Vegesack is a northern district of the city of

Bremen Bremen ( Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state cons ...

Geography

''Vegesack'' is located about north from the centre of Bremen-city at the mouth of the river

Lesum The Lesum is a river in northern Germany, right tributary of the Weser, navigable for Class III ships.Weser The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports o ...

(). Abutting the district of Vegesack to the northwest is the district of Blumenthal, in the southeast the district of Burglesum. Across the river Weser is the

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 ...

village

Lemwerder Lemwerder is a municipality in the district of Wesermarsch, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is on the left bank of the Weser, approximately east of Oldenburg, and northwest of the centre of Bremen. Since April 2001, Lemwerder is governed by Mayo ...

, connected to Vegesack by a ferry service.

History

Vegesack was established long before the 14th century. At that time the mouth of the river

Lesum The Lesum is a river in northern Germany, right tributary of the Weser, navigable for Class III ships.Aue to the river Weser was a preferred and protected berth for sailing ships in the winter time or in the stormy seasons. Therefore, the first buildings might have been a few workshops and accommodations and pubs for the sailors. After the first mention of a ferry across the Weser in the 14th century, the name "Vegesack" was first used in 1453. The source and the meaning of the name is unknown but might be derived from the pub "Thom Fegesacke". In its long history Vegesack often changed hands. In 1648 it became Swedish, 1712 Danish, 1802 Bremish and 1810 French. In 1850 Vegesack received town privileges and in 1939 it became again part of the city of Bremen. From 1619 to 1623 the first artificial harbour of Germany, and one of the first in Europe, was built in Vegesack. The reason for this was the growth of shallows in the river Weser, which blocked big sailing ships from reaching Bremen´s harbour. Goods were then transshipped in the Vegesack-harbour to smaller boats or horse-drawn vehicles and transported to Bremen. With the new harbour the importance of Vegesack increased rapidly. The importance of Vegesack can be seen in the following: In 1863 the forerunner of the German life boat service (german: Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Rettung Schiffbrüchiger) was founded in Bremen by Adolph Bermpohl, a navigation-teacher in Vegesack In 1893 a fishing company was founded which became, in the mid-1930s, Europe's biggest herring fleet; Vegesack was the port of registry of this company which was closed in the 1960s. In 1805 the Lange shipyard was founded by Johann Lange. This company constructed in 1817 Germany´s first steaming ship ''Die Weser''. In the first half of the 19th century Vegesack was the home of the Lange and the Ulrich shipyards. Both were the predecessors of the

Bremer Vulkan Bremer Vulkan AG was a prominent German shipbuilding company located at the Weser river in Bremen-Vegesack. It was founded in 1893 and closed in 1997 because of financial problems and mismanagement. All together Bremer Vulkan built about 1100 ...

shipyard and the Janssen/Sager shipyard. With these three shipyards, Vegesack was the greatest and most important shipbuilding site on the Weser river for a long time. In 1896 the shipyard

was founded by some Bremen politicians and merchants. It became the greatest shipyard in civilian shipbuilding before World War I. The so-called ''Bremer Vulkan Verbund AG'' or ''Vulkan Group'' became Germany´s greatest shipbuilding company in the 1970s with altogether about 22,000 workers. The Vegesack shipyard closed in 1997. The 1875 the Lürssen shipyard was founded and is one of the greatest German shipyards today. While the headquarters is located directly at the Vegesack harbour, the production facilities are located on the opposite side of the Weser in Lemwerder as well as in the former Vulkan area.

Culture and sights

Museums

Sail training ship '' Schulschiff Deutschland'', called ''The White Swan of the Lower-Weser''. It is a pure sailing ship without auxiliary engine and the last German full-rigged three-master ship, today owned and operated by the ''German Training Ship Association'', Bremen. Constructed in 1927 by the Joh. C. Tecklenborg shipyard in

Geestemünde Bremerhaven (, , Low German: ''Bremerhoben'') is a city at the seaport of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms a semi-enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the Ri ...

, which is now part of the city of

Bremerhaven Bremerhaven (, , Low German: ''Bremerhoben'') is a city at the seaport of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms a semi-enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the Riv ...

, the ship was listed as a historical monument in 1994. ''Schloß Schönebeck'' (''Castle Schönebeck''), built middle of 14th century by ''Johann von Oumunde'' (=Aumund), head of the ''Knights of Oumunde''. Reconstructed in the 17th century, today it is used as a local museum for exhibitions and exclusive events.

Theatre

Since 1989, the Statt-Theater-Vegesack, a semi-professional troupe of actors, has performed both classical and self-composed plays. The performances take place in the Bürgerhaus Vegesack community centre.

Music

The event centre KITO, hosted in an old storehouse, offers jazz, blues, folk and classical concerts and political theatre.

Parks

Along the river Weser is the Stadtgarten (town garden) stretches along the Weserpromenade between the ferry and th
Gläserne Werft
(shipyard showcase). At the bottom of the scarp you can find many foreign trees and a rose garden, at the top are villas and captain's houses.

