Bremen was the main port of departure for German emigrants bound for America.  However, some emigrants did not depart directly from their homeland, but would first take a small steamer, known as a "feeder ship" to a British port where they would embark on a transatlantic steamship to America.  Those who left Prussia directly for America usually traveled by boat, and later by railway, to Bremen to begin their journey to their new homes.  Ships leaving Bremen travelled north up the Weser River to the North Sea and on to America, sometimes stopping in Southampton, England.  Most Germans emigrants travelled as steerage passengers.

In America, major ports of entry included New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and New Orleans.  Baltimore was designated as the port of entry for the North German Lloyd Line, whose first ship, the Baltimore, arrived in 1868.  Baltimore was second only to New York as the greatest port of entry for immigrants, but The North German Lloyd Line, established in 1857,  brought more German immigrants through Baltimore than any other port.  On their return trips to Germany, the ships transported tobacco and other cargo from Baltimore.