Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany (official name: Stadtgemeinde Bremen / City Municipality of Bremen). It is a port city, situated along the river Weser, about south from its mouth on the North Sea. Bremen is one of two towns belonging to the state of Bremen (official name: Freie Hansestadt Bremen (Free Hanseatic City of Bremen), referring to its membership in the medieval Hanseatic League), the other being Bremerhaven. In 2005, the population of the city was estimated to be 545,983 (the state with the city Bremerhaven having a population of 664,080), while the metropolitan area of Bremen-Oldenburg has a population of more than 2.37 million. Thus, Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.
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In 150 AD the geographer Claudius Ptolemaeus described Fabiranum or Phabiranum, known today as Bremen. In that time the Chauci lived in the area which is now call northwestern Germany or Lower Saxony. By the end of the 3rd century, they had merged with the Saxons. During the Saxon Wars (772-804) the Saxons, led by Widukind, fought against the West Germanic Franks, the founders of the Carolingian Empire and lost the war.
The first stone city walls were built in 1032. Around this time trade with Norway, England and the northern Netherlands began to grow, increasing the importance of the city.
"?Rome equal to a well-known and rallying the peoples of the North?"
In 1186 Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa became the first secular ruler of Bremen. From this time forward, only the emperor and the Senate Governmental authority have ruled Bremen. Bremen was formally a Free Imperial City. In fact, however, Bremen did not have complete independence from the Archbishops, in that there was no freedom of religion, and citizens were still forced to pay church taxes. Shortly following Bremen's secularization, in 1260, came its admission to the Hanseatic League.
In 1350 population hit 20,000 citizens. During this time period the Hansekogge (cog ship) became a specialty of Bremen.
In 1620 Germany's first man-made harbour was built at Vegesack.
The Linz Diploma, written in 1646 by Ferdinand III, is a document issued during the Thirty Years' War that confirmed and sealed the imperial immediacy of the city of Bremen.
In 1811 Napoleon invaded Bremen and integrated it as the capital of the Departement de Bouches du Weser (Department of the Mouths of Weser) in the French State. 1815 hosted the last battle of the Liberation War of Germany, the Battle of Waterloo, in which the armies of Prussia, Austria, Russia and England, defeated the army of Napoleon, resulting in Bremen's sovereignty.
The first German steamship manufactured in 1817 at the yard of Johann Lange.
Bremen bought land from the Kingdom of Hannover in 1827, founding of the city of Bremerhaven (Port of Bremen) as an outpost of Bremen because of the increased silt buildup in the Weser river.
Beck's (Brauerei Beck & Co KG), a brewery, was founded in 1837 and remains in operation today. The shipping company The North German Lloyd (NDL) was founded in 1857. The Lloyd was a synonym for commercial shipping and is now a part of Hapag-Lloyd. In 1872 the Bremer Cotton Exchange was created. Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau AG was founded in 1923, and is today part of Airbus, a manufacturer of civil and military aircraft. Borgward, an automobile manufacturer, was founded in 1929, and is today part of Daimler AG.
In 1947 Nordmende was founded, a manufacturer of entertainment electronics. In 1958 OHB-System was founded, a manufacturer of medium-sized spaceflight satellites.
Population history
1350: 20,000
1810: 35,800 inhabitants
1830: 43,700
1850: 55,100
1880: 111,900
1900: 161,200
1925: 295,000
1969: 607,185
1998: 550,000
2006: 546,900
Politics
Flag of Bremen
The Stadtbürgerschaft (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.[1]
One of the two mayors (Bürgermeister) is elected President of the Senate (Präsident des Senats) and serves as head of the city and the state. The current President is Jens Böhrnsen.
Main sights
Town Hall, Cathedral and Parliament
Roland
Schnoor
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View from the Bremen Cathedral in the direction of the Stephani-Bridge
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Böttcherstraße
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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. The building was erected between 1405 and 1410 in Gothic style, but the façade was built two centuries later (1609?12) in Renaissance style. Today, it hosts a restaurant in original decor with gigantic wine barrels, the Ratskeller in Bremen, and the wine lists 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.
