Life of German Immigrants in 1880s New York: Dreams and Realities

New York 1882 young Georg Schmidt arrived not too long ago from Germany he's got Big Dreams he wants to become a

lawyer like his boss and fellow Countryman Heinrich Strom why on Earth would this honorable General over here

have any reasons not guilty gilk is not the only German living in

New York nearly 400 000 of them have made their way here most of them living in Little Germany

thanks for the land of unlimited possibilities that's what people associated with the US even back then

thousands of immigrants arrive at its Shores each day [Music]

but reality hits the new arrivals like a shock New York is bursting at the seams everyday life is marked by poverty

housing shortages and crime thank you thus

14th of July 1882 the United States of America is still a young country founded some 100 years ago

migrants from all over the world flocked to the USA for Europeans New York represents the gate to their new home

the city has the country's biggest port [Music] the city is only on Manhattan Island

little apartment buildings stand side by side immigrants share Living Spaces in confined neighborhoods which are often

segregated by nationality the German immigrants are right in the middle of it all

they Brave the tough conditions opposing them with their ideals determination and spirit

they're hoping for opportunities their old home could never have offered [Music]

Georges Schmidt from Potsdam is one of them he didn't get much sleep last night today is a big day there will be an

important trial in court and Georg worked on his closing arguments until the small hours of the morning

the young paralegal desperately wants to impress his boss with his hard work can only afford to become a lawyer in

the U.S he doesn't have to go to university here three years of training is enough

[Music] back home in Prussia he is the Third born child would have likely become a

civil servant like his father his parents could only pay for higher education and University for their

oldest son so geoc decided to emigrate to America to get a better education for a certain

type of European immigrant to the United States the vision of political Freedom was something that was very attractive

more intense than that as a draw for most immigrants to the United States in this period is the economic possibility

of building one's life and being able to support oneself in a way that was simply not possible for most members of the

working class in Europe foreign [Music]

Georg benefits from one of his rather German virtues discipline if he wants to pass the bar exam and become a lawyer

his English needs to be perfect the towel this place is basic and costs five

dollars a month can't afford anything else as a paralegal he earns fifty dollars a month

just half of what Carpenters make and life in New York is expensive foreign

[Music] English English

the Schultz family is subletting a room to Georg they are German immigrants too and live in one of the typical American

apartment blocks called tenements foreign most immigrants spend their first years

in a New York tenement one of them was located on Orchard Street Lower East Side and has been transformed into a

museum the original floor plan for the five-story building included 20

apartments two rooms each and a kitchen there are no bathrooms and the toilets are in the backyard

the Lower East Side much more crowded than it is today around the turn of the 19th to 20th

century about 2 000 people lived on this block of the Lower East Side so 1882 we're not quite at that level yet but

it's rapidly becoming one of the most densely populated neighborhoods not only in the United States but really in the

whole world the ever-growing number of new arrivals forces the city of New York to act

to get on top of the situation urban planners feverishly look for quick and affordable housing Solutions

[Music] yeah the transformation of New York already started at the beginning of the

19th century the new city is based on a simple yet ingenious plan rectangular uniform tenements on block-like plots of

land with streets laid out in a grid pattern the famous New York grid is taking shape

there's hardly any room for European style squares or boulevards Central Park is a real gift to the city providing

relief from the claustrophobic Apartments it's the green lung of the Metropolis

[Music] while the hastily erected buildings offer a place to stay for many people

they lack Comfort the sanitary conditions are catastrophic 100 residents share four outdoor lavatories

and that's not all the apartments are dark and stuffy there's usually only one room with a

window as a result the tenements are incubators for disease

child mortality is 20 percent you're burning coal stoves you have sometimes four five six people sharing

those spaces if someone is sick if someone has tuberculosis or another communicable disease that might spread

to your family much more easily than if you were in a space with more light more air and more understanding of how

diseases spread it wasn't until the early 20th century that Architects started to plan for some

room in between buildings creating a little space between them this measure however hardly helps the

shafts quickly become dumpsters a real Haven for rats and Vermin the smell makes its way into the apartments too

the immigrants make the most of a bad situation despite all the shortcomings life here is still better than back home

their response to this lack of space is pragmatism the sink becomes a bathtub the living room a workspace and the

whole family shares one bedroom having an apartment is the first step to building a new life

