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Red Star Line Museum
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© Flickr Andrew Hardy

Red Star Line Museum

Two million passengers made the crossing from Antwerp to North America aboard the steamships of the Red Star Line. Their story, that of the shipping company that transported them and that of the city and the port from which they departed, are central to the Red Star Line Museum’s main exhibition. The museum poses the question of what this history means today. Migration and human mobility are issues that have been relevant throughout history: millions of people all over the world have left (and are leaving) behind what is familiar in order to look elsewhere for a new future.

In the Red Star Line Museum you follow the path of the emigrants. From their departure from their country of origin, through their long journey and their temporary stay in Antwerp, to the crossing and their arrival in their new homeland of America or Canada.

The Red Star Line Museum in a nutshell
The Red Star Line Museum invites you on an eventful journey following in the footsteps of the emigrants. Become acquainted with the passengers and accompany them on the trip from their native village to Antwerp. The ocean steamers of the Red Star Line are docked on the quay ready to depart for the New World. Exciting and personal stories accompany you across the ocean. On the other side of the ocean you say goodbye to your fellow passengers.

With their whole life packed in a few suitcases, millions of people sailed from Europe to America after 1800. The United States and Canada were the promised land for fortune seekers and everyone looking for a better life. For many people, the trip to the New World began in a warehouse in Antwerp. Red Star Line ocean steamers paved the way to a new life for about two million men, women and children between 1873 and 1934.

High expectations and deep disappointments
The historic sheds that belonged to the legendary shipping company with the red star in its flag currently house the Red Star Line Museum. The museum tells the story of the millions of Europeans who were courageous enough or desperate enough to leave their old life behind and look for a better existence. Via an emotional rollercoaster of high expectations and deep disappointments, racing adrenaline and sleepless nights, the dream becomes a reality for some of them. The former harbour sheds that belonged to the Red Star Line are the perfect place to make the stories of countless passengers palpable and visible. Their dreams and complaints are brought to life in this inspiring environment.

A visit to the Red Star Line Museum involves both a journey to the past and an encounter with the present. Migration might have a different face these days, but the human side of migration is timeless and universal.

3 reasons why this is worth your visit

  • The Red Star Line Museum takes you on an eventful journey, including gripping human stories from the past to the present. The museum leaves no one untouched.
  • The building itself is the biggest masterpiece: you will experience it all in the authentic historical place where the emigrants themselves started their journey. You will hear a unique story and learn about the history of Antwerp.
  • The Red Star Line Museum has a cosy museum café where you can get something to eat and drink, but it is also located on ‘t Eilandje, one of the most bustling districts in the city.
Montevideostraat 3, 2000 Antwerpen
Contact details for visitors
http://www.redstarline.be
Montevideostraat 3
2000 Antwerpen
Opening hours
Monday (except on Easter Monday and Whit Monday): closed
Tuesday - Sunday: 10:00-17:00
The museum is also closed on the following holidays: 1 January, 1 May, Ascension Day, 1 November and 25 December

The starting point for this new museum was in the year 2000. At that time, the city of Antwerp approved the list of buildings on the Eilandje that qualified as monuments. Since then, many partners have joined in for the (boat) ride.

In 2004, Antwerp city council decided to make the historic buildings of the Red Star Line shipping company a memorial place, which would be open to the public. One year later, the city bought three former Red Star Line warehouses from the Port of Antwerp. The American architect’s office Beyer Blinder Belle Architects and Planners was commissioned to restore the buildings and furnish them as a museum. At the time, two of the three warehouses were recognised as a monument by the Flemish community. Only a few years later, the corner building, the oldest of the three buildings, was also recognised. The actual restoration ran from 2010 to 2013. Immediately after the completion of the building, the museum’s interior design began.

In 2007, a scientific committee decided on the content for the future museum. In the concept note Red Star Line | People on the Move, the committee linked the local and historical story – of the buildings and of the shipping company Red Star Line – with the universal theme of human mobility. On the basis of this concept, a team was put together to coordinate and prepare the new museum.

The Red Star Line Museum received its first visitors on 28 September 2013.