Bremen travel guide
The old Hanseatic town of Bremen lies far inland up the River Weser and, together with the port of Bremerhaven, 57 km (35 miles) further to the north, comprises Germany’s smallest state.
The city was founded in the 8th century and was raised to the status of a bishop’s city in 789 by Charlemagne. It was once known as the “Rome of the north” due to the fact that it was the departure point for the missionaries who converted the Scandinavians to Christianity. In 1358, Bremen joined the Hanseatic League and in 1646 became a Free Imperial City. The grandiose Rathaus is a wonderful example of Weser architecture.
Today, Bremen is Germany’s second-largest port after Hamburg, important for the shipment of motor vehicles, cereals, cotton, wool, coffee and tobacco.
Places to visit in Bremen
The grand Rathaus
Overlooked by the twin-towered St Petri-Dom, parts of which date from the 11th century, the city’s focal point is its sprawling square, at its centre the grandiose Rathaus (Town Hall), a splendid example of Weser Renaissance architecture.
A huge medieval figure of the knight Roland, the guardian of civic liberties, stands in the square, contrasting with a droll modern sculpture which has become a city emblem: the Bremen Town Musicians (Stadtmusikanten); a cockerel, cat, dog and donkey, come from a folk tale popularised by the Brothers Grimm.
Paula Modersohn-Becker Museum - for art lovers
The Weser waterfront with its bars and restaurants is reached from the square by the unusual Böttcherstrasse, a street laid out in the 1920s and 30s and flanked by brick buildings in Expressionist style. Among its shops and museums is the Paula Modersohn-Becker Museum, named after the best-known painter from the early 20th artists’ colony established in the nearby village of Worpswede.
Amble through the Schnoorviertel
Bremen’s other most attractive streets are in the Schnoorviertel, the picturesque and much-tidied-up former fisherfolk’s quarter.
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• Visiting northern Germany? Try Germany's second city, Hamburg
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