[Music] morning everyone what a beautiful day

is the schultzers come from Westphalia where they had a small farm and hardly

made ends meet in New York Mr Schultz's Manpower as a construction worker is more than welcome and his views

concerning freedom and equality are not a problem here now it's important to remember that disproportionately German

immigrants to New York were working class they were working in meat packing Industries they were working in

breweries they were working in metal shops and one of the greatest gifts that German immigrant populations gave to New

York was the working class political culture that actually translates into what the city becomes in the 20th

century in New York the schultzers can afford food they never would have been able to

buy back home the living standards in the U.S are significantly higher than in Germany

while coffee hasn't become a staple just yet it's already part of the daily culture the immigrants like to resort to

canned foods because they're cheap and they don't need to be refrigerated and for breakfast they have lobster that

sounds like a luxury today but back then it was nothing out of the ordinary at the end of the 19th century the

United States is still abundant in nature much to be taken from the land like meat and venison as well as from

the sea such as the large fish reserves in the coastal regions so many lobsters and oysters wash up on the beaches just

outside of New York that they are almost a food for the poor open

instead of bookish Life laws oh okay has been waiting for this day for a year

today his fiancee from Germany will finally join him yes ma'am

[Music] gyok is one of almost 400 000 Germans in New York the largest German community

lives in Little Germany a neighborhood in southern Manhattan [Music]

almost sees nothing but fellow Germans it's a middle-class neighborhood the residents are employees craft people

food Merchants everyone speaks German there are even several daily newspapers that are exclusively in German

foreign s abroad live very much like Germans back home in 1882 societies for

traditional costumes and singing are booming but not all Traditions are well regarded among Americans

the Germans beer consumption is frowned upon by supporters of a Prohibition but the Germans won't let anyone get between

them and their beer [Music] many immigrants to the United States

retain the kinds of cultural Traditions that they learned in their countries of origin and that they practiced in their

countries of origin and Germans are no exception to that I think it's important to recognize that the city is broken up

like shards in a kaleidoscope it is not actually a Melting Pot Five Points is mainly inhabited by Irish

immigrants while Asians settle in Chinatown Little Italy and a small Jewish Community are only just emerging

they all have one thing in common gangs roam the streets and fight each other

[Music] Georges case also happens to involve a fight between two street gangs in which

a bystander was severely wounded geox client is accused of the crime but there's an eyewitness who can

exonerate him though he's a bit of a shady character [Music]

good to see you how are you today will be a good day for me I guess

and you how are you great thanks so that is kind of a scorcher though don't you think

well sometimes it gets even more sultry over here yeah but if you ask me it doesn't bother me too much

you know bill is known throughout the city as a crook who gets by as a day laborer

you know that the generator has recently been arrested arrested

they accuse him of starting a fist fight but I think you know that that's not the case aren't I right bill

[Music] what is it that you want me to do boss you have to take the stand today

[Music] I see I see it's a shame my memory is so bad

[Music] ski York spent days looking for a witness before he finally found bill but

Bill has his price [Music] [Music]

Brooks Brothers that's a fine Choice Mr lawyer I was just thinking that I could use a new

jacket too his suit his gyog's most valuable possession it costs thirty dollars six

months rent it's an off the rack suit but compared to a tailored suit it was still

affordable Brooks Brothers is the first company to sell ready-made suits

they're mass produced in the Garment District of New York and only come in standard sizes

thanks to the invention of the sewing machine the entire American fashion industry is revolutionized

foreign [Music] and I get your statement

do we have a deal all right it's a deal

I just want to make sure you look respectable when you appear in court a clear case of bribery Georg results to