Regular events

The ''Vegesacker Hafenfest'' (Vegesack harbour festival) takes place on the first weekend in June. Three days full of live music, shanty choirs, maritime attractions and happy people. The ''Festival Maritim''Festival-maritim.de
/ref> (beginning of August) also offers a lot of international maritime live music, Kleinkunst, open-air cinema and "Kutterpullen", a rowing contest. At the beginning of September, Vegesack celebrates the ''Vegesacker Markt'' (Vegesack market); a fair with fairground rides, raffle booths, shooting galleries and much more. In 2005 the fair was held for the 197th time. It starts with the pageant across the city, and ends with the wet funeral of the market-witch in the Weser.

Transportation

*Vegesack is connected to the A 27 by the Autobahn 270. *A railway branch line, operated by

NordWestBahn The NordWestBahn GmbH is a private railway company providing regional train services on several routes in northern and western Germany. It is a joint venture of Stadtwerke Osnabrück AG, Verkehr und Wasser GmbH in Oldenburg and Transdev Ge ...

, links Vegesack to Bremen central station and Verden. Public transport is served by several bus lines of the Bremer Straßenbahn AG. *A car ferry connects Vegesack and Lemwerder.

Education and science

Jacobs University Bremen Constructor University is an international, private, residential research university located in Vegesack, Bremen, Germany. It offers study programs in engineering, humanities, natural and social sciences, in which students can acquire bachelor' ...

in Grohn.

Sons and daughters

Heinrich Behmann Heinrich Behmann (10 January 1891, in Bremen-Aumund – 3 February 1970, in Bremen-Aumund) was a German mathematician. He performed research in the field of set theory and predicate logic. Behmann studied mathematics in Tübingen, Leipzig and ...

(1891-1970), mathematician, professor in Halle (Saale). * Friedrich Gerhard Rohlfs (1831-1896), African explorer and writer; After him the main shopping street and a school center (former Gerhard-Rohlfs-Gymnasium) is named in Vegesack. * Günther Schwarberg (1926-2008), journalist in Hamburg, wrote the book '' The SS Physician and the Children of the Bullenhuser Damm '', a forgotten chapter from the "Endphaseverbrechen" (crimes at the end of the war) in

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. * Jürgen Trittin (born 1954), politician

Alliance '90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a Green politics, green List of political parties in Germany, political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens ...

), Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety from 1998 to 2005, * August Wilmanns (1833-1917), old philologist and general manager of the

Berlin State Library The Berlin State Library (german: Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin; officially abbreviated as ''SBB'', colloquially ''Stabi'') is a universal library in Berlin, Germany and a property of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation. It is one of the ...

Other personalities

The following personalities (alphabetically arranged) acted in Vegesack: Albrecht Roth, Arzt und Botaniker

* Jan Böhmermann (born 1981 in Bremen), radio and television supporter and comedian. * Leo Drabent (1899-1944) lived in Vegesack and organized the antifascist resistance in and around Bremen. *

Erich Lackner Erich Friedrich Michael Lackner (13 May 1913 in Himmelberg, Austria – 2 February 1992 in Kärnten) was a German civil engineer. He is considered to be one of the most important German engineers of the 20th century. Professional career Lackne ...

(1913-1992) German engineering scientist of Austrian origin. *

Walter Momper Walter Momper (born 21 February 1945) is a German politician and former Governing Mayor of Berlin (West Berlin 1989–1990, reunited Berlin 1990–1991). Whilst Governing Mayor, he served as President of the Bundesrat in 1989/90. He was at the ...

(born 1945), SPD politician, President of the House of Representatives of Berlin and former mayor of Berlin, grew up in Vegesack. *

Bernd Neumann Bernd Otto Neumann (born 6 January 1942) is a former German politician and since 2014 president of the German Federal Film Board (FFA). Biography Neumann was born in Elbing, East Prussia, now Elbląg, Poland. Following the flight and expul ...

(born 1942 in Elbing), politician (CDU), state minister for culture and media in Berlin, graduated in Vegesack and worked as a teacher. * Heinrich Oebker (1899-1975), teacher and headmaster, *

Albrecht Wilhelm Roth Albrecht Wilhelm Roth (6 January 1757 – 16 October 1834) was a physician and botanist born in Dötlingen, Germany. He studied medicine at the Universities of Halle and Erlangen, where he received his doctorate in 1778. After graduation, he pr ...

(1757-1834), German physician and botanist * Carl Schuchhardt (1859-1943), prehistorian and director of the

Neues Museum The Neues Museum (English: ''New Museum'') is a listed building on the Museum Island in the historic centre of Berlin. Built from 1843 to 1855 by order of King Frederick William IV of Prussia in Neoclassical and Renaissance Revival styles ...

in Berlin. He grew up in Vegesack and went to school in 1872-1877.

References

* Sophie Hollanders: ''Vegesack – Alte Bilder einer Hafenstadt.'' Johann Heinrich Döll Verlag, Bremen 1984, (Vegesack- Old Pictures of a Port-Town)

External links

Bremen.deVegesack.de
commercial portal {{Authority control

Vegesack Vegesack is a northern district of the city of Bremen. Geography ''Vegesack'' is located about north from the centre of Bremen-city at the mouth of the river Lesum, beside the river Weser (). Abutting the district of Vegesack to the northwest is ...

Neuengamme concentration camp Culture in Bremen (city)