Saturday October 20 was another sunny day with the high of 17C. It cools down in the evening, but has been lovely weather for Antwerp, which can be quite rainy.
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| The collection in the main room of our B&B |
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| Candles in the morning |
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| The breakfast room |
We decided to visit the Red Star Line Museum, which our "free tour" guide had recommended. The Museum which opened in 2013 is dedicated to telling the stories of the two million people who travelled on Red Star Line ships from Antwerp to North America. The museum is housed in the control building built in 1893, where migrants came to be processed before leaving. Medical exams were done in the building, and migrants who failed the exam were not allowed to leave.
The Red Star Line was founded in 1872 by two American shipping magnates and two Antwerp based partners. The aim was to transport oil from the United States to Europe on the outbound voyage and passengers on the return voyage. This only occurred one time as the U.S. government prohibited all combined transports of oil and passengers. As a result, the Red Star Line only carried passengers and dry cargo after the initial voyage.
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| Outside of museum |
The maiden voyage on the Vaderland boat departed for Philadelphia in 1873. The Red Star Line flourished until WWI and then after the war until the early 1920s. During its heyday, two ships left for North America every week. In the 1880s, the shipping line annually transported about 25,000 steerage or third-class passengers to New York, a figure which would rise until 1923, when around 117, 000 passengers were transported to and the U.S., including about 70,000 in second and third-class.
In the 1920s, when the U.S. imposed immigration restrictions, the shipping line began to experience financial problems. It was liquidated in 1934, and did not operate after that date. In 1934, a German ship owner, Arnold Bernstein, acquired the ships. However, he was Jewish and imprisoned in 1937 by the Nazis, who accused him of smuggling currency. In his absence, the line's assets were seized by the bank. In June 1939, the German government sold the line to the Holland-America Line, which continued to operate a Red Star Line route between Antwerp and New York until the Fifties. However, the Red Star Line never operated after 1934.
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| Picture of wing added to building in 1921 which became a reception area and storage space for luggage. The luggage was deposited here for disinfection |
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| Wonderful posters |
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| First captain of the first ship |
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| Model of the Vaderland |
A large entrance room had displays of individuals throughout history who had been migrants. It demonstrated that there have always been immigrants fleeing poverty or persecution. It noted that migration is a timeless story and the story of the Red Star Line is just one example
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| Irving Berlin (Israel Beilin, originally from Belarus -he actually did leave from Antwerp on a Red Star Line) |
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| First Moroccan guest worker in Antwerp's metal industry in the early 1960s |
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| Women during the Crusades |
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| Ernesto is the fictitious name of a Mexican residing illegally in the U.S. |
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| For Kattyna Szysz |
A beautiful poem on one wall: Something grand inside her stares
towards the end of the extended water.
A Canada awaits her there.
She has folded up her Poland,
it will clothes her there.
For there she will become a woman,
mother in a strange language,
gathered into two lives,
ever staring as it's getting later
in the rooms of Canada
something grand in her each day
towards the end of the extended water.
Bernard Dewulf (b. 1960)
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| Throughout the museum were signs indicating "You are Here"- and pointing out what had been there in the past-- this sign indicated where disinfection took place. After 1926, the United States had migrants medically checked at the point of departure, not arrival meaning that doctors made the decision of who could enter the US in Antwerp. |
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| A modern day piece of art depicting migration |
There was a wall with photos of people who had passed through the building.
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| Wall of photos |
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| Bessie and Reba Cohen left Russia in 1921 |
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| Albert Einstein-- one of the more famous people to pass through this building and to travel on the Red Star Line, fleeing Nazi Germany in 1933 |
There was a room with wonderful posters. The museum also had information about the Canadian Pacific Line which started in 1904 with a direct connection between Canada and Antwerp, the first such route on the European continent. From 1922 onwards, the Red Star Line called at Halifax.
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| 1911 |
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| Model of the Lake Manitoba (1901-1924) - Canadian Pacific Line |
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| Material about the Canadian Pacific Line in different languages |
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| Recruiting poster for Red Star Line in1921 and 1922 in Warsaw |
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| Landerhuizers Eugene Laermans 1896 |
Another room had mementos and videos with interviews of people or their descendants who had travelled on the Red Star Line.
At the end of the 19th century, a large part of Canada was still uninhabited. The government implemented an active immigration policy, using "The Last Best West" as its slogan. Belgium was one of the countries targeted for emigration.
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| Member of Hutlet family that originally emigrated to Manitoba in 1891 |
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| Video and story of Albert Einstein's emigration in 1933- he sailed on the Westernland to Princeton, New Jersey |
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Postcard to Einstein
There were also photos of the various hotels (some quite seedy) in Antwerp where the migrants would spend time before their departures.
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| An old Hotel Winnipeg in Antwerp |
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| A restored small office in the museum |
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| Pictures of migrants leaving Antwerp |
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| A picture of the Canadan Pacific Line |
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| A trace of Hebrew writing on the walls of the museum |
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| Notices that were on the wall saying that everything in the building is done free of charge---- warning people not to give money to people offering to help |
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| Belgenland II 1935 |
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| In the 1920s, the company tried to focus on tourism |
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| Cruise brochure |
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| Model of Belgenland |
For the first class passengers.
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| Programmes for evening entertainment |
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| A dinner menu |
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| There was a wall about the crew and employees of Red Star Line |
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| Irving Berlin's piano next to a video with an interview with his granddaughter who lives in Paris |
It is a wonderful museum with a great story about how migration has been part of history for a long, long time and how Antwerp and the Red Star Line was a piece of the modern story from the 1880s to the 1930s.
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| Leaving the museum with a view of the harbour |
We took the Metro to check out a store called Atelier Solarshop which had beautiful clothes, many designed by a Belgian designer Jan-Jan Van Essche. It was based in a former solar-panel store and a bit of a well-kept secret. The clothes were lovely, but very pricey. We stopped for some delicious soup at a café in a cube building in front of a library.
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| Alain with the tomato soup |
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| Front of the café |
A few blocks away was Antwerp's Chinatown. It was a street with two lions at one end, lots of Chinese establishments on the street and a large gate at the other. The street is very near the Central Train Station, which one can see in the photo with the gate.
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| Antwerp's Chinatown |
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| Gate with view of Central Station |
We stopped at the "smallest waffle shop in the world" for one of Belgium's major foods-- the waffle.
(Other favourite foods are fries, beer, and chocolate).
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| Very popular spot |
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With our waffle
We then walked to Caffe Mundi, the coffee shop next to the roastery and coffee paraphernalia store we had visited on our first day in Antwerp. The shop was just closing at 5:00 p.m., but they were kind enough to serve us. The coffee was excellent.
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| Caffe Mundi |
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| Our coffees |
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| Alain and the rabbit outside of a wonderful card and book store |
We wandered a bit more and then were able to get seated earlier at Visbistro Mojo, which had also been recommended by our host. It was another wonderful seafood place, with most items on their daily specials list.
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| Inside of the restaurant |
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| Specials of the day-lots of fresh seafood |
Alain had sea bass with vegetables (one picture that did not turn out) and I had a boulliabaisse with shellfish that was delicious.
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| My gorgeous bouillabaisse |
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Outside of the Bistro Mojo
We walked back to the B&B and packed. On Sunday October 21, we travelled to Rotterdam for three nights. Please join us for the last stop of our 2018 adventure.
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