Illegal methods but at this time it's completely normal to bribe Witnesses in New York

[Music] corruption takes hold of the city historian David citrum's research has

shown that even the highest ranking officers in the police department were deeply involved the prospect of quick

money tempts people to abuse their power many many cops particularly police captains viewed their job as an

entrepreneurial opportunity and can make money how can I do that well I can take bribes from Saloon Keepers allowing them

to open up on Sundays or to stay open late at night if they're prostitutes or brothels in my precinct I can come to an

arrangement with the matter whereby they can operate as long as I get a piece of the action the German caricaturist Tomas

Nast speaks out against corruption taking aim at politician William Boss Tweed he's known as the greatest con man

in New York he always manages to escape prison the judges and authorities are just as

corrupt as he is tweed and his companions line their pockets with millions of dollars their most lucrative

business construction sites the most famous example is the courthouse named after him the city pays

13 million dollars for it most of which traveled through dark channels and ends up in his own bank account Tweed is the

ultimate embodiment of urban corruption and I think there may be some truth to that but I also think the opportunities

for making money for grafting for using political pull to get what you want those exist not only in New York City

under William M tweed but they exist throughout the United States and so I think it's a mistake to somehow think

that Tweed is from another planet and comes down and creates this this corrupt system no he's very much a product of

that system he just did it better more brilliantly until some ways than anybody else

critical reports in the New York Times and the caricatures eventually lead to tweed's downfall but even after that the

corrupt system lives on you better show up or else

I'm a man of my word it's about the truth isn't it always

the deal with Bill took longer than Gail had planned and he's really in a hurry as he is eager to greet his fiancee

Maria the port and doesn't want to be late put off emigrating to the U.S for a long

time and postponed her journey several times add like three of those please of course

for the missus yes for my fiance she's been waiting for days at the Port oh that's great New

York is the best city in the world and Little Germany here you go thank you have a nice day

you too thank you time and again Geo promises Maria that a bright future awaits them in America

many Germans have been successful and have become rich here men from Southwestern Germany have come

to fame as Brewers and adolfus Bush are the inventors of Budweiser beer

since the California Gold Rush every worker has been wearing jeans overalls by bavaria-born Levi Strauss Henry John

Hines is yet another inventor of German descent he's the father of the famous ketchup Heinrich steinweek a piano maker

from Central Germany founded Steinway and Sons the world's leading piano brand when we think about what makes New York

New York the docks the Industrial Development the saloon culture the astonishing growth of

population at the end of the 19th century none of this is possible without immigration from Europe and thousands of

those immigrants are Germans so Germans play an enormously important role in making New York New York in the 19th

century in particular Brooklyn Bridge which has almost being completed in 1882 was designed by a German engineer too

Johan Augustin all these success stories are encouraging more than a million Germans

to emigrate to New York in the 1880s [Music] their reports tell of the American dream

the documents are stored at the German Immigration Center in bremerhafen up until 1874 the majority of European

migrants embark on their Journey from Prima hafen based on thousands of letters historians

have reconstructed The Immigrant stories no matter how different their individual lives in the U.S might have been their

letters to their families back home often sound strikingly similar what they didn't talk about was their

actual struggles for example that they were at a disadvantage at work because they lacked skills and that they felt

alone particularly because they didn't speak the language so well

they hardly ever wrote about that they usually only send a letter once they had found work again and had good news to

share for those who stayed back home the letters written by loved ones are like

Windows into a new world while shipping companies publish travel reports and marketing material they are

not very accessible for the less affluent people living in rural regions [Music]

reports gushing about life in America influence the image Germans have of the US many of them embark on the journey

across the Atlantic oblivious to the fact that the new world also has its downsides

the passage is the first challenge and an even greater one on ships overcrowded with thousands of people

for someone who had never been on such a big journey and this applied to the vast majority of passengers this was really

