Overseas migration from the Austrian Empire

Research project P 14733 Overseas migration from the Austrian Empire Josef EHMER 27.11.2000 The aim of the proposed project is to analyse in detail the process of migration from the Austrian Empire to the United States of America from the mid- I 9th century up until 1914. In doing so, the project will help fill the considerable gaps on a subject which - in contrast to other European countries - has long been neglected by Austrian historical research. In geographical terms, the study will focus on the provinces of Bohemia, Moravia, Upper Austria and Lower Austria (including Vienna). The first stage of the project will describe systematically the quantitative growth of overseas migration and discuss its importance in relation to other forms of migration (such as internal migration or short distance migration across international borders). After looking at the regional distribution of migrants` places of origin, we will examine migration to North America within its local context(s). In other words, migrant profiles will be compared with the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the stationary population in each of the respective provinces under investigation. The starting point for our research will be the analysis of a representative sample of passenger lists from 1906. The resulting database will comprise some 10,000- 15,000 people, whose entry into the United States was recorded at the main port of arrival, New York. The sources will also enable a detailed investigation of the phenomenon of `re- migration`, as well as of the family and other social networks linking migrants together. This is the first time that an Austrian research project has used material of this kind and we thus hope to arrive at significantly new conclusions. The analysis of the passenger lists will then be complemented by a close examination of the published statistics on emigration from the Austrian Empire and other forms of migration. The project`s second stage will aim to formulate an explanation for the growth of migration to North America, its changing rhythms over time and its quantitative significance in different parts of the Empire. Our approach conceives of migration to America as part of a much larger set of interrelated, multifarious migrational activities. Migration to America will therefore be viewed within the context of migration processes as a whole, as well as the social structures of the target and departure areas. This will enable us to establish the connections between the increase in overseas migration towards the end of the 19th century and other forms of spatial mobility. In doing so, the project will gain new insights into the motivation(s) behind by migrant activity. Finally, where previous work has tended to treat emigration and immigration as isolated phenomena, our research will treat the two as being closely related to one another, not least for the fact that emigration and immigration occurred simultaneously in the same regions. This approach will leave us with a much more complex and sophisticated picture of overseas emigration in particular and of migration and of migration processes in general.

The aim of the research project was a detailed analysis of both migration from the Austrian part of the Habsburg Empire to the United States of America and internal migration within the monarchy from the mid-19th century up until 1914. The relations between overseas and internal migration received particular attention. The relations between overseas and internal migration received particular attention. The main sources for analysis were representative samples of passenger lists of ships transporting migrants from the harbours of Hamburg and Bremen to New York, and the published results of the Austrian censuses 1880 to 1910. Results on overseas migration from the Austrian Empire indicate significant changes during the period under observation. Whereas people from the Czech lands were the first among Habsburg citizens to migrate to the U.S.A. in relatively high numbers, during the last two decades of the Austrian Empire overseas migration was dominated by migrants from Galicia. Transatlantic migrants from the Czech Lands differed considerably from those from Galicia. Overseas migration from Bohemia partly followed a family migration pattern. Among unmarried people, too, a high percentage was female. Galician migrants to the USA were mainly single men at an age between 15 and 49. Nearly a quarter of overseas migrants from Bohemia were trained artisans, whereas Galician migrants were dominated by servants and labourers and labourers working in agriculture. Many of them crossed the Atlantic several times. Many of them crossed several times the Atlantic. Following recent international discussions in migration history, migration to America was viewed as an integral part of spatial mobility in general. Emigration, immigration and internal migration were closely related to one another, not least in that emigration and immigration occurred simultaneously in the same regions. Transatlantic migration was important especially in regions with a low density of internal migration. Internal migration within the Austrian Empire during the industrial period was much more complex than common assumptions of predominantly rural-urban movements suggested. Districts with high rates of in-migration usually also had comparatively high rates of Urban-rural migrations and overall out-migration from the cities seem to have been a regular part of mobility during industrial time.