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Bremen ( Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
state
Free Hanseatic City of Bremen Bremen (), officially the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (german: Freie Hansestadt Bremen; nds, Free Hansestadt Bremen), is the smallest and least populous of Germany's 16 states. It is informally called ("State of Bremen"), although the term ...
(''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consisting of the cities of Bremen and Bremerhaven. With about 570,000 inhabitants, the Hanseatic city is the 11th largest city of Germany and the second largest city in Northern Germany after
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...
. Bremen is the largest city on the River Weser, the longest river flowing entirely in Germany, lying some upstream from its
mouth In animal anatomy, the mouth, also known as the oral cavity, or in Latin cavum oris, is the opening through which many animals take in food and issue vocal sounds. It is also the cavity lying at the upper end of the alimentary canal, bounded on ...
into the
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian ...
, and is surrounded by the state of
Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...
. A commercial and industrial city, Bremen is, together with Oldenburg and Bremerhaven, part of the Bremen/Oldenburg Metropolitan Region, with 2.5 million people. Bremen is contiguous with the Lower Saxon towns of Delmenhorst, Stuhr, Achim, Weyhe, Schwanewede and Lilienthal. There is an
exclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...
of Bremen in Bremerhaven, the "Citybremian Overseas Port Area Bremerhaven" (''Stadtbremisches Überseehafengebiet Bremerhaven''). Bremen is the fourth largest city in the Low German dialect area after Hamburg,
Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...
and
Essen Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Do ...
. Bremen's port, together with the port of Bremerhaven at the mouth of the Weser, is the second largest port in Germany after the Port of Hamburg. The airport of Bremen (''Flughafen Bremen " Hans Koschnick"'') lies in the southern borough of Neustadt-Neuenland and is Germany's 12th busiest airport. Bremen is a major cultural and economic hub of Northern Germany. The city is home to dozens of historical galleries and museums, ranging from historical sculptures to major art museums, such as the Bremen Overseas Museum (''Übersee-Museum Bremen''). The Bremen City Hall and the Bremen Roland are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Bremen is well known through the Brothers Grimm's
fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful beings. In most cult ...
" Town Musicians of Bremen" (''Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten''), and there is a statue dedicated to it in front of the city hall. Bremen has a reputation as a working-class city. The city is home to many multinationals and manufacturing companies headquartered in Bremen include Hachez chocolate and Vector Foiltec.
Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footb ...
club SV Werder Bremen play in the Weserstadion on the bank of the Weser. __TOC__


History

For most of its 1,200 year history, Bremen was an independent city within the confederal jurisdiction of
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
's
Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...
. Its governing merchants and
guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometim ...
s were at the centre of the
Hanseatic League The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label= Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German to ...
that sought to monopolise the
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian ...
and
Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
trade. To enlarge and confirm its independence, the city had, until the Reformation, to contend with the temporal power of the Church, and after the
Thirty Years War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battl ...
with
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...
, the masters of the surrounding Duchy of Bremen-Verden. In the late nineteenth century, Bremen was drawn by
Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...
into the
German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
. With its new sea anchorage and wharves at Bremerhaven, it was the principal port of embarkation for German and central European emigrants to the Americas, and an entrepôt for Germany's late developing colonial trade. The
Norddeutscher Lloyd Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL; North German Lloyd) was a German shipping company. It was founded by Hermann Henrich Meier and Eduard Crüsemann in Bremen on 20 February 1857. It developed into one of the most important German shipping companies of ...
(NDL), founded in Bremen in 1857, became one of the world's leading shipping companies. In the twentieth century, Bremen, a broadly liberal and
social-democratic Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...
city, lost its autonomy under the Hitler regime. After World War Two, in which almost two thirds of the city's fabric was destroyed, this was restored. Bremen became one of the founding ''Bundesländer'' (or states) of the
German Federal Republic BRD (german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland ; English: FRG/Federal Republic of Germany) is an unofficial abbreviation for the Federal Republic of Germany, informally known in English as West Germany until 1990, and just Germany since reunification. I ...
.


