Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [584]
To the north, Bremerhaven has an impressive Emigration Centre that’s a perfect companion piece to the one on New York’s Ellis Island. Economically, this city’s lifeline is the long container quay, one of the world’s largest, while its historic Alter Hafen and Neuer Hafen (Old Harbour and New Harbour), off the mainstream of the Weser River, now accommodate museums, and invite the visitor to stroll and explore.
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HIGHLIGHTS
Grand Designs Marvel at the golden archangel and red-brick angles of Böttcherstrasse Click here
Coffee with a Murky Splash Catch a ferry to Café Sand for a coffee on the golden sands of the Weser River ‘beach’
Alternative Chic Nosh or sip a drink at a restaurant Click here or bar Click here in Das Viertel, Bremen’s fashionable alternative quarter
Off-Beat Experience Peek in at the blackened mummies in the Dom St Petri’s Bleikeller
Roots Attack Follow an ancestor across the ocean at the German Emigration Centre in Bremerhaven
POPULATION: 663,082
AREA: 404 SQ KM
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BREMEN CITY
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0421 / pop 550,000
Bremen has a highly justified reputation for being one of Germany’s most outward-looking and hospitable places, and the people of Bremen seem to strike a very good balance between style, earthiness and good living.
Nature is never far away here, but Bremen is better known for its fairy-tale character, a unique expressionist quarter and (it must be said, because the Bremen folk are avid football fans) one of Germany’s most exciting football teams. That nature would get its chance to win back a few urban patches did seem likely from the late 1960s, when the population, having peaked at over 600,000, began to decline. Something else happened, however, to clinch it: in 1979 Bremen – the city-state – was the first to elect Green Party candidates to its state parliament, unwittingly becoming the cradle of a worldwide movement to put ‘Greens’ in parliaments.
Today, Bremen is growing again – the city just scrapes in among Germany’s largest 10 – and offers an unhurried and relaxed lifestyle, some very lively areas where you can enjoy good food, culture and a drink, a lovely old town with one section where the streets are way too narrow to risk swinging cats, and some tall tales to complement its history – likely proof that the people of Bremen are also among Germany’s most gregarious.
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HISTORY
Bremen’s origins go back to a string of settlements that developed near today’s centre from about 100 AD, and one settlement in particular that in 787 was given its own bishop’s seat by Charlemagne. In its earliest days, it was known as the ‘Rome of the North’ and developed as a base for Christianising Scandinavia. Despite this, it gradually shed its religious character, enjoying the greater freedom of being an imperial city from 1186, joining the Hanseatic League in 1260, and in 1646 coming directly under the wing of the Kaiser as a free imperial city; today it is a ‘Free Hanseatic City’.
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ORIENTATION
Bremen is compact and can be walked or crossed by tram. The Altstadt (old town) lies south of the Hauptbahnhof (central train station), on the north bank of the Weser River. The expressionist Böttcherstrasse lies directly south of Altstadt’s central Markt and the popular Schlachte promenade southwest of this. Domsheide, just southeast of Markt, and the tram and bus stops in front of Hauptbahnhof are the two main interchanges for urban public transport.
The Schnoor maritime quarter is to the southeast, and the art galleries and studenty nightlife district of Das Viertel lie to the east along Ostertorsteinweg (also known, for obvious reasons, as O-Weg).
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INFORMATION
ErlebnisCARD (adult incl up to 2 children for 1/2 days €8.90/10.90, group €17.50/22)