Bremen (), officially the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (; ), is the smallest and least populous of Germany's 16 states. It is informally called ('State of Bremen'), although the term is sometimes used in official contexts. The state consists of the city of Bremen and its seaport

exclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is s ...

Bremerhaven Bremerhaven (; ) is a city on the east bank of the Weser estuary in northern Germany. It forms an exclave of the Bremen (state), city-state of Bremen. The Geeste (river), River Geeste flows through the city before emptying into the Weser. Brem ...

, surrounded by the larger state of

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

in northern Germany.

Geography

The state of Bremen consists of two non-contiguous territories. These enclaves contain Bremen, officially the 'City' (''Stadtgemeinde Bremen'') which is the state capital, and the city of

(''Stadt Bremerhaven''). Both are located on the River

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 ...

; Bremerhaven ("Bremen's harbour") is further downstream on the mouth of the Weser with open access to the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

. Both enclaves are completely surrounded by the neighbouring State of

(''Niedersachsen''). The highest point in the state is in Friedehorst Park (). Landgebiete der Freien Stadt Bremen

History

When the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

was dissolved in 1806, what had been since 1646 (after earlier privileges of autonomy of 1186) the Free Imperial City of Bremen was not mediatised. Rather than being incorporated into the enlarged territory of one of the surrounding monarchies, it was recognised (along with

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

) as a sovereign '' Free Hanseatic City''. Its currency until 1873 was the Bremen thaler. In 1811, in an effort to enforce

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

's Berlin Decree embargoing Britain, the

First French Empire The First French Empire or French Empire (; ), also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental Europe at the beginning of the 19th century. It lasted from ...

had annexed the

city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world throughout history, including cities such as Rome, ...

. But at the Congress of Vienna of 1815, Bremen's emissary, and later burgomaster, Johann Smidt, lobbied successfully to have the city's independence restored as one of the 39 sovereign states within the new German Confederation. In 1827, Bremen bought land at the mouth of the Weser from the

Kingdom of Hanover The Kingdom of Hanover () was established in October 1814 by the Congress of Vienna, with the restoration of George III to his Hanoverian territories after the Napoleonic Wars, Napoleonic era. It succeeded the former Electorate of Hanover, and j ...

, in order to build a new seaport,

. This ensured that Bremen remained Germany's main port of embarkation for emigrants to the Americas, and that it developed as an entrepôt for Germany's late developing colonial trade. In 1867, the year following

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

's defeat of

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and its annexation of Hanover, Bremen joined the

North German Confederation The North German Confederation () was initially a German military alliance established in August 1866 under the leadership of the Kingdom of Prussia, which was transformed in the subsequent year into a confederated state (a ''de facto'' feder ...

. In 1871, following victory over the French, this became the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

with Bremen as one of the

Reich ( ; ) is a German word whose meaning is analogous to the English word " realm". The terms and are respectively used in German in reference to empires and kingdoms. In English usage, the term " Reich" often refers to Nazi Germany, also ca ...

's 26 constituent states. As an international port and industrial centre, Bremen had a strong left and liberal tradition. In January 1913, at the last elections to the Imperial Reichstag in Berlin, the Social Democrats (SPD) secured over half the vote, or 53.4%. Left Liberals (Linksliberale) took another 41.4%. Only 5.1% went to the Conservatives. During the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

, there were seven elections to the ''Burgerschaft'', the Bremen parliament. At the November 1932 German federal election, the last broadly free election during this time, the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...

won 31.2% of the vote, and the Communists (KPD) 16.8%, compared to 20.8% for the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