Geography

Bremen lies on both sides of the River Weser, about upstream of its estuary on the
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian ...
and its transition to the Outer Weser by Bremerhaven. Opposite Bremen's ''Altstadt'' is the point where the "Middle Weser" becomes the "Lower Weser" and, from the area of Bremen's port, the river has been made navigable to ocean-going vessels. The region on the left bank of the Lower Weser, through which the Ochtum flows, is the Weser Marshes, the landscape on its right bank is part of the Elbe-Weser Triangle. The Lesum, and its tributaries, the Wümme and
Hamme Hamme () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Hamme proper, Kastel Moerzeke, and . In 2018, Hamme had a total population of 24,827. The total area is 40.21 km². The cu ...
, the Schönebecker Aue and Blumenthaler Aue, are the downstream tributaries of the Weser. The city's municipal area is about long and wide. In terms of area, Bremen is the thirteenth largest city in Germany; and in terms of population the second largest city in northwest Germany after Hamburg and the eleventh largest in the whole of Germany ''(see:
List of cities in Germany This is a complete list of the 2,055 cities and towns in Germany (as of 1 March 2022). There is no distinction between ''town'' and ''city'' in Germany; a ''Stadt'' is an independent municipality (see Municipalities of Germany) that has been gi ...
)''. Bremen lies about east of the city of Oldenburg, southwest of
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...
, northwest of
Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
, north of Minden and northeast of Osnabrück. Part of Bremerhaven's port territory forms an
exclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...
of the City of Bremen.


Hills of Bremen

The inner city lies on a Weser dune, which reaches a natural height of 10.5 metres (34 feet, 6 inches) above sea level at Bremen Cathedral; its highest point, though, is 14.4 metres (47 feet, 3 inches) above sea level and lies to the east at the '' Polizeihaus'', ''Am Wall'' 196. The highest natural feature in the city of Bremen is 32.5 metres (107 feet) above sea level and lies in Friedehorst Park in the northwestern borough of Burglesum. As a result, Bremen has the lowest high point of all the German states.


Climate

Bremen has a moderate
oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...
(
Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...
''Cfb'') due to its proximity to the North Sea coast and temperate maritime air masses that move in with the predominantly westerly winds from the Atlantic Ocean. However, periods in which continental air masses predominate may occur at any time of the year and can lead to heat waves in the summer and prolonged periods of frost in the winter. In general though, extremes are rare in Bremen and temperatures below and above occur only once every couple of years. The record high temperature was on 9 August 1992, while the official record low temperature was on 13 February 1940. On 13 October 2018, Bremen recorded its warmest October day on record with 28.6 °C (83.4 °F). However, the astronomer Heinrich Wilhelm Matthias Olbers reported to have measured −27.3 °C on 23 January 1823. Being at some distance from the main North Sea, Bremen still has a somewhat wider temperature range than Bremerhaven that is located on the mouth of Weser. Average temperatures have risen continually over the last decades, leading to a rise in the mean annual temperature between 1961–90 and 1981–2010 reference periods. As in most parts of Germany, the year 2014 has been the warmest year on record averaging , making Bremen the second-warmest German state after Berlin in 2014. While Bremen is located in the comparatively cloudy northwestern part of Germany, there has been a significant increase in average sunshine hours over the last decades, especially in the months of April, May, and July, causing the annual mean to rise by 121 hours between the reference periods of 1961–90 and 1991–2020. This trend has continued over the last 10 years (2011–2020), which average 1680 hours of sunshine, almost 200 hours more than in the international reference period of 1961–90. Nevertheless, especially the winters remain extremely gloomy by international standards with December averaging hardly more than one hour of sunshine (out of 7 astronomically possible) per day, a feature that Bremen shares with most of Germany and its neighbouring countries, though. Precipitation is distributed fairly even around the year with a small peak in summer mainly due to convective precipitation, i.e. showers and thunderstorms. Snowfall and the period of snow cover are variable; whereas in some years, hardly any snow accumulation occurs, there has recently been a series of unusually snowy winters, peaking in the record year 2010 counting 84 days with a snow cover. Nevertheless, snow accumulation of more than 20 centimetres (8 in) remains exceptional, the record being of snow on 18 February 1979. The warmest months in Bremen are June, July, and August, with average high temperatures of . The coldest are December, January, and February, with average low temperatures of . Typical of its maritime location, autumn tends to remain mild well into October, while spring arrives later than in the southwestern parts of the country.


