Arrival declaration forms. A new gateway for mapping migration to Luxembourg

Since the late 19th century, foreigners moving to Luxembourg have been required to declare their residency at the local municipality upon arrival. New digital technologies have made it possible to analyze the wealth of information contained in arrival declaration forms. This article offers a first d...

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Main Authors: Machteld Venken, Arnaud Sauer
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-11-01
Series:Frontiers in Human Dynamics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fhumd.2022.931758/full
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author Machteld Venken
Arnaud Sauer
author_facet Machteld Venken
Arnaud Sauer
author_sort Machteld Venken
collection DOAJ
description Since the late 19th century, foreigners moving to Luxembourg have been required to declare their residency at the local municipality upon arrival. New digital technologies have made it possible to analyze the wealth of information contained in arrival declaration forms. This article offers a first digital analysis of a selection of these sources for the municipalities of Dudelange and Differdange in the mid-1920s. This was a pivotal period during which migratory flows to the Minett region, one of Europe's most dynamic industrial regions characterized by its iron mines and steelworks, were increasing and diversifying. Using a digital hermeneutic approach, the article evaluates the choices, opportunities and difficulties involved in using these sources within the virtual environment nodegoat. It presents insights gained by visualizing migration paths and settlement patterns: differences in mobility between Italian and German (un)married migrants, the case of the owner of a café and hostel (café-pension) in Dudelange who hosted Italian migrants from his place of birth, and the fact that social networks among family members and friends were also active on the road, with family members waiting for each other in the French transit town of Trieux. We end our article by identifying avenues for further research.
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spelling doaj.art-b329fba56c134639bead8a27351182c62022-12-22T02:53:16ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Human Dynamics2673-27262022-11-01410.3389/fhumd.2022.931758931758Arrival declaration forms. A new gateway for mapping migration to LuxembourgMachteld VenkenArnaud SauerSince the late 19th century, foreigners moving to Luxembourg have been required to declare their residency at the local municipality upon arrival. New digital technologies have made it possible to analyze the wealth of information contained in arrival declaration forms. This article offers a first digital analysis of a selection of these sources for the municipalities of Dudelange and Differdange in the mid-1920s. This was a pivotal period during which migratory flows to the Minett region, one of Europe's most dynamic industrial regions characterized by its iron mines and steelworks, were increasing and diversifying. Using a digital hermeneutic approach, the article evaluates the choices, opportunities and difficulties involved in using these sources within the virtual environment nodegoat. It presents insights gained by visualizing migration paths and settlement patterns: differences in mobility between Italian and German (un)married migrants, the case of the owner of a café and hostel (café-pension) in Dudelange who hosted Italian migrants from his place of birth, and the fact that social networks among family members and friends were also active on the road, with family members waiting for each other in the French transit town of Trieux. We end our article by identifying avenues for further research.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fhumd.2022.931758/fullmappingLuxembourgGermanyItalydigital hermeneuticsmigration
spellingShingle Machteld Venken
Arnaud Sauer
Arrival declaration forms. A new gateway for mapping migration to Luxembourg
Frontiers in Human Dynamics
mapping
Luxembourg
Germany
Italy
digital hermeneutics
migration
title Arrival declaration forms. A new gateway for mapping migration to Luxembourg
title_full Arrival declaration forms. A new gateway for mapping migration to Luxembourg
title_fullStr Arrival declaration forms. A new gateway for mapping migration to Luxembourg
title_full_unstemmed Arrival declaration forms. A new gateway for mapping migration to Luxembourg
title_short Arrival declaration forms. A new gateway for mapping migration to Luxembourg
title_sort arrival declaration forms a new gateway for mapping migration to luxembourg
topic mapping
Luxembourg
Germany
Italy
digital hermeneutics
migration
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fhumd.2022.931758/full
work_keys_str_mv AT machteldvenken arrivaldeclarationformsanewgatewayformappingmigrationtoluxembourg
AT arnaudsauer arrivaldeclarationformsanewgatewayformappingmigrationtoluxembourg