. Following the heavily compromised national elections of March 1933, the Nazis still achieved only a third of the popular vote in Bremen (32.7%). Bremen, like all the German states, then underwent the process of '' Gleichschaltung'' (coordination) whereby the Nazi regime, through a campaign of violent demonstrations and intimidation, first forced the resignation of the executive Senate and later dissolved the ''Bürgerschaft''. Bremen remained for the next twelve years under the direct authority of a '' Reichsstatthalter'' (Reich Governor) who simultaneously held the post of Nazi Party '' Gauleiter'' of Gau Weser-Ems. During these years, Bremen's small Jewish community (1,438 people registered at the beginning of 1933) was destroyed through coerced emigration and deportation to death camps in the occupied east. Allied bombing during World War II destroyed or severely damaged 60% of the city's built fabric, including much of its historic centre. Following a further bombardment, British troops entered Bremen in late April 1945. Transferred to the Americans, Bremen became the supply port for the US zones of occupation in

west Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...

and southern Germany. The city was reestablished as a state in 1947 and, from 1949, was again known as the ''Free Hanseatic City of Bremen'', becoming a Land or state of the new Federal Republic of Germany, informally referred to as "

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

" until 1990.

Politics

Political system

The legislature of the state of Bremen is the 87-member Bürgerschaft (citizens' assembly), elected by the citizens in the two cities of Bremen and

. The executive is constituted by the Senate of Bremen, elected by the Bürgerschaft. The Senate is chaired by the President of the senate (''Senatspräsident''), who is also one of the mayors of the city of Bremen (''Bürgermeister'') and is elected directly by the Bürgerschaft. The Senate selects one of its members as a second mayor who serves as deputy of the president. In contrast to the Federal Chancellor of Germany or other German states, the President of the Senate has no authority to override senators on policy, which is decided upon by the senate collectively. Since 1945, the Senate has continuously been dominated by the Social Democratic Party. On a municipal level, the two cities in the state are administered separately: * The administration of the city of Bremen is headed by the two mayors and controlled by the portion of the Bürgerschaft elected in the city of Bremen (72 members). *

, on the other hand, has a municipal assembly distinct from the state legislature and an administration under a distinct head mayor (''Oberbürgermeister'') and a distinct second mayor.

Political majorities

In post-war Bremen, the port, shipyards and related industries sustained a large and unionised working class. As before 1933, this translated into support for the Social Democrats, considered Bremen's natural governing party. However, in the 1980s mechanisation 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 2019 Bremen state election was held on 26 May 2019 to elect the members of the Bürgerschaft of Bremen, as well as the city councils of Bremen and

. The election took place on the same day as the 2019 European Parliament election. The Christian Democratic Union (CDU), for the first time, became the largest party in the Bürgerschaft, while the Social Democratic Party (SPD) fell to second place. The Greens and The Left made small gains. After the election, the SPD, Greens, and Left agreed to form a coalition government. Carsten Sieling resigned as mayor and was replaced by fellow SPD member Andreas Bovenschulte. , - ! rowspan="2" colspan="2" , Party ! rowspan="2" , Votes ! rowspan="2" , % ! rowspan="2" , +/- ! colspan="2" , Seats ! rowspan="2" , Total
seats ! rowspan="2" , +/- ! rowspan="2" , Seats % , - ! Bremen !

, - , bgcolor=, , align=left , Christian Democratic Union (CDU) , align= 391,709 , align= 26.7 , align= 4.3 , align= 20 , align= 4 , align= 24 , align= 4 , align= 28.6 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left , Social Democratic Party (SPD) , align= 366,375 , align= 24.9 , align= 7.9 , align= 19 , align= 4 , align= 23 , align= 7 , align= 27.4 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left , Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) , align= 256,181 , align= 17.4 , align= 2.3 , align= 13 , align= 3 , align= 16 , align= 2 , align= 19.0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left , The Left (Linke) , align= 166,378 , align= 11.3 , align= 1.8 , align= 9 , align= 1 , align= 10 , align= 2 , align= 11.9 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left ,

Alternative for Germany Alternative for Germany (, AfD, ) is a Far-right politics in Germany (1945–present), far-right,Far-right: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Right-wing populism, right-wing populist and National conservatism, national-conservative p ...

