2025/12/18 by Tobias Perschl, Pauline Schmidt, Sebastian Gassner +1 · 1 voice
paper · doi:10.5281/zenodo.17977460
openalex publication_date 2025/12/18 · openalex created_date 2025/12/21 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/01
Documentation This dataset provides structured, enriched, and normalised historical passenger list data from the German North Sea port of Bremen. It comprises 735,545 individual records spanning the years 1830 to 1939. The dataset is derived from the transcription efforts of the Bremen Society for Family Research (MAUS) and the Bremen Chamber of Commerce [1]. This version has been post-processed to enhance its analytical value for historical migration research, social history, and demography. Key enhancements Normalization: Standardised versions of primary dataset values. Cleaning: Correction of orthographic variants and structural inconsistencies. Enrichment: Georeferencing (Lat/Lon) for ports of departure and arrival. Classification: Occupations mapped to HISCO codes, KldB2010 sectors, and training levels. Technical Specifications Filename: CHUPPassengerlists.csv File Format: CSV (Delimiter: "@") File Size: ≈ 259.6 MB Encoding: UTF-8 Dimensions: 735,545 Rows × 62 Columns Language: Mostly German Methodology The processing workflow utilised string matching algorithms, regular expressions, and manualverification: Extraction: Unique values were extracted from the primary MAUS dataset. Normalization: Orthographic errors and variants were consolidated (e.g., 145 travel classvariants reduced to 16 standardised classes). Enrichment: Geography: Ports were geocoded using the OpenStreetMap Nominatim API. Occupations: Most frequent job titles were manually classified into sectors and training levels [2] and mapped to HISCO codes [3] where possible. Data Dictionary The dataset includes both the original transcription fields (derived from the primary MAUS database) and processed fields (indicated by the suffix cleaned). A. Metadata Column Name Data Type Description id Integer Unique identifier for the data entry. archiveid String Archival identifier linking to the physical list. notes String Remarks or notes on duplicate passengers. sortda String Sorting helper column for dates. pfd String Holds dates of departure for certain voyages. B. Passenger Data Column Name Data Type Description lastname String Last name of passenger. firstname String First name of passenger. gender String Gender (Original). gendercleaned String Gender (Standardised: Male 53.6%, Female 46.4%). age String Age of Passenger (Original). agecleaned Integer Transformed birth dates to age in years (Mean age: 31.1). maritalstatus String Marital status of passenger (Original). maritalstatuscleaned String Marital status (Standardised). nationality String Citizenship (Original). nationalitycleaned String Citizenship (Standardised). previousresidence String City/Town of previous residence (Original). stateorprovince String Region of previous residence (Original). stateorprovincecleaned String Region of previous residence (Standardised). occupation String Occupational title (Original). occupationcleaned String Occupational title (Standardised). occupationhisconr Float HISCO classification code. occupationsector Integer KldB2010 Sector (0–9) classification. occupationtraininglevel Integer KldB2010 Training Level (1–4) classification. religion String Religion of passenger (Original). religioncleaned String Religion of passenger (Standardised). ethnicity String Ethnicity of passenger (Original). ethnicitycleaned String Ethnicity of passenger (Standardised). nr String Passenger number on the list. emigrant String Passenger emigrant status. amountofmoney String Cash carried by passenger. literacy String Literacy status of passenger. relative String Relatives of passenger. ticket String Ticket details. whopaid String Payer information. previousUSstay String Details on previous US residency. durationofstay String Intended duration of stay (Original). durationofstaycleaned String Intended duration of stay (Standardized). placeofstay String Place of residence. referenceperson String Contact person. C. Voyage Data Column Name Data Type Description dateofdeparture String Departure date (Original). dateofdeparturecleaned String Standardised departure date (ISO-8601: YYYY-MM-DD). ship String Name of ship (Original). shipcleaned String Name of ship (Standardised). agent String Shipping company (Original). agentcleaned String Shipping company (Standardised). travelclass String Travel class (Original). travelclasscleaned String Travel class (S captain String Captain of ship. portofdeparture String Port of departure (Original). portofdeparturecleaned String Port of departure (Standardised). portofdeparturecountry String Country of port of departure. portofdepartureLAT/LON Float Geocoordinates (WGS84) of departure port city. portofarrival String Arrival port (Original). portofarrivalcleaned String Arrival port (Standardised). portofarrivalcountry String Country of arrival port. portofarrivalLAT/LON Float Geocoordinates (WGS84) of arrival port city. portofarrivalUSstate String US-state of arrival port. emigrationdestination String General destination stated by passenger. USstate String State of destination in the US (Original). USstatecleaned String State of destination in the US (Standardised). Limitations Missing Years: Passenger lists from 1875 to 1907 were destroyed due to historical storagepolicies and are not included in this dataset. In total, the dataset holds just a few entriesfrom the 19th century. Interwar Gaps: Records for the years 1924 and 1929 are notably incomplete due toarchival loss during WWII. Data Sparsity: While core fields are nearly 100% complete, socio-economic variables likeethnicity, religion, or amountofmoney have higher rates of missing data. Unprocessed Data: Some columns were not standardised, either because their cleaningwould not have enhanced the analytical value of the column, or because the amount ofunique values would have made an attempt of normalising unfeasible.