Abstract Toward the end of the eighteenth and in the early nineteenth centuries, Hamburg saw an influx of people of non-European descent, among them free and enslaved domestic labourers and sailors from the Americas, Asia, and Africa. Most stayed in the region only for a limited time. This article traces the patterns of their mobility and interactions with local authorities, arguing that Hamburg functioned as a kind of oceanic borderland: the city’s proximity to the sea facilitated mobility, but authorities also used maritime borders to control and restrict mobility, transporting those deemed dangerous or burdensome.
Annika Bärwald (2026) studied this question.