Population

Bremen's economy boomed in line with the West German '' Wirtschaftswunder'' of the 1950s and 60s. This saw the growth, and permanent settlement, of a large migrant worker population, drawn largely from
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...
and southern Europe. A new wave immigration occurred after the turn of new century, following the entry of
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
,
Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
and other former East Bloc countries into the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...
, and after 2015 with the settlement of refugees from Syria and other war-torn regions. By the second decade of the century out of a population (including Bremerhaven) of approximately 680,000, over 115,000 had foreign citizenship, and nearly twice that number, almost a third of the total population, could be classified as having non-German origin/ethnicity. Number of minorities in Bremen by nationality as of 31 December 2021: The recent influx has somewhat moderated the tendency toward an accelerated ageing of the population. As it is, more than half the population of the state of Bremen are over 50, and more than a quarter are over 60.


Politics

The (municipal assembly) is made up of 68 of the 83 legislators of the state legislature, the '' Bremische Bürgerschaft'' who reside in the city of Bremen. The legislature is elected by the citizens of Bremen every four years. Bremen has a reputation as a
left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
city. The port, shipyards and related industries sustained a large and unionised working class. This translated into support for the Social Democrats, considered Bremen's natural governing party. However, in the 1980s mechanization of the port and closure of the city's leading shipbuilder induced an employment crisis and shook the confidence of the party's traditional voter base. The SPD, which had still polled 51% in 1987, lost its effective majority. The once dominant left-liberal vote split, and coalition government became the norm. The state today is governed by a coalition of the Social Democratic Party, The Greens and The Left. In November 2019 the right-wing group Phalanx 18 was banned by the city-state of Bremen. One of the two mayors () is elected President of the Senate () and serves as head of the city and the state. The current mayor is Andreas Bovenschulte.


Last state election


State election 2015

Provisional results; the AfD did not reach the 5% threshold in Bremerhaven (and will hence only receive seats for votes from Bremen), the BIW did not reach the threshold in Bremen (and will only receive one seat in Bremerhaven, none in Bremen).


