The German North Sea Ports' Absorption Into Imperial Germany, 1866–1914

From Unification to Integration: The German North Sea Ports' absorption into Imperial Germany, 1866–1914 Henning Kuhlmann Submitted for the award of Master of Philosophy in History Cardiff University 2016 Summary This thesis concentrates on the economic integration of three principal German North Sea ports – Emden, Bremen and Hamburg – into the Bismarckian nation- state. Prior to the outbreak of the First World War, Emden, Hamburg and Bremen handled a major share of the German Empire’s total overseas trade. However, at the time of the foundation of the Kaiserreich, the cities’ roles within the Empire and the new German nation-state were not yet fully defined. Initially, Hamburg and Bremen insisted upon their traditional role as independent city-states and remained outside the Empire’s customs union. Emden, meanwhile, had welcomed outright annexation by Prussia in 1866. After centuries of economic stagnation, the city had great difficulties competing with Hamburg and Bremen and was hoping for Prussian support. This thesis examines how it was possible to integrate these port cities on an economic and on an underlying level of civic mentalities and local identities. Existing studies have often overlooked the importance that Bismarck attributed to the cultural or indeed the ideological re-alignment of Hamburg and Bremen. Therefore, this study will look at the way the people of Hamburg and Bremen traditionally defined their (liberal) identity and the way this changed during the 1870s and 1880s. It will also investigate the role of the acquisition of colonies during the process of Hamburg and Bremen’s accession. In Hamburg in particular, the agreement to join the customs union had a significant impact on the merchants’ stance on colonialism. With regard to Emden, focus will be laid on its economic integration, which largely revolved around Prussia proper rather than the (Prussian-led) German Empire. While Emden got off to a slow start after 1866 and was never really able to compete successfully with Hamburg or Bremen, it did achieve genuine progress under Prussian rule. i ii Acknowledgements First of all, I would like to thank the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Without its generous support, this thesis would not have been possible. I am more than thankful for having being granted the opportunity to undertake this project. I would also like to thank the staff at Cardiff University, who enabled me to proceed to this stage of my academic journey. In particular, I am indebted to my primary advisor, Dr Gerwin Strobl. From the beginning of my time at Cardiff University, his teaching on modern German history has sparked my interest for further research. Throughout the whole period of my studies at Cardiff University, I was always sure of his support and guidance. I would not have been able to make it thus far, without his assistance. As well as Dr. Strobl, I am grateful for the support I have received from my secondary advisor, Professor Scott Newton. I am also extremely thankful for the support and advice I have received from Dr. James Boyd. Whenever I was in need of any help, I could always count on him. In Bremen, I would like to thank Holger Bischoff from the Archiv der Handelskammer Bremen and the members of staff at the Staatsarchiv Bremen. The support I was lucky enough to receive in these archives was incredibly helpful to my research. I am particularly indebted to Holger Bischoff for yet again going out of his way to supply me with all relevant sources. Thanks to the extremely patient and friendly staff at the Stadtarchiv Emden, who even worked extra hours so that I could make the most of my trips to the archives. In addition to this, all members of staff did everything they could to provide me with important information and sources as soon as possible. In Hamburg’s Archiv der Handelskammer and the Hanseatisches Wirtschaftsarchiv, Kathrin Enzel and Martina Nützmann gave me plenty of support in finding relevant sources and pointing me in the right direction. The same of course also applies to staff at the Staatsarchiv Hamburg. Last but not least, I have to thank all my friends from Cardiff University for solving any problems I had when it came to putting my thoughts into English. Thank you also for all the intellectually challenging but also entertaining discussions, which even furthered my interest in the subject of history. Apart from this, I am also deeply grateful for the endless amount of help and motivation from my family and friends in Germany. Their support was always extremely reassuring. Most important of all, I would like to thank Svenja for all the patience, understanding, care and moral support. Danke. iii iv CONTENTS Summary i Acknowledgements iii List of Figures vii I. Introduction 1 a. Topic of Research 1 b. Historiography 3 c. The Cities examined 16 d. Methodology and Aims 32 e. Sources 46 II. Bremen 49 a. Bremen versus Germany 49 b. Bremen, the Empire and the Gründerkrise 57 c. The Case of Theodor Barth 70 d. Economic Integration – The Zollanschluss 78 e. Bremen and Germany’s colonial adventure 110 f. Bremen’s memory of Bismarck – the Bismarck monument 119 g. Bremen’s trading partners 122 h. Bremen’s role in the German Empire 126 III. Emden 129 a. Emden’s return to Prussian rule 129 b. The state of Emden’s port prior to 1875 137 c. Emden, quo vadis? 