Bremen

Bremen Breem / Bräm(Low German)
City
Clockwise from top: Bremen Market Square; houses on the market square and Bremen Roland Statue; Bremen City Hall; Bremen Cathedral; Town Musicians of Bremen Statue; Schnoorscenery; and Schütting Building
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Bremen
Bremen Show map of Germany Bremen Show map of Bremen
Coordinates:53°04′33″N08°48′26″E / 53.07583°N 8.80722°E /53.07583; 8.80722
Country	Germany
State	Bremen
Subdivisions	5 boroughs, 19 districts, 88 subdistricts
Government
•Mayor	Andreas Bovenschulte(SPD)
• Governing parties	SPD/Greens/Left
Area
•City	326.73 km2(126.15 sq mi)
• Metro	11,627 km2(4,489 sq mi)
Elevation	12 m (39 ft)
Population (2022-12-31) [1]
•City	569,396
• Density	1,700/km2(4,500/sq mi)
•Metro	2,800,000
Demonym(s)	Bremer (m), Bremerin (f)
Time zone	UTC+01:00(CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00(CEST)
Postal codes	28001–28779
Dialling codes	0421
Vehicle registration	HB(with 1 to 2 letters and 1 to 4 digits)[2]
Website	Bremen online

Bremen(Low Germanalso:BreemorBräm), officially theCity Municipality of Bremen(German:Stadtgemeinde Bremen,IPA:[ˈʃtatɡəˌmaɪndəˈbʁeːmən]^ⓘ), is the capital of theGerman stateof theFree Hanseatic City of Bremen(Freie Hansestadt Bremen), a two-city-state consisting of the cities of Bremen andBremerhaven. With about 570,000 inhabitants, theHanseaticcity is the11th largest cityof Germany and the second largest city inNorthern GermanyafterHamburg.

Bremen is the largest city on theRiver Weser, the longest river flowing entirely in Germany, lying some 60 km (37 mi) upstream from itsmouthinto theNorth Sea, and is surrounded by the state ofLower Saxony. A commercial and industrial city, Bremen is, together withOldenburgand Bremerhaven, part of theNorthwest Metropolitan Region, with 2.5 million people. Bremen is contiguous with the Lower Saxon towns ofDelmenhorst,Stuhr,Achim,Weyhe,SchwanewedeandLilienthal. There is anexclaveof Bremen in Bremerhaven, the "Citybremian Overseas Port Area Bremerhaven" (Stadtbremisches Überseehafengebiet Bremerhaven). Bremen is the fourth largest city in theLow Germandialect area after Hamburg,DortmundandEssen.

