Fuhrmann Family

“It was 1960 when we first boarded a ship from Bremerhaven, Germany to New York City. We left on the first of November and arrived on the eleventh of November. We had with us only a few suit cases, a couple handbags, and a trunk full of our belongings.” Siegfried Fuhrmann, my grandfather aka Opa.

It was a train that took them from Frankfurt to Bremerhaven. This was the first big step towards their new lives. To this day at the port in Bremerhaven, there on a wall you can see a plaque with their names, Siegfried and Erika Fuhrmann, amongst a list of others who immigrated from Bremerhaven, Germany to America.

Before arriving in America the ship had one stop in Southampton, England to pick up more passengers, then they were on their way.

I can only imagine the thoughts, questions, excitement, and all the unknown, from the passengers that were on this ship.

When my grandfather was telling me this story, I assumed this was a cargo ship they came over on, but boy was I wrong. I later learned this ship was a cruise ship! It had dancing (tanzing = German for dancing), entertainment, swimming pools, and so many other fun things to do.

My grandmother apparently got sea sick for the first few days so my grandfather would start the mornings by going to get her medicine from the vending machine, then after the first few days apparently she grew her sea legs and was fine.

English to German Translation:
Grandmother = Oma
Grandfather = Opa

Upon their arrived to America, they took a Greyhound bus to Salt Lake, Utah, where my grandmothers brother was living and working. Their bus ride took them five days, from the 11th to the 16th of November to arrive in Utah. My grandfather started working immediately on the 22nd of November. Welder by day then in the evenings he worked part time cleaning and repairing apartments. My grandparents spent their first American Thanksgiving with his boss, who they said was a very generous man.

My grandfather got drafted into the Army and spent two months at basic training in California, then was stationed in El Paso, Texas for 22 months. Then came along my father, Frank, their first child to be born in the United Stated.

My grandparents moved from Texas back to Salt Lake City, Utah, where they had two other boys, three total. Eventually the Fuhrmann family moved to Washington where my father grew up and eventually met my mother.

This is where my story eventually begins.

Fast forward 23+ years that included several life events including the marriage to my other, the birth of a daughter, Me, and life, as a family we had the privilege of visiting Germany to meet family from both my grandmother and grandfathers sides.

My father went to Germany as a small child, but neither my mother nor myself had ever been, so we were super stoked! My parents flew out of of Seattle, Washington and I flew out of Minneapolis, Minnesota, we then met in Frankfurt, Germany 12 hours later.

My flight over the pond was my first overnight flight. I have always had issues sleeping on planes and knew I would not be able to sleep on the plane. Not going to lie I looked at getting an ‘ostrich’ pillow from Amazon, but decided against it (if you have never seem one, I highly recommend looking them up).

As we were preparing for our arrival, I was looking out my window eager to get off the plane, I was slightly nervous. Okay, more excited than nervous. I arrived 5 hours before my parents and there was no way I was going to wait at the airport for them. It was a little past 9 am as I eagerly walked out the airport, confidently giving the taxi driver the address to my aunt and uncles ‘flat’ and I was on my way!

I met my dad’s aunt and uncle for the first time, alone. This was slightly intimidating, so many thoughts ran through my head including, do they speak English?

The answer: Not really….

I took German in high school and my grandparents would speak German to each other, so I thought I would be okay. Turns out… my German was not as good as I thought. I attempted to speak German, but when they looked at me more confused than ever, I resorted to speaking English. There was a language barrier for a majority of the time but a great learning experience. I learned that smiling and nodding was appropriate most of the times.

During our 3 weeks we explored Frankfurt, Berlin and Neubrandenburg, met family from both my grandmother’s and grandfather’s side and drank more wine than water. I always had a desire to traveling, but I feel like this trip only fueled my hunger for more.

The Food Piece of Germany:

I LOVE food.. all of it. I love different cultures of food, different cooking techniques, wine parings, versatility, and the list goes on.

The first few nights in Germany, I was completely exhausted from excitement and all the wonderful things I had seen and ate, but for some reason I just could not seem to fall asleep. You know those times when you are physically exhausted but your brain just will not let you go to sleep?

Yes, I was exhausted from excitement but I also realized I had been drinking very strong coffee in the mid afternoon. Coffee = Caffeine. It was the coffee that had been keeping me awake. It is fun to live the traditions of other cultures and you don’t want to decline something that is offered as a treat, so I sucked it up and drank afternoon coffee.

In addition to our afternoon coffee and pastry endeavors, I learned the German culture prefers heavier meals at noon and cured meats with breakfast.

Real Life Story: when I first arrived at my aunt (Lily) and uncle’s (Wolfgang) flat they offered me food, I said yes because I did not want to be rude. On a wooden board out came a few slices of dark bread resembling rye, jam, butter, cured meats and cheese. I was slightly unsure what to do with all these components, so I made myself a sandwich, Lily and Wolfgang watched me in bewilderment. Wolfgang had muttered “interesting” under his breath. I ignored his statement, because honestly I was unsure what he meant, or what I was to do with all those ingredients.