(AfD) , align= 89,939 , align= 6.1 , align= 0.6 , align= 4 , align= 1 , align= 5 , align= 1 , align= 6.0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left , Free Democratic Party (FDP) , align= 87,420 , align= 5.9 , align= 0.7 , align= 4 , align= 1 , align= 5 , align= 1 , align= 6.0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left , Citizens in Rage (BiW) , align= 35,808 , align= 2.4 , align= 0.8 , align= 0 , align= 1 , align= 1 , align= 0 , align= 1.2 , - ! colspan=8, , - , bgcolor=, , align=left ,

Die PARTEI (''Party for Labour, Rule of Law, Animal Protection, Promotion of Elites and Grassroots Democratic Initiative''), or Die PARTEI (''The PARTY''), is a German political party. It was founded in 2004 by the editors of the German satirical magazine ...

(PARTEI) , align= 24,433 , align= 1.7 , align= 0.2 , align= 0 , align= 0 , align= 0 , align= ±0 , align= 0 , - , , align=left ,

Free Voters Free Voters (, FW) is a political party in Germany. It originates as an umbrella organisation of several Free Voters Associations (), associations of people which participate in an election without having the status of a registered party. These a ...

(FW) , align= 14,205 , align= 1.0 , align= 1.0 , align= 0 , align= 0 , align= 0 , align= ±0 , align= 0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left , Pirate Party Germany (Piraten) , align= 14,143 , align= 1.0 , align= 0.5 , align= 0 , align= 0 , align= 0 , align= ±0 , align= 0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left , Others , align= 22,915 , align= 1.6 , align= , align= 0 , align= 0 , align= 0 , align= ±0 , align= 0 , - ! align=right colspan=2, Total ! align= 1,469,506 ! align= 100.0 ! align= ! align= 69 ! align= 15 ! align= 84 ! align= 1 ! align= , - ! align=right colspan=2, Voter turnout ! align= ! align= 64.1 ! align= 13.9 ! align= ! align= ! align= ! align= ! align=

Coat of arms

The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

and

flag A flag is a piece of textile, fabric (most often rectangular) with distinctive colours and design. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design employed, and fla ...

of Bremen state include: File:Flag of Bremen.svg, Flag of Bremen File:Bremen greater coat of arms.svg, Greater coat of arms File:Bremen Wappen(Mittel).svg, Medium coat of arms File:Bremen Wappen(Klein).svg, Lesser coat of arms File:Bremen Wappen frei.svg, Coat of arms symbol

Economy

Bremen's post-World War II economy boomed in line with the ''

Wirtschaftswunder The ''Wirtschaftswunder'' (, "economic miracle"), also known as the Miracle on the Rhine, was the rapid reconstruction and development of the Economy, economies of West Germany and Austria after World War II. The expression was first used to re ...

'' ( English: "economic miracle") of the 1950s and 1960s in

. This saw the growth and permanent settlement in Bremen of a large migrant worker population of '' Gastarbeiter'' ( English: "guest workers"), drawn largely from

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

and other countries in Southern Europe. Some of the city's heavier industries failed to recover from the 1973 oil-price-shock recession. Specialist construction yards, ship outfitters and parts suppliers remain, but AG Weser (which employed 16,000 workers at its peak) and Bremer Vulkan, Bremen's major shipbuilders, closed in 1983 and 1997 respectively. Further job losses were caused by the restructuring and increasing mechanization of harbour-related activities and other industrial sectors. Semi and unskilled harbour workers found it very difficult to re-enter the labour market, and unemployment—for a period in the 1980s almost double the West German average—remained comparatively high. At a time when structural change in the economy has forced Bremen to spend more on social services,

suburbanization Suburbanization (American English), also spelled suburbanisation (British English), is a population shift from historic core cities or rural areas into suburbs. Most suburbs are built in a formation of (sub)urban sprawl. As a consequence ...

has reduced population and tax revenue, namely due to 1969 federal tax reform—before that, income taxes would be collected by the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

of the workplace, but after that, by the municipality of the residency. Incorporating surrounding suburban municipalities is not an option for the state of Bremen, as these already belong to the state of

. With financial assistance from 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 Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

and the

Federal Government of Germany The Federal Government (, ; abbr. BReg) is the chief Executive (government), executive body of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany and exercises executive power at the Federal level (Germany), federal level. It consists of the Chancellor ...