quite exciting you saw the sea you saw ships this is something they had never experienced in that way and then there

were so many other people you had to look after your bags watch over your children you had to make sure everything

was taken aboard in some regards it could also be a slightly menacing experience they had no idea what to

expect in the 1880s going from bremerhafen to New York takes about 14 days a third class ticket costs nearly a

month's wages for a blue-collar worker it includes a narrow bed in a poorly ventilated large capacity cabin on the

steerage deck strenuous conditions that millions of people are willing to accept in the hope

of making a better life for themselves [Music] back in the 19th century America was a

very different place for Germans than it was in the 1950s this American Dream looked different it was not necessarily

the land of the free but the land of jobs and most importantly of opportunities but in fact hardly anyone

really knew what to expect yeah two-thirds of all immigrants arrive at

the Port of New York and have to register in Castle Garden the U.S immigrant registration Center is

located in a form of fort on the southern tip of Manhattan is the gate to the new world

[Music] it was a 40-minute walk for Georg from Little Germany to Castle Garden by the

time he gets there it's already 10 15. he should have arrived 15 minutes ago foreign

process can drag on the queues are long the passenger listens have to be verified

welcome to America every single day the U.S welcomes thousands of European immigrants next one

what's your name what's your name [Music]

welcome to America in 1882 the majority of immigrants come from Germany Ireland Austria or Great

Britain they go on to shape not just American culture but also the language many words like schnitzel pretzel

Gesundheit or Zeitgeist are actually German [Music]

next one Georges fiancee Maria is waiting in line to register too like all immigrants she

had to go into quarantine for two days it's the immigration Authority's way of reducing the risk of importing diseases

Maria is healthy she has cleared all obstacles standing between her and her new life

she doesn't need a passport to prove her identity [Music]

she has only brought a small bag with the most essential items her ticket only allows for one suitcase per person

of course not of luggage you take was limited so you had to decide what you were going to take very carefully

clothes were obviously extremely important most people only had one outfit in their suitcase in addition to

what they were wearing so they were fine for the time being the rest of the baggage included whatever they were

intending to do which job they wanted to work in shoemakers for example would bring their shoe making tools

there's a veritable skill shortage in 19th century America so well-trained Europeans are much in demand especially

in the construction sector they Supply the manpower to build the country and they receive decent salaries in return

it's a win-win situation in 1882 immigrants like Georg and Maria belonged to the last generation of

Europeans that can enter the U.S without any restrictions just Ten Years Later the registration Center is moved to

Ellis Island new arrivals have to undergo a medical exam and need to pass a language and education test as well if

they fail they're not allowed to set foot on the mainland America is shutting its borders on Ellis Island many dreams

of a new life in the land of unlimited opportunities are shattered okay

in Castle Garden things are still easier Americans are trying to help there are even job and Department offers but not

all of them are above board the place is brimming with thieves that are after the belongings or the small

Savings of the immigrants the Europeans are easy prey for Crooks and conmen there were many opportunities in that

sort of environment to take advantage of newly arrived immigrants who did not know what the rules were who did not

know what to expect in terms of fees so you had all sorts of of criminal Enterprises that were engaged in

extracting sort of fictitious fees for baggage transfers or groups of immigration agents that were taking

bribes from railroad companies in order to send immigrants to particular railroad companies for their trips

further Inland what is your name Maria Sports

hey stop right there where'd you put it where's the necklace the child thieves of Castle garden

they're notorious necklace [Music]

okay Maria from Germany so here you are

welcome to America welcome to America successfully registered Maria can now apply for U.S

citizenship what are you waiting for get out of here geoc and her laugh to get by on their

own though there are no welfare payments whatsoever [Music]

but Georg has made a detailed plan for their future and is full of optimism next stop marriage