147 d. The Dortmund-Ems-Kanal – Emden finding its place? 156 e. Further canal projects – a danger to Emden 166 f. Emden’s problems of getting connected 171 g. Emden and the emigration business 179 h. The development of Emden’s trade 187 v IV. Hamburg 191 a. Hamburg and the German nation 191 b. Hamburg and the Zollverein 194 c. Hamburg’s accession 201 d. The Speicherstadt 217 e. Hamburg and the Colonies 232 V. Conclusion 241 Bibliography 247 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1: Trade in 1909 36 Figure 1.2: Comparison between Bremen and Bremerhaven 38 Figure 1.3: Comparison between Hamburg and Cuxhaven 40 Figure 1.4: Port Traffic, 1873-1913 43 Figure 2.1: Bremen’s trade, 1869–1874 63 Figure 2.2: Bremen’s trading partners 64 Figure 2.3: Bremen’s trade, 1874-1876 67 Figure 2.4: Bremen’s trading partners 123 Figure 2.5: Share of Bremen’s trading partners 124 Figure 2.6: Total Value of Imports in Marks (on average per year) 125 Figure 2.7: Total Value of Exports in Marks (on average per year) 125 Figure 3.1: Emden’s trade before the German Empire 137 Figure 3.2: Emden against Hamburg and Bremen 184 Figure 3.3: Emden’s Maritime Traffic 187 vii viii I. Introduction a. Topic of Research This thesis will examine the economic and cultural developments in Germany’s four principal North Sea ports, from the foundation of the German Empire in 1871 until the outbreak of the First World War. The four port cities investigated are the Freie und Hansestädte of Bremen and Hamburg, ancient self-governing entities with a centuries-old tradition of trading and seafaring, and the towns of Wilhelmshaven and Emden, which during the period examined here constituted the main Prussian access to the North Sea. Taken together, the four cities present a wide variety of demographic, historical and economic structures. At the same time, they are all port cities, which means that they were part of a transnational system of trade. Such a transnational system of trade, and the resulting network of people, encourages an international, potentially even global, perspective and cosmopolitan tastes among citizenry.1 In the German context, such an outlook had to come to terms with a changing domestic scene, as a result of the foundation of the Prussian-led German nation-state. Therefore, after 1871, there were two potentially conflicting identities in these port cities. One of them was a pre-existing local identity, shaped over time by cosmopolitan thought and long-standing international relations. The other was a sense of allegiance to Germany, which no doubt pre-dated the Franco-Prussian War and the Reichsgründung a year later, but could hardly fail to be affected by these events. After all, Germany had turned from a largely abstract term to a political reality, and from a loose confederation substantially influenced by non-German powers to the pre-eminent power in Continental Europe. Comparing the four different German North Sea port cities should thus lead to a clearer sense of local factors and comparable developments of each city’s particularities and of the overall similarities. The chosen time frame 1 See particularly Gavin Kendall, Ian Woodward and Zlatko Skrbis, The Sociology of Cosmopolitanism: Globalization, Identity, Culture and Government (Basingstoke, 2009), p. 154; see also Zlatko Skrbis, Ian Woodward, Cosmopolitanism: Uses of the Idea (London, 2013), p. 57 1 will allow an examination of how all that played out, from the foundation of Imperial Germany to the sharp curtailment of international trade brought about by the First World War and Britain’s blockade of the German coasts. Since international trade is directly linked to domestic and international politics, the thesis will explore how the mercantile community of each of the cities was able to exploit the new political situation after 1871, or, on occasion, found themselves hindered by it. This thesis does not simply wish to be an exercise in maritime history, or an account of evolving trading patterns between 1871 and 1914. Rather, the centre of attention will focus on the interplay between the new German Empire with its Berlin-based institutions (the Kaiser, the Reich Chancellor, the Reichstag, the Bundesrat – the Upper House of the imperial parliament – the imperial civil service etc.) on the one hand and the four trading cities and their existing civic, state and commercial institutions on the other.

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