Definición de términos Básicos

In 1863 a committee of consuls and businessmen sent around a letter to the members of the business-elite of Antwerp, to ask for money to establish a sailors home in the city.139 _{The authors}

stated that Antwerp was the only major European port lacking such a facility. Sailors in Antwerp, they argued, were now only served by greedy hotel keepers, who often succeeded in tricking the poor sailors out of their hard-earned money. This, they continued was disadvantageous to both the sailors and the ship owners. Referring to the success of a similar institution in New York, they appealed to both the business-elite's self-interest and their Christian duty to support the poor sailors. German participation in this project was high. Amongst the signatories of the letter were the Prussian and the Hanoverian consuls, as well as the consul of the Free Hanseatic Cities, much of which were culturally predominantly German. Also, the Danish consul, W. Nottebohm and the Austrian consul, Th. Kreglinger, who both signed the letter, were members of the Antwerp German colony. This first sailors home was replaced in 1891 by a new international sailors home.140 _{The role}

of Antwerp's German business-elite in this home remained prominent. The annual report of 1894 139 _{BArch: R901: 8889. Open letter advocating the establishment of an international sailors home, March 1863.}

140 _{Oud-Archief Protestantse Kerk te Antwerpen (OAPK), F1, Verein für deutsche Seeleute in Antwerpen:}

shows that one of the two honorary presidents of this home was Ernest Grisar, the other one being the mayor of Antwerp.141 _{The Grisar family was one of the wealthiest German families in Antwerp.}

The honorary presidency was granted because Grisar had financed the construction of a building for the international sailors home on a plot of land that was made available by the Antwerp municipal authorities. Though the Grisar family was the most important contributor to the sailors home, other members of the German colony contributed as well. The firm Bunge & Co _{and the individual}

contributors A. de Bary, J.D. Fuhrmann, O. Günther, J. Rautenstrauch and E. Osterrieth were mentioned in the 1894 annual report. All these people were very prominent members of the German business-elite of Antwerp. Despite this German participation in the establishment and maintenance of an international sailors home, the desire for a German home had grown by the eightteen-eighties. The German Seemannsheim would be founded in 1883. This would not completely prevent Germans from visiting the international sailors home. In a request for money on behalf of das Komitee der Deutschen Seemannsmission in Antwerpen Georg de Bary, W. Scheibler and Alfred Schuchard reported that 190 German sailors stayed at the international home in 1902.142

Though some people in the German colony of Antwerp had already pushed for a German sailors home since the 1860s, it was not before October 1882 that a Verein zum Schutz deutscher Seeleute und Auswanderer (Association for the protection of German sailors and emigrants) was established. In February 1883 the Verein opened its reading room. From 1890 onwards it could also offer the sailors a place to sleep.143 _{According to the charter of 1884, the aim of the Seemannsheim}

was threefold.144 _{In the first place it aimed to offer German sailors a place to read, write, smoke and}

converse under the auspices of a reliable house-father. The second aim was to offer inexperienced immigrants and emigrants a confidant who could advise and help them. Finally they wanted to ensure that different private charitable initiatives would be properly coordinated. Already in 1889 a 141 _{BArch: R901: 8890. Zeemanshuis d'Anvers sous le patronage de S.M. le Roi, Quatrième Rapport, 1894-1895.} 142 _{OAPK, F1. Letter requesting money for different purposes. November 1902. Signed by Georg de Bary, W.}

Scheibler and Alfred Schuchard.

143 _{OAPK, F1, Verein für deutsche Seeleute in Antwerpen: Jubiläumsbericht aus Anlass des 25 jährigen Bestehens}

1882-1907. p.2.

new charter was adopted, from which the services to immigrants and emigrants and the control of private charitable initiatives were removed. At the same time the aim to offer sailors an accommodation for the night was added. The objective of the 1889 charter read as follows:

The German Sailors Home, founded by the Assoziation für deutsche Seeleute in Antwerpen will offer German sailors a home, in which they find decent accommodation and good food for a small sum, in order to guard them from the dangers of the big city. The sailors home […] will, apart from the necessary dining room, contain a reading and writing room with newspapers and a library etc. and sleeping rooms for sailors of all standings.145

As noted, the earliest associative body responsible for the management of the Seemannsheim was the Verein zum Schutz deutscher Seeleute und Auswanderer. From the early twentieth century onwards the responsibilities of this organization would be shared by two new organizations. The Verein für deutsche Seeleute would focus on the running of the hotel facilities and related practical activities, like the reading and dining rooms. The Evangelisches Hülfskomitee für deutsche Seeleute in Antwerpen (Evangelical Relief Fund for German Sailors in Antwerp) was to be engaged in pastoral work. Judging by its growth, the Seemannsheim definitely fulfilled a need. The general success of the institution is best illustrated by the development of the number of its guests that stayed for the night and the total number of nights spent at the place.

The general pattern of growth is clearly visible, even though in some years a decrease of the number of guests is visible as well. The 1905 annual report does not expound on possible reasons for that year's decline of the number of visitors. Instead it merely claims that during the past year the home and its services have been used extensively. The lower number of guest that year may have had something to do with the fact that the position of house-father was not fulfilled between January and March and from August till October.146 _{Also no effort is made to explain the slightly lower number}

of guests in 1907. The average number of nights guests spent at the Seemannsheim shows great variation through the years, with guests spending as little as 6,5 days on average in 1911 and as much as 15 day on average in 1896. Still, the overall development of the total number of nights spent by guests in the Seemannsheim shows a development quite similar to the that of the number of guests.

146 _{OAPK, F1, Verein für Deutsche Seeleute in Antwerpen, XIV. Bericht für das Jahr 1905.}

1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000

Figure 1: Number of guests spending the night at the Antwerp Seemannsheim

Year N um b e r o f g ue st s

Again we see a considerable downfall in 1905 and a small decline in 1907. Looking at both the number of people staying over and the total number of nights spent in the Seemannsheim, the acceleration of the growth after 1907 is remarkable. This could be explained by the new accommodation at the Canal des Brasseurs into which the organization had moved, which was within walking distance of the old building at the Place du Rhin. This new building could house as much as 100 guests staying over for the night.147 _{The Seemannsheim would stay at this address until}

the end of the First World War. April 12 1919, then, it was sequestered, like the property of all Germans and German organizations still left in Antwerp after the war.148 _{The Belgian state later sold}

the accommodation at the Canal des Brasseurs to the city of Antwerp for 535000 Francs.149

147 _{OAPK, F1, Verein für Deutsche Seeleute in Antwerpen, Bericht für das Jahr 1908.}

148 _{Rijksarchief Beveren – Waas (RBW), Ministerie van Financiën, Bestuur van Registratie en Domeinen, dienst}

Sekwester (MFS), Dossier 740, Verein für Deutsche Seeleute, Parket van Antwerpen – Dienst der Sekwesters, Ontlasting van beheer, 19-12-1938.

149 _{RBW, Parket van de procureur des konings te Antwerpen (PPKA), Dossier 390, Deutsche Schule, Letter on behalf}

of le college des bourgmestre et echevins to Monsieur Emile Jacqmain, Avocat, Sequestre de la Deutsche Bank, Bruxelles, 18-12-1920. 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 14000

Figure 2: Number of nights spent at the Antwerp Seemannsheim

Year N um b e r o f n ig ht s