BEST OF BREMEN WWW.BESTOFBREMEN.DE 50 nonstop destinations 2018 Good connections to european hubs: 6 Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Istanbul, Munich, Paris, Zurich NEW HISTORY 4 Zurich 12x per week ECONOMY 12 SCIENCE 22 NEW Vienna SOCIETY 26 6x per week CUISINE 36 CULTURE 40 CELEBRITIES 52 SPORT 60 bremen-airport.com HISTORY TAKING PART IS BIRTHPLACE WHAT COUNTS OF THE EURO Since 1358, the Free Hanseatic In 1978, with its resolution to set City of Bremen has been a mem- up a European currency system, ber of the Hanseatic League. With the conference of the accession, the city guaranteed European Council in that it would respect all decisions Bremen’s Rathaus laid and rules of the Hansa. This is one of the cornersto- as much in force today as it was nes of the ECU – the before and is an important part predecessor of the Euro. of local identity. That is why, even One of the main drivers of the today, business between Han- top secret diplomatic negotiations seatic merchants is frequently was the German chancellor of the sealed with a simple handshake. time, Helmut Schmidt. TAKING THE BREMEN FISHTOWNKING ACROSS THE POND The aircraft ‘Bremen’, a Junkers can still be admired today in the When, on the 1st October 1958, a Elvis Presley, the ‘King of Rock ’n’ W33, was the fi rst to cross the At- Bremen Hall of the local airport. ship transporting over 1,000 US Roll’ was on board. The American lantic from East to West on the 12th What’s more, one year later North soldiers docked at the Columbus- superstar had been stationed in April 1928. It completed the stretch German Lloyd’s steamer ‘Bremen’ kaje in Bremerhaven, the curiosity Europe on military service. His fi rst from Dublin to Greenly Island in received the Blue Ribbon for the of onlookers and reporters could steps on German soil were thus Canada in around 36 hours and fastest Atlantic crossing. barely be contained. The reason: taken in the harbour town. 4 5 HISTORY IT’S WHERE THE HARBOUR HELICOPTER PIONEERS COMES FROM The fi rst artifi cially created harbour With his ‘FW-61’, the Bremen in Europe was built in 1618 in Bre- aviation pioneer Heinrich Focke is men-Vegesack. This was necessary considered the father of the fi rst because the Weser was gradually fully-functioning helicopter. On the silting up towards its upper rea- 26th of June 1936, the prototype’s ches, so that the large trading ships successful maiden fl ight took pla- could no longer reach the harbour ce in what is now Bremen Airport. in the old town of Bremen. WHO DARES WINS OVER 600 YEARS OF ‘Buten un binnen – wagen un (1823-1902) and hangs resplendent winnen’, that is, ‘outside and in – to above the entrance of the Schütting, WORLD HERITAGE dare and to win’, remains today the the seat of the Bremen Chamber of They decorate Bremen’s ‘front Gothic and Weser Renaissance sty- slogan of the Bremen merchants. Commerce, directly on the market room’, the marketplace, and are the les, and the stone statue of Roland. It is ascribed to the former mayor square. landmarks of the Hanseatic city: the Since 2004, the ensemble has been of Bremen, Otto Gildemeister Rathaus (city hall), built in 1405 in a UNESCO World Heritage Site. GUARDIAN OF THE CITY From Bremen, the fi gure of Roland Brooklyn or in Brazil’s Rolândia. has gained worldwide renown as a It is even said that Napoleon was symbol of freedom. He stands for so impressed, at the time of the emancipation from the church and French occupation, that he wanted the independence of the citizenry. to have the Bremen Roland disas- Worldwide there are about 30 sembled and re-erected in the statues of Roland, whether in Louvre in Paris. 7 HISTORY LET IT ROLL! UNDER FULL STEAM The Cinema im Ostertor was founded in 1969 as the fi rst art Germany’s fi rst ever steamer house cinema in Germany, and plied the stretch between Bremen remains to this day the fi rst port of and Brake between 1817 and 1833 call for fi lm buffs aside from the and was called ‘Die Weser’. Hollywood mainstream. BARELY CONTAINABLE On the 6th of May 1966, the US in doing so. But beginnings are vessel ‘Fairland’ unloaded the fi rst always tricky, and this was no shipping container ever brought exception: the second container to onto a German dock, revolutio- be unloaded accidentally crashed nising maritime cargo handling onto a lorry. See more good reasons for BLG LOGISTICS at www.blg-logistics.com 8 HISTORY BUILT NEAR THE WATER Did you know? The name of the city what antiquated term ‘verbrämen’, TALLEST is