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© Victoriano Moreno

Highlights

Stories occupy a central place in the Red Star Line Museum. These include the stories of Red Star Line passengers who travelled to America in search of happiness and a better existence. When all those individual stories are brought together they form the story of the Red Star Line.

Historical migration stories

Stories are immaterial heritage, and in that sense the Red Star Line Museum manages an atypical collection. We collect and manage written documents and audiovisual testimonies that document and tell the story of the Red Star Line. We are still looking for testimonies that help us reconstruct the history of the Red Star Line.

Contemporary migration stories

In addition to historic testimonies about the Red Star Line, the museum also collects contemporary stories about migration. After all, the story of the Red Star Line is only one story in a long history of migration.

To make these stories visible and tangible, the museum uses items from the collections of other municipal museums and from the rich collection of Robert Vervoort, placed with the non-profit organisation Friends of the Red Star Line. These collections mainly consist of memorabilia and souvenirs from the shipping company.

The posters, folders and postcards that attest to the shipping company’s ambitious marketing campaigns are a very special part of these collections. 

Artists

Several Antwerp artists are also highlighted in the museum. The coming and going of emigrants was a source of artistic inspiration for many artists. The atmosphere of the port and the hordes of emigrants that filled Antwerp’s streets have been immortalised by a lot of artists in drawings, paintings, poetry and prose.

Modelship Belgenland II

A model in cross section of the legendary Belgenland II. It gives a good impression of how life on board must have been in 'Upstairs, Downstairs' terms.

Ezra Commemorative Memorial Book

A commemorative memorial book from 1936 that belonged to Henri Schulsinger, the co-founder of the Jewish aid organisation Ezra, is displayed in the museum.

Eugeen Van Mieghem

Eugeen Van Mieghem is an Antwerp realist artist. He grows up in his parents’ café, right across the entrance of the Red Star Line sheds in the Montevideostraat.

Belgian emigrants

In 1890, Louis van Engelen painted 'Belgian emigrants'. The painting is exhibited in the museum.

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