[Music] been good but when Maria reaches for the gift in

her purse she finds something else evidently the boy secretly placed the stolen jewelry in Maria's purse

she's my family things aren't looking good for Maria

Georg has to prove the jewelry had been planted in the purse while the police are taking his fiancee

to the Detention Center nicknamed the tombs Georg has to rush to his child at the Tweed Courthouse both buildings are

on the Lower East Side foreign the defendant known as the general is

part of an Infamous New York Street gang that doesn't shy away from violence [Music]

Georges boss the German lawyer Heinrich Strom doesn't want to fall out with them this could mean trouble Lee

[Music] where to start with today's proceedings the defense only has one ace up its

sleeve geox eyewitness Bill Gathering evidence is a technique still in its infancy so proving someone's guilt or

innocence mainly depends on Witnesses who therefore play an important part they have to tell the truth in court

Schmidt do you swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes I swear

outside it was his belief in the fairness of the U.S justice system that inspired Georg

to become a lawyer but if New Yorkers taught him one thing it's that only those who can afford a good lawyer get

Justice and good lawyers are expensive the question of fairness of Justice was very much dependent upon who you were

what your social and economic status was no doubt there were there were many many thousands of people uh falsely accused

and falsely convicted as in many other parts of New York Life um if you had money to grease the wheels

it would help you enormously yeah oh man let me sum up the company for you

gilk learns a lot every time Strom Rises to speak in court Julius put on quite a show Facts are not

always at the center of their strategies they focus on striking a chord with a jury and appealing to their emotions why

on Earth would this honorable General over here have any reason to cause such a commotion for successful closing

arguments lawyers don't only have to know the law they also have to know rulings from other cases case law as

it's called and it's not the judge who decides but the jury who agrees on a verdict 12

citizens chosen at random without prior legal knowledge vote on Justice and Injustice

it's a groundbreaking rule in American jurisdiction and it's even enshrined in the U.S Constitution

[Music] downside of a jury arriving at a verdict can take a long time because no matter

what they decide their decision has to be unanimous members of the jury what is your verdict

not guilty court is adjourned the many sleepless nights have paid off

the closing arguments and the witness statement have resulted in a not guilty verdicted

Georg has won his case but he can only work on his own as a lawyer once he's passed the bar exam

can you tell me when the bail hearing from Maria Schwartz is scheduled bail hearings were a novelty in the U.S

back then if suspects pay a certain amount of money they are allowed to await trial and freedom

ain't happening today many immigrants to the United States would not have been familiar with the

bail system as it operated in the New York courts the bail system still today is quite controversial the idea that you

could pay money in order to be released from prison um while you are still being indicted is

something that would have been quite foreign to many immigrants to New York in this period ah there the Bell hearing

is tomorrow at 2 p.m headed by judge Sheffield the judge in charge is known for asking

for large bail sums there are no rules on how much the bail has to be the sum only has to be appropriate it's solely

up to the court to decide what that means boss are heading to Five Points the

neighborhood has the highest density of bars in all of Manhattan the prices are low prostitution is booming

the district is notorious for another reason Five Points is the biggest slum of the city

foreign immigrants have stranded here poverty violence alcohol and crime are rampant

in Five Points Danish photographer Jacob Reese has documented the situation in the poor

neighborhood with his camera people in Five Points live on the breadline there's no social welfare people say if

you're poor it's your own fault [Music] discussion and the general understanding

among wealthy New Yorkers people with influence and political power was that the best thing you could do about social

problems was practically nothing at all these were people who believed in Social Darwinism these kinds of ideas were

quite current uh in in their Social Circles and really many of the wealthy in New York knew that these conditions

existed but when they confront Jacob Reese's photographs it really shocks their conscience

foreign [Music] foreign

[Music] it was him who the officer almost took to jail this morning

Museum foreign the boy is one of many child thieves who

steal on behalf of the large New York gangs they take everything that can be sold again

