especially profited from it because it was poorly tended and neglected. He wanted to give this to my charge, in case I was so inclined, for as long as I wanted to use it for myself; and he would charge nothing further for it than that I would keep land and buildings in good condition. Transportation to there could not cost much because the trip would be made by water.

A heavy stone fell from my heart and as with eagle's wings I hastened to my distressed wife to share this with her. Then I decided, for the time being, to become assistant teacher in a school until several months had passed, to which a prospect opened after a few days and then to move on to the small farm of Mr. Lorenz which would be vacant towards Christmas. But seldom does it go just as a person previously thinks and acts. Unhoped for I got a communication from my Braunschweig fatherland with some money and with the news that the preponderant hindrances up to that time had been put aside, I could place certain hope in employment soon and up to that time a dwelling was ready for me. Then I was undecided for a long time and did not know at first what I should choose, for choice often causes torment. In the Holstein area a living was assured me and I should have preferred the certain to the uncertain. Only the love for the birthplace of us both swung the balance and although I had to doubt at first that with my little cash I would be able to handle the cost of transporting my things, which made up a considerable load, I nevertheless decided to go on with the journey there and we rather sold a couple of pieces of our beds in order to be able to carry out our intent. Oh! neither of us had any idea of the hardest and most trying suffering towards which we hastened.

Then we put our efforts into the journey to the fatherland and had our things driven to Altona to the water; here I hired a shipper who was just then busy unloading a load of hay which he had brought to Altona by water and when this had happened, we brought our things onto the vessel to travel on the Elbe to Haarburg. This took place on August 24, 1825.

Source: Edited by Bryan Wright