Administrative structure


Main sights

* Many of the sights in Bremen are found in the ''Altstadt'' (Old Town), an oval area surrounded by the Weser River, on the southwest, and the ''Wallgraben'', the former moats of the medieval city walls, on the northeast. The oldest part of the Altstadt is the southeast half, starting with the ''Marktplatz'' and ending at the '' Schnoor quarter''. * The '' Marktplatz'' (Market square) is dominated by the opulent façade of the Town Hall of Bremen. The building was erected between 1405 and 1410 in
Gothic style Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
, but the façade was built two centuries later (1609–12) in Renaissance style. The Town Hall is the seat of the president of the Senate of Bremen. Today, it hosts a restaurant in original decor with gigantic wine barrels, the Ratskeller in Bremen, and the wine list boasts more than 600 – exclusively German – wines. It is also home of the twelve oldest wines in the world, stored in their original barrels in the Apostel chamber. In July 2004, along with the Bremen Roland, the building was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. * Two statues stand to the west side of the Town Hall: one is the statue Bremen Roland (1404) of the city's protector, Roland, with his view against the ''Cathedral'' and bearing Durendart, the "sword of justice" and a shield decorated with an imperial eagle. The other near the entrance to the ''Ratskeller'' is Gerhard Marcks' bronze sculpture (1953) ''Die Stadtmusikanten'' ( Town Musicians), which portrays the donkey, dog, cat and rooster of the Grimm Brothers' fairy tale. * Other interesting buildings in the vicinity of the Marktplatz are the '' Schütting'', a sixteenth-century Flemish-inspired guild hall, Rathscafé, Raths-Apotheke, Haus der Stadtsparkasse and the '' Stadtwaage'', the former weigh house (built in 1588), with an ornate Renaissance façade, and the nearby Essighaus, once a fine Renaissance town house. The façades and houses surrounding the market square were the first buildings in Bremen to be restored after
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, by the citizens of Bremen themselves. * St Peter's
Cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations ...
(13th century), to the east of the Marktplatz, with sculptures of
Moses Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu ( Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pr ...
and
David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
, Peter and Paul and Charlemagne. The
Bismarck Monument From 1868 onwards, Bismarck monuments were erected in many parts of the German Empire in honour of the long-serving Prussian minister-president and first German ''Reichskanzler'', Prince Otto von Bismarck. Today some of these monuments are on the ...
is also outside the cathedral, which is the only monument in Germany to depict Otto von Bismarck in an equestrian format. * On Katherinenklosterhof to the northwest of the cathedral, a few remaining traces can be found of St Catherine's Monastery, Bremen, St Catherine's Monastery dating back to the thirteenth century. * The ''Church of Our Lady (Bremen), Liebfrauenkirche'' (Our Lady's Church) is the oldest church of the town (11th century). Its crypt features several impressive murals from the fourteenth century. * Off the south side of the Markplatz, the ''Böttcherstraße'' was transformed in 1923–1931 by the coffee magnate Ludwig Roselius, who commissioned local artists to convert the narrow street (in medieval times, the street of the barrel makers) into an inspired mixture of Gothic art, Gothic and Art Nouveau. It was considered "''entartete Kunst''" (degenerate art) by the Nazis. Today, the street is one of Bremen's most popular attractions, with the Glockenspiel House at No. 4 with its carillon of Meissen porcelain bells. * At the end of Böttcherstraße, by the Weser bank, stands the ''Martinikirche'' (St Martin's Church), a Gothic brick church built in 1229, and rebuilt in 1960 after its destruction in World War II. * Tucked away between the Cathedral and the river is the '' Schnoor'', a small, well-preserved area of crooked lanes, fishermen's and shipper's houses from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, now occupied by cafés, artisan shops and Art museum, art galleries. The Convent of Saint Birgitta, Bremen, Convent of Saint Birgitta (''Birgittenkloster'') founded in 2002 is a small community of just seven nuns offering guest accommodation. * Schlachte, the medieval Harbor, harbour of Bremen (the modern port is some kilometres downstream) is today a riverside boulevard with pubs and bars aligned on one side and the banks of Weser on the other. * The Viertel (Bremen), Viertel district to the east of the old town combines rows of nineteenth-century Bremen houses (''Bremer Häuser'') with museums and the theatres of Theater Bremen along the city's cultural mile (). * Knoops Park which is one of the larger green spaces in the city that many locals love to visit especially when the weather is warmer. There is also an option to rent small rowboats in the middle of the park. * The ''Nasir Moschee'' is the first purpose built mosque of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Bremen. More contemporary tourist attractions include: * Universum Science Center, a Science, modern science museum * The Rhododendron-Park Bremen, a major collection of rhododendrons and azaleas; also includes a botanical garden * Botanika, a nature museum within the Rhododendron-Park Bremen that attempts be to the same as the ''Universum'', but for biology * ''Beck's Brewery'', tours are available to the public which include beer tasting * The Kunsthalle Bremen, an art museum with paintings from the nineteenth and twentieth century, maintained by the citizens of Bremen * Focke Museum, museum of art and cultural history * The Übersee Museum Bremen (''Overseas (World) Museum'') is a natural history and ethnographic museum near by the Bremen Hauptbahnhof, Central Station Bremen. * The ''Kunstsammlungen Böttcherstraße'', an art museum in expressionist architecture from Bernhard Hoetger with paintings from the twentieth century from Paula Modersohn-Becker * The Weserburg Museum für moderne Kunst ("Weserburg Modern Art Museum"), a modern art museum located in the middle of the Weser River


Structures

* Mediumwave transmitter Bremen * Fallturm Bremen * Bremen TV tower, Bremen-Walle Telecommunication Tower The ''Freie Waldorfschule'' in Bremen-Sebaldsbrück was Germany's first school built to the ''Passive house, Passivhaus'' Low-energy house, low-energy building standard.


