German emigrant
Name : Van Straussen
First name : Günter
Birth : June, 8th 1840
Death : February 17th 1895
Place of birth : Berlin, Germany
Place of death : Manhattan, New-York City, USA
Emigration date : 1872
Historical and geographical context :
Our story takes place in Germany in 1872. At this time, Germany used to be an empire and the USA was already a republic. In the 1870’s 200 000 German emigrants travelled over the Atlantic for a better life. The German neighborhood in New York City was Kleindeutschland, which lay on the East River
Kleindeuchland in 1870
On this picture we can see Kleindeutschland (the german neighborhood in the 1870’s), now this place is called Lower East Side. It was also called « little Germany » by its habitants. On the right we can observe a green area and on the left the pavement, some houses and shops. When you see this picture for the first time you can’t imagine that this place is now the New York we know. But for the time it was very modern : you’ve got the tramway and even the electricity. Compared to the others neighborhoods, it was very clean : streets were large and calm. It looks like the european’s streets, which is very important because when the emigrants came to New York they felt like it was home.