, economic policy has focused on supporting those established economic sectors that are based on advanced technology, such as aerospace and aircraft production, automobile production, maritime and logistics services, and on developing the education and business-park infrastructure for new science-based and digital enterprises. In this an important role is accorded to the growing university sector. Further investment went into the revitalisation of the city centre but a culture-driven regeneration around entertainment and tourism was not very successful. Several experts described Bremen's service sector as underdeveloped, due to a lack of major company headquarters.

Unemployment

At the turn of the 21st century, unemployment in Bremen stood at 13%, a rate matched in the Federal Republic only by the " new states" in the former

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

(GDR). By 2022, while reduced to 10.2% it was the highest among all 16 German states.

Industries

Despite historic job losses in the

industrial sector In macroeconomics, the secondary sector of the economy is an economic sector in the three-sector theory that describes the role of manufacturing. It encompasses industries that produce a finished, usable product or are involved in construc ...

, the state of Bremen has retained, and continues to develop, a broad manufacturing base: *Automotive with

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German automotive brand that was founded in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz Group, established in 2019) is based in Stuttgart, ...

factory, which is main manufacturing base of C-Class (12,500 employees). Automotive components from Hella and Lear. Assembly lines for powertrain and batteries are supplied from ThyssenKrupp Automation Engineering. *Aerospace with

Airbus Airbus SE ( ; ; ; ) is a Pan-European aerospace corporation. The company's primary business is the design and manufacturing of commercial aircraft but it also has separate Airbus Defence and Space, defence and space and Airbus Helicopters, he ...

aircraft component factories (4,100 employees), rocket components Ariane (550 empl.) and spacecraft OHB (1,200 empl.) *Iron & Steel with large ArcelorMittal work (3,000 employees); *Electronic manufacturers for naval/marine Atlas Elektronik (1,400 employees) and defence Rheinmetall Defence Electronics (1,200 employees) *Shipbuilding represented Lürssen Bremen features the full spectrum of construction, production and assembly facilities for superyachts greater than 100 in length (1,200 employees). *Food manufacturing of coffee (Kraft, Jacobs, Melitta, Eduscho, Azul), chocolate ( Hachez), beer ( Beck's Brewery), cereal food (

Kellogg's Kellanova, formerly known as the Kellogg Company and commonly known as Kellogg's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational food manufacturing company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, US. Kellanova produces and markets con ...

), fish ( Frosta, Frozen Fish, Deutsche See), dairy products (DMK Deutsches Milchkontor), pet food (Vitacraft)

Education

The University of Bremen is the largest university in Bremen. It is one of 11 institutions classed as an "Elite university" in Germany, and teaches approximately 23,500 people from 126 countries. Bremen also has a University of the Arts Bremen, a

University of Applied Sciences A vocational university or university of applied sciences (UAS), less commonly called a polytechnic university is an institution of higher education and increasingly research that provides applied professional education and grants academic de ...

with campuses in both Bremen city and

, and more recently the Jacobs University Bremen, an international

research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are "the key sites of Knowledge production modes, knowledge production", along with "intergenerational ...

located in

Vegesack Vegesack is a northern district of Bremen, the capital of the Germany , German States of Germany, state Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (Freie Hansestadt Bremen). Geography ''Vegesack'' is located about north from the centre of Brem ...

References

External links

Official state portal

Official governmental portal

Constitution of the state, German only
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bremen, Free Hanseatic City of States of the German Empire States of the German Confederation States of the North German Confederation States of the Weimar Republic NUTS 2 statistical regions of the European Union States and territories established in 1646 1646 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 17th-century establishments in the Holy Roman Empire States of Germany