Economy

According to data from the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, Bremen had a GDP per capita of $53,379 in 2013, higher than the average for Germany as a whole. For comparison, in 2013, the World Bank reported Germany had a GDP per capita of $46,268, and the EU overall had a GDP per capita of $35,408 in the same year. Bremen is the second development centre of the region, after
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...
. It forms part of the production network of Airbus SAS and this is where equipping of the wing units for all widebody Airbus aircraft and the manufacture of small sheet metal parts takes place. Structural assembly, including that of metal landing flaps, is another focal point. Within the framework of Airbus A380 production, assembly of the landing flaps (high lift systems) is carried out here. The pre-final assembly of the fuselage section (excluding the cockpit) of the Airbus A400M, A400M military transport aircraft takes place before delivery on to Spain. More than 3,100 persons are employed at Airbus Bremen, the second largest Airbus site in Germany. As part of the Centre of Excellence – Wing/Pylon, Bremen is responsible for the design and manufacture of high-lift systems for the wings of Airbus aircraft. The entire process chain for the high-lift elements is established here, including the project office, technology engineering, flight physics, system engineering, structure development, verification tests, structural assembly, wing equipping and ultimate delivery to the final assembly line. In addition, Bremen manufactures sheet metal parts like clips and thrust crests for all Airbus aircraft as part of the Centre of Excellence – Fuselage and Cabin. In Bremen there is a plant of EADS Astrium and the headquarters of OHB-System, respectively the first and the third space companies of European Union. There is also a Mercedes-Benz factory in Bremen, building the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, C, Mercedes-Benz CLK-Class, CLK, Mercedes-Benz SL-Class, SL, Mercedes-Benz SLK-Class, SLK, and Mercedes-Benz GLK-Class, GLK series of cars. Beck's Brewery, Beck & Co's headlining brew Beck's and St. Pauli Girl, St Pauli Girl beers are brewed in Bremen. In past centuries when Bremen's port was the "key to Europe", the city also had a large number of wine importers, but the number is down to a precious few. Apart from that there is another link between Bremen and wine: about 800 years ago, quality wines were produced here. The largest wine cellar in the world is located in Bremen (below the city's main square), which was once said to hold over 1 million bottles, but during WWII was raided by occupying forces. A large number of food producing or trading companies are located in Bremen with their German or European headquarters: Anheuser-Busch InBev (Beck's Brewery), Kellogg Company, Kellogg's, Kraft Foods (Kraft, Jacobs Coffee, Milka Chocolate, Milram, Miràcoli), Frosta (frosted food), Nordsee (chain of sea fast food), Melitta Kaffee, Eduscho Kaffee, Azul Kaffee, Vitakraft (pet articles and food for cats, dogs, birds, fish, rodents and other pets), Atlanta AG (Chiquita banana), chocolatier Hachez (fine chocolate and confiserie), feodora chocolatier. Bremer Woll-Kämmerei (BWK), a worldwide operating company for manufacturing wool and trading in wool and similar products, is headquartered in Bremen.


Transport

Bremen has an Bremen Airport, international airport situated south of the city centre. Trams in Bremen and local bus services are offered by the Bremer Straßenbahn AG (translates from German as ''Bremen Tramways Corporation''), often abbreviated BSAG, the public transport provider for Bremen. The Bremen S-Bahn covers the Bremen/Oldenburg Metropolitan Region, from Bremerhaven in the north to Twistringen in the south and from Oldenburg in the west, centred on Bremen Central Station. It has been in operation since 2010. This network unified existing regional transport in Bremen as well as surrounding cities, including Bremerhaven, Delmenhorst, Twistringen, Nordenham, Oldenburg, and Verden an der Aller. The network lies completely within the area of the Verkehrsverbund Bremen/Niedersachsen, Bremen-Lower Saxony Transport Association, whose tariff structure applies.


