Mittelberger gave some prices for the cruise across the Atlantic Ocean. To have a measure of what a pound Sterling was worth, a carpenter's wages in Virginia was two and one-half shillings per day. There are twenty shillings in a pound Sterling. Thus, a charge of ten pounds for the Atlantic trip represents 80 days of wages for a carpenter, who could be considered a craftsman. To put these into perspective, 80 days today would be 16 weeks of work, which might represent a gross income of $16,000.
From Rotterdam to Philadelphia, anyone older than ten years had to pay ten pounds for the passage. Children between five and ten paid half fare, or five pounds. Children under five got free passage. For this they had their transportation across the ocean and board while they were at sea. But this was only the sea voyage.
The cost from home (in Germany) to Rotterdam was six to seven pounds no matter how economically one tries to live on the way. And this does not include the expense of any extraordinary contingencies. Mittelberger reports that some people spent thirty pounds from home to Philadelphia. When one puts the parts together, say for the parents and two children over five, one sees that the trip represents many months of wages for someone who is a skilled artisan. In short, the trip was expensive.
I have usually used the figure of six pounds for the trans-Atlantic crossing of our Germanna people, a figure somewhat less than Mittelberger is using. One of his purposes in writing his book that I have been quoting was to discourage Germans from emigrating. He believed they were better off to remain in Germany. He may have colored his facts to support his argument better. Also it should be noted, Mittelberger's story is based on a crossing in 1750, some thirty-odd years later than the earlier Germanna people. Prices may have suffered some inflation in that time.
I understand that ship captains still expected payment even if the passenger died in route. Some people, where several members of the family died, faced impossible financial burdens at the destinations.
For reference purposes, the book by Mittelberger is entitled " Journey to Pennsylvania ", which was translated and edited by Oscar Handlin and John Clive, and published by the Harvard University Press in 1960.
A longer version of Mittelberger's report will appear in the issue of Beyond Germanna which is due out March 1.
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.