Route of the Willmann Family — From Bremen, Germany to Baltimore, Maryland (1833)

“My name is Johann Stephan Willmann. In the year 1833, at the age of 52, I set sail for the New World with my wife, Anna Margaretha — born Mahr — and our three sons: Johann Michael, Johann Nicolas, and Johann Peter. We left behind our homeland near Darmstadt with heavy hearts but clear resolve. Our journey took us through Münster, then Bremen, where we boarded a ship bound for Baltimore. After weeks at sea, we arrived on the 30th of September, 1833.

I carried with me a passport and a worn Lutheran Bible. They were our proof of identity, our permission to begin again, and our foundation of faith. We were farmers and craftsmen, people of the land. But more than that, we were believers — in Providence, in possibility, and in the future our children might find in America.

This site honors that journey. Though we traveled nearly two centuries ago, our story lives on — and may echo your own. If your family crossed the ocean in similar times, or if you know of others whose path mirrored ours, I ask you: share your story. Together, we can illuminate the trail that brought us here.”