Events

*On August 8, 1992, in Weserstadion, Michael Jackson performed a show as part of his Dangerous World Tour. It was one of his three shows in Bremen and on his next and last tour he kicked off the next tour History World Tour in Bremen. * Every year since 1036, in the last two weeks of October, Bremen has hosted the Freimarkt ("Free market"), one of the world's oldest and in Germany one of today's biggest continuously celebrated fairground festivals. * Bremen is host to one of the four big annual Techno parades, the Vision Parade. * Bremen is also host of the "Bremer 6 Tage Rennen" a bicycle race at the Bremen Arena. * Every year the city plays host to young musicians from across the world, playing in the International Youth Symphony Orchestra of Bremen (IYSOB). * On March 12, 1999, the rock band Kiss (band), Kiss played a live show in Bremen. Before the show, they were told by the fire marshall not to use any fireworks. They did not use any fireworks until the very end, when they set off all of the fireworks at once. Because of this, they are now banned from playing in Bremen. * Bremen was host to the 2006 RoboCup competition. * Bremen was host to the 32nd Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag, 20–24 May 2009. * Bremen hosted the 50th International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) from 10–22 July 2009. * The Rolling Stones named a Live Album "Bridges to Bremen", which was recorded 1998 in Bremen.


Sports

Bremen is home to the association football, football team SV Werder Bremen, Werder Bremen, who won the List of German football champions, German Football Championship for the fourth time and the German Football Cup for the fifth time in 2004, making them only the fourth team in German football history to win the double; the club won the German Football Cup for the sixth time in 2009. Only FC Bayern Munich, Bayern Munich has won more titles. In the final match of the 2009–10 season, Werder Bremen lost to Bayern Munich. The home stadium of SV Werder Bremen is the Weserstadion, a pure football stadium, almost completely surrounded by solar cells. It is one of the biggest buildings in Europe delivering alternative energy.


Education

With 18,000 students, the University of Bremen is the largest university in Bremen, and is also home to the international Goethe-Institut and the Fallturm Bremen. Additionally, Bremen has a University of the Arts Bremen, University of the Arts and the Bremen University of Applied Sciences. In 2001, the private Jacobs University Bremen was founded. All major German research foundations maintain institutes in Bremen, with a focus on marine sciences: The Max Planck Society with the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, and the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Scientific Community with the Center for Tropical Marine Ecology (zmt). The Bremerhaven-based Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Alfred-Wegener-Institute of the Helmholtz Association closely cooperates with the aforementioned institutes, especially within the MARUM a center for marine environmental sciences, affiliated to the University of Bremen. Furthermore, The Fraunhofer Society is present in Bremen with centers for applied material research (IFAM) and medical image computing (MEVIS).


Miscellaneous

* In December 1949, Bremen hosted the lecture cycle ''Einblick in das, was ist'' by the philosopher Martin Heidegger, in which Heidegger introduced his concept of a "fourfold" of earth and sky, gods and mortals. This was also Heidegger's first public-speaking engagement following his removal from his Freiburg im Breisgau, Freiburg professorship by the Denazification authorities. * Bremen is connected with a fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm, the '' Town Musicians of Bremen'', although they never actually reach Bremen in the tale. * The 1922 film ''Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens'' was set mostly in Bremen. * In July 2022, Yorushika released a song titled ''Bremen''.


People


Twin towns – sister cities

Bremen is Sister city, twinned with: * Gdańsk, Poland (1976) * Riga, Latvia (1985) * Dalian, China (1985) * Rostock, Germany (1987) * Haifa, Israel (1988) * Bratislava, Slovakia (1989) * Corinto, Nicaragua, Corinto, Nicaragua (1989) * İzmir, Turkey (1995) * Durban, South Africa (2011)


See also

* List of mayors of Bremen


References


Notes


Bibliography

* } *
Claus Christian (2007): ''A photographic excursion through Bremen, Bremen-North, Bremerhaven, Fischerhude and Worpswede'',
* * * * Herbert Schwarzwälder (1995), ''Geschichte der Freien Hansestadt Bremen.'' Vol. I – V. Bremen: ,


External links


Official city website

Official visitors information (various languages)



Official site of the city center

Official site of the Schnoor quarter

Official site of the shopping quarter Das Viertel

Official site of the Weser promenade Schlachte

Official site of the shopping avenue Sögestraße

Official site of the shopping mall Lloyd Passage

Official site of the shopping quarter Ansgari Quartier


{{Authority control Bremen (city), German state capitals Free imperial cities Landmarks in Germany Members of the Hanseatic League Port cities and towns in Germany Port cities and towns of the North Sea Hanseatic Cities