derived from the old Saxon word meaning to decorate the edge of ‘bremo’ and means ‘on the edge’, something, and the English word referring to its position on the ‘brim’ are also derived from this IN TOWN dunes by the Weser. The some- root. As one of the most prominent vi- sual exclamation marks in the city, the Cathedral of St. Peter (St. Petri Dom) was built at the highest point LIGHT OF in the city – the Bremen dune. The- THE NORTH re is an old tradition that no other building may exceed the cathedral Named Roter Sand after its in height. A blind eye is turned only location on a shoal in the Weser for functional buildings, such as estuary, the lighthouse, comple- the television tower and drop-to- ted in 1885, is the oldest offshore wer, where technical reasons construction in the world. Today, require it. Inside the cathedral, the tower is a listed building, the only ‘Bleikeller’ (lead cellar) in and visitors can even stay the Germany offers real fascination: it night there during the summer was here that centuries-old mum- months. mies, discovered during organ construction in the 17th century, found their fi nal resting place. THE NAKED THE FIRST TRUTH IN BREMEN STARS & STRIPES MEETS In 1905 the open-air bathing area On the 10th June 1950, the consor- BREMEN’S “BACON FLAG“ on the Stadtwerder peninsula was tium of public-service broadcas- extended to allow for naturist ba- ters in Germany was founded in In 1794, the USA opened one of its end of the American War of Inde- thers. This makes this spot on the Bremen – that’s ARD for short. fi rst European General Consulates pendence in 1783, the Hanseatic city Weser one of the fi rst of its kind in in Bremen – at the personal request has nurtured close trade relation- Germany. of George Washington. Since the ships with the United States. 10 11 ECONOMY LOFTY FAST CARS AMBITIONS COTTONING ON One of the largest and most Bremen is the cradle of the Ger- With more than 12,500 employees baldsbrück. Daimler has built cars up-to-date high-bay warehouses man cotton trade and has hosted and about 420,000 cars rolling off here since 1978. Now, in addition, in Europe is operated in Bremen the Bremen cotton exchange for the production line every year, the the factory is to be extended into a by the BLG Logistics Group. It over 140 years. Already from the second-largest Mercedes factory centre of competence for e-mobili- is located in Germany’s largest beginning of the 17th century, the in the world and the largest in ty: from 2019, the e-model EQC will freight centre. The warehouse has Hanseatic city was importing the Germany is located in Bremen-Se- be released onto the market. a yearly turnover of two million raw material that is nowadays pallets – that’s 8,000 a day. processed into clothing, pharma- ceuticals and even banknotes. FROM BRE TO THE WORLD Founded in 1913, Bremen Airport and North Africa, among them 6 was the fi rst in Germany to have international hubs. On top of this, it a paved runway. Nowadays, it is is also Europe‘s fastest airport for the region‘s gateway to the world: departures and is only eleven minu- fl ights take off from here to almost tes away from Bremen city centre. 50 non-stop destinations in Europe 13 ECONOMY AUTO CITY Shipping around two million hub of Europe. Every day, more than vehicles yearly, the harbour town is 5,000 new cars reach a harbour the automotive import and export area the size of 450 football fi elds. IN AND OUT CRADLE OF Bremen as a regional focal point: TRADE AND from the surrounding parts of CRAFTS Lower Saxony, around 136,000 workers commute daily into the The Bremen Chamber of Com- city. That is about 40% of people merce (1451) and Bremen Cham- in employment in Bremen. ber of Crafts (1849) are the oldest in Germany. A BIT OF CAR FOR EVERYONE Over 25 years ago the people of car-sharing concept. This support Bremen began to share cars. It was continues to this day and has been through this that the city became the accorded the European Sustainable fi rst to establish a politically agreed Energy Award by the EU. THE WORLD IS WE CAN TAKE THE HEAVYWEIGHTS NOT ENOUGH The Stromkaje, or riverside quay, of longest riverside quay in the world, With more than 12,000 employees fi rms and 20 institutes in the region the Bremerhaven Container Termi- at 5,000m. It offers four berths for in the aerospace industries, Bre- generate a yearly turnover together nal ‘Wilhelm Kaisen’, built in 1968 large container ships. men is one of the most important of over four billion euros.