The Port City as Borderland: Hamburg Authorities and Their Interactions with People of Non-European Descent, 1770–1840

Key Points

• The research aims to explore the interactions between non-European individuals and Hamburg authorities during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
• Analyzed historical records of interactions between authorities and non-European individuals.
• Examined mobility patterns of free and enslaved domestic laborers and sailors.
• Investigated the role of maritime borders in regulating non-European presence.
• Hamburg emerged as a significant oceanic borderland facilitating movement.
• Authorities actively used maritime borders to control and limit the presence of non-Europeans.
• Instances of deportation of individuals deemed dangerous or burdensome were noted.

Abstract