The Gangs take in the countless neglected Street children my boss's mom

mandible of course the name rings a bell mother mandelbaum is the most famous female

gangster of New York she's one of the first women heads of organized crime the queen of Thieves as she was called

nowadays hardly anyone knows who she is Frederica mandelbaum is a genius of Disguise conducting her illegal business

from a secret back room in her house many of the Lower Manhattan Bars were used as meeting points too

when the German woman from Castle arrives in New York in 1850 she doesn't have a penny to her name

she arrives from Germany with nothing and she makes herself famous and wealthy and well known and she is able to sort

of build up an Empire from nothing which is some version of The American Dream mandelbaum works her way up in a matter

of a few years from a peddler to one of the biggest criminals of New York and to the first female

multi-millionaires in the country she's said to have moved stolen goods with a total value of 10 million dollars

never punished for her crimes the gang leader employed a huge Army of pickpockets burglars Crooks and safe

crackers that took the fall for her [Music] most worthy she sort of was at a Nexus

of the criminal underworld in New York City and they called her uh the mother of Thieves and the mother of crooks but

she also had a reputation for being for taking care of the people who worked for her so she had a reputation for looking

out for people if they needed to hide they could hide out in her shop if they need if they got arrested she would give

them bail if she if they had a family and they were in jail she'd try and take care of the family

[Music] mother mandelbaum is also known for her child thieves she trains most of them

herself in a party of the Upper East Side [Music]

not just a city of millionaires it's the city of millionaires in that period in in U.S history and part of what made it

so attractive was the opportunity to improve expand your business and maximize your fortune inequality in New

York at the end of the 19th century was quite frankly obscene the millionaires is City palaces are located right around

Fifth Avenue and Central Park on the Upper East Side the elite have accumulated their wealth

with coal railroads Properties or through the sugar trade an affluent community that usually likes to stick

with their kind but Frederica mandelbaum has made it into High Society she's an excellent networker

[Music] cable cars link the luxurious Upper East Side in the north with the poorer

neighborhoods in the south of the city Affair only costs a few cents affordable to almost everyone

[Music] gyok and mandelbaum's protege get on the cable car as well to save time the tram

takes them from the slums to the Upper East Side where the grand dumb of the underworld is attending a rich

industrialist's party [Music] by the time they arrive at 7 pm New

York's upper class is in the mood to celebrate Georg knows many of the faces all too well

everyone who's anyone is here among the crowd Georg discovers the head of the New York Buildings Department

conversing with a crook known all over town there were two other men that Georges

saw in court only a couple of hours ago the judge and the director of the jail youngest daughter Anna is there too

she's married to a top politician mandelbaum herself is deep in conversation with the head of NYPD geog

can hardly believe his eyes she actually develops a lot of influential relationships both with

police officers and also with wealthy people who are interested in getting uh perhaps a little something for less

money than it would cost them if they wanted to pay for it legitimately it's not enough to Simply say that New York

was a city of crime or a metropolis of crime in this period in part because everybody was engaged in it in different

ways [Music] Frederica mandelbaum is at the peak of

her power she's the queen of the underworld and has a vast network of contacts connecting her with the best

circles threatening to report the boy to the police for theft Bruce futile but Georg

doesn't have anything to offer only courage born of desperation guten tuck

with him my name is in New York

Mr Schmidt thing is history

is foreign foreign

[Music] [Music] [Music]

are pact with the devil Georg has learned his lesson New York is tough and even in America Justice and fairness

only really exists on paper [Music] mother mondelbaum was at least true to

her word the next morning Maria is free without a bail hearing two years later Georg passes his bar

exam and becomes a lawyer he passes summa laude he won't have to work for mother

mandelbaum though in 1884 she gets caught and flees to Canada when she is released on bail

K becomes a partner at transferm he can finally fulfill his dream of standing on his own two feet in New York

giork Schmidt's story is not a true story but it represents the lives of 5.5 million Germans who resettled in the U.S

in the 19th century they shaped their new home country in business society and politics

today there are 45 million Americans with German Roots more than from any other country in the world

[Music]