New emigration museum opens in Antwerp, Belgium in September 2013.
Beginning September 28th, 2013 the new Red Star Line Museum in the historic harbour warehouses of the Red Star Line shipping company in Antwerp opens to the public. This experiential museum tells the story of the millions of immigrants who travelled from Antwerp to the United States and Canada on board the ocean liners of the Red Star in search of a better life.
From the year 1800 until the 1930s millions of people packed all their worldly possessions into a few suitcases to travel from Europe to America. For many of these people the journey started in a dockside warehouse in the Flanders port of Antwerp. From 1873 until 1934 the Red Star Line’s ocean liners carried more than two million passengers across the Atlantic.
The Red Star Line Museum tells the story of those who dared to leave everything behind in their quest for happiness and a better life. The shipping company’s old buildings help visualize their stories. Among the passengers who sailed on the Red Star Line ships where the likes of Irving Berlin and Albert Einstein. It is story of many Americans’ European roots and origins.
A visit to the museum visit follows the stages of an emigrant’s journey in eight thematic areas located on two floors: a travel agency in Warsaw, a train carriage, the city of Antwerp, the Red Star Line building, the deck of an ocean liner, life on board, the arrival at Ellis Island and the new future in the United States. Personal testimonials of Red Star Line passengers offer a common thread with personal photos, written and oral histories, and personal objects to recreate the atmosphere of the voyage.
On leaving the exhibition visitors can climb to the top of the viewing tower shaped like the bow and funnel of an ocean liner, overlooking the city and its waters, to get a sensation of the emotions the passengers felt as they envisioned their new future from the prow of a Red Star Line ship. A visit ends in the museum’s café or souvenir shop.
Opening hours are Tuesday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Closed on Mondays and 7 holidays. Admission is 6 euro.