Two statues stand to the west side of the Town Hall: one is the statue (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's 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 16th-century Flemish-inspired guild hall, and the Stadtwaage, the former weigh house (built in 1588), with an ornate Renaissance façade. The façades and houses surrounding the market square were the first buildings in Bremen to be restored after World War II, by the citizens of Bremen themselves.
The impressive Cathedral St. Petri (13th century), to the east of the Marktplatz, with sculptures of Moses and David, Peter and Paul, Charlemagne and Christopher Maki.
The Liebfrauenkirche (Our Lady's Church) is the oldest church of the town (11th century). Its crypt features several impressive murals from the 14th century.
Off the south side of the Markplatz, the 110-metre (120 yards) Böttcherstraße was transformed in 1923?1931 by the coffee magnate Ludwig Roselius, who commissioned local artists to convert the narrow street (in medieval time, the street of the barrel makers) into an inspired mixture of Gothic and Art Nouveau. It was considered "entartete Kunst" (depraved art) by the Nazis. Today, the street is one of Bremen's most popular attractions.
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 17th and 18th centuries, now occupied by cafés, artisan shops and art galleries.
Schlachte, the medieval harbour of Bremen (the modern port is some kilometres downstream) and today a riverside boulevard with pubs and bars aligned on one side and the banks of Weser on the other.
botanika, an extension to a public rhododendron park that attempts to the same as above Universum 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 19th and 20th century, maintained by the citizens of Bremen
<gallery>
Image:Weserhb2.jpg|View from the Stephani-Bridge in the direction of the Cathedral
Image:Bremen Schlachte von Teerhofbrücke.jpg|Schlachte
Image:BaumwollboerseBremen-1.jpg|Baumwollbörse (Cotton exchange)
Image:ParkHotelBremen-01.jpg|The Parkhotel in the Bürgerpark (central park)
Image:Musicaltheater Bremen front left.jpg|Musical-Theater
Image:Windmill rose garden, bremen 05.JPG|Central Park Wallanlagen
image:Bremen-rathaus.jpg|The city hall (Rathaus)
image:bremen.pigs.750pix.jpg|Swineherd and pigs sculpture in Bremen
Image:weserhb.jpg|The Weser River in Bremen
Image:Bremen-Böttcherstraße-wall.jpg|A building on Böttcherstraße
Image:Bremenbank.jpg|Bremer Bank
Image:P7032981.JPG|Central Bremen and the Weser from St. Petri Dom
</gallery>
Several high-tech industries have settled in the city. Many of Germany's space technology exports are manufactured in EADS Astrium facilities in Bremen, such as the Columbus module of the International Space Station, Europe's Ariane 5 rocket upper stages and the Automated Transfer Vehicle. The telematics, space technology and satellite company OHB-System is also based in the city. Furthermore, Bremen is the home of the second biggest Airbus plant of Germany, producing wing equipment for the A300/A310, A330/A340 and A380 families of aircraft.
There is also a Mercedes-Benz factory in Bremen, building the C, CLK, SL, and SLK series of cars. Beginning in 2008, the GLK sport utility vehicle will also be built in Bremen. Beck's and St Pauli Girl beers are brewed in Bremen. It also had a huge 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. A large number of food producing or trading companies are located in Bremen with their German or European headquarters: Inbev (Beck's Brewery), 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 food for birds), Atlanta AG (Chiquita banana), chocolatier Hachez (fine chocolate and confiserie), feodora chocolatier.
Events
Every year since 1036, in the last two weeks of October, Bremen has hosted Freimarkt ("Free market"), one of the world's oldest and in Germany one of today's biggest continuously celebrated fairground festivals.
Bremen is also host to one of the four big annual Techno parades, the Vision Parade.
Every year the city plays host to young musicians from across the world, playing in the International Youth Symphony Orchestra of Bremen (IYSOB).
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It is home of the football team SV Werder Bremen which won the German Football Championship for the fourth time and the German Football Cup for the fifth time in 2004, making SV Werder Bremen just the fourth team in German football history to win the double.
Education
The Fallturm (Drop Tower) of the University of Bremen
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 professorship by the Denazification authorities.
Encyclopedia
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