Hamburg became a port of emigration because of its competition with Bremen as a seaport for trade. In the early 1830s, Bremen was doing well in its trade with America, while Hamburg's trade was mostly with the West Indies and Latin America. When a ship arriving from America was ready for the return trip, Bremen often did not have enough export goods and the ship had to return to America empty. This made the shipping process very expensive.

To combat this problem, Bremen began to lure part of the emigration traffic away from other European ports such as Le Havre, Antwerp, and Rotterdam. Its efforts were successful. Meanwhile, Hamburg had a decree which forbid group emigration an allowed only single families or travelers to emigrate from their port.

The collection of large numbers of emigrants in Bremen caused some problems. Often emigrants were stranded  without food and had to go begging because for enough money for lodging or passage. Unscrupulous ship's agents enticed them to Bremen and then took what money the emigrants had without providing passage.

Bremen passed a decree in 1832 which freed the city from giving financial assistance to emigrants, while making it obligatory for ship owners to certify the seaworthiness of their vessels, to keep passenger lists, and to keep provisions for 90 days on board. This meant that ship's agents had to deliver what they promised.
 

In order to keep up with Bremen and reap some of the emigration profits as well, Hamburg finally decided to open up group emigration. The City Council published a decree in February of 1837 which laid out the space entitlement of each passenger, the size of the bunks, and the quantity of provisions that were to be taken on the voyage. Hamburg also established its first liner service between Hamburg and New York to handle the emigration.

Hamburg ships began advertising their crossings. Such an advertisement might read, "The passengers from the day of embarkation to the day of disembarkation at the port of destination receive free board on the scale usual on seagoing ships. This consists of sustaining and nutritious food such as salt beef, salt pork, herrings, peas, beans, pearl barley, oats, rice, sauerkraut, butter, plums, pastries, pudding, etc., all in sufficient quantity and of the best quality. Coffee is served in the mornings, and in the evenings tea and ship's bread with butter. In accordance with the decree of the local authority, the ships are provisioned for 90 days so that the passengers will not lack for anything on the longest voyage."

Hamburg was not a good city for emigrants, however, and there were no regulations about their treatment during their stay in the city. Most emigrants arrived in Hamburg by rail. Every landlord tried to entice as many emigrants as he could to his inn or lodging house. The emigrants, who were naturally not familiar with Hamburg conditions, were frequently the victims of fraud. They were charged very high prices for board and lodging or were sold unneeded utensils for the voyage. Many lost much of their money before they even left Europe.

In order to stop the "runner's racket", the Association for the Protection of Emigrants, was founded in Hamburg in 1850. From that date forward, on their arrival at the railroad station, most emigrants received information on the average price of board and accommodation, how to transfer baggage, the necessary utensils for the voyage, the current rates of exchange, and the different types of passage available to America.

However, by the year 1854, the emigrants leaving Hamburg rose to nearly 51,000, and the private association could no longer handle the numbers. Finally, in 1855, the City of Hamburg took over the Information Office and its staff. At the same time, the Emigration Office was given the judicial authority to quickly settle disputes between emigrants and landlords or businessmen before the emigrant sailed. This gave another protection to the emigrants that they did not have previously.