Hamburg: Of snow and immigration

The highlight of my academic pilgrimage to Hamburg shifted last week to the weather and a new street.

It snowed on two days. I led the snow celebration, taking a break from a serious discussion on sustainability and climatic change to walk and “feel the snow” to the amusement of our hosts. One Kenyan in our company was seeing snow for the first time. I thought snow fell like hailstones but it falls more like leaves, softly.

I saw snowfall for the first time near Atlanta, Georgia many years ago. I did not know what it was until I asked an American sitting next to meon a Greyhound bus. With my accent, he did not laugh at me.

The trees in Hamburg are now almost naked except a few exotic ones that do not shed leaves. Check the behaviour of exotic trees in Kenya compared to indigenous trees as the weather changes.

The snowy weather, hitting zero meant putting on several layers of clothes. The natives, know the winter clothes and have fewer layers. We brought tropical attire to Hamburg, making us look bigger than we are. 

One Kenyan lady appeared too prepared for the winter. What is the secret, I asked her. “I visited Gikomba.” For once being sophisticated proved a liability! Her identity will not be disclosed for security reasons.

I wish more East Africans would visit temperate regions in winter. There is something exotic and almost romantic about the wintery weather.

Such a visit makes me homesick. I grew up in the white highlands, 2,700 meters above sea level. Believe me, wintery weather was common. Zero-degree temperature was common, with frost killing maize and other crops. It is no wonder walking around Hamburg in winter felt more like walking to my primary school decades ago.

I asked a mzungu who once lived in my village what attracted her family there. The answer was surprising: “The weather is much like England”.  Not so surprising; English weather is moderated by the sea, making it closer to my village. We should add, the cold weather ensured mosquitoes and other vermin such as cockroaches and bedbugs could not thrive.

The weather in my village attracted South Africans (Boers) too. Visit Cape Province and my village, and the similarities will surprise you. A grave of one Anna Maria Cornelia Crous (1886-1940) in my village is a lasting connection to South Africa. Where are her relatives?  

Climate change

Lack of moderating effect of the sea or ocean and nearness to the Alps leads to more snow in southern Germany. Hamburgers (not that one!), told me it snows less nowadays compared to their childhood. Global warming or climate change are real. In my village, frost is now rare and crops that never used to grow such as beans are now thriving.

A wintery weather turned me into a pseudo-medic. You never suffer from a cold in winter. Cold is not about cold, it’s more about dust, pollen and pollution. In Hamburg there is no  layer of smog like the one covering Nairobi in the morning and turning into a haze in the afternoon. Noted the weather forecast nowadays includes quality of air? Check Nairobi vs other major cities.

My new hotel was Motel One at Alter, physical address, Steindamm 102. It’s next to a train station (underground). Transport networks make developed countries stand out. When will Nairobi get its underground train stations? If there is too much water, we can build sky trains like in Vancouver, Canada.

To reduce pollution and enhance transport, Nairobi must shift from matatus. BRT was a step in the right direction. Think of the jobs that would be created in building Nairobi subways. The subway in Hamburg is electric, diesel engines underground would be a disaster. If we can import the US political system with governors and cabinet secretaries, why not their public transport system?

My ‘new home’ brought me come face to face with another facet of Germany - diversity. It’s not clear to me why the street has so many immigrants espoused by restaurants. Indian, Yemen, Turkish, Vietnamese, Thai, Afghan among others. More evidence of immigrants; fruits and vegetables on ‘vibandas’ and lots of ‘kinyozis’.

Before I forget, I felt almost guilty for not walking a dog. Everyone seems to own one and a number were dressed for winter! A number of guests brought their pets to the hotel, paying 15 euros per night per dog.

In the last few years, immigration has become a political hot potato in Europe leading to the rise of far right parties such as Alternative für Deutschland, Afd in Germany and Freedom party in Austria.  A number of other European countries have immigration as a top political issue. America is not alone.

Threat to identity

Immigrants are seen as a threat to national identity, and lower wages while straining the public welfare system. Yet, the low birth rates in Western Europe means there is high demand for labour with immigrants filling the void. Germany has about 13.9 million foreign-born residents, according to Statistisches Bundesamt (2024). A walk along Steindamm Street leaves no doubt that Germany is changing. A visit to malls at Bilstedt or Hamburg Miele provides farther evidence that Germany is becoming a melting pot.

What of Kenya? Did I hear that immigrants from neighbouring countries are all over hawking and working at kinyozis, car washes and even mijengo in Nairobi and its outskirts? That is something to celebrate, our neighbours have something to pick from Kenya and see us more positively, economically speaking. If Kenyans don’t want to work on such jobs, where do they work?

It seems the racial mix in most countries, just like the weather, keeps changing. While that might have political consequences, geneticists could suggest it’s good in the long run.

Could immigrants in Kenya supplement intermarriage in diluting tribalism and usher in a more diverse and progressive society? We have immigrated throughout human history, why is it becoming an issue today?

My sojourn in Hamburg is over, I await the next one in a more southerly and warmer place. I hope to find out who Anna Maria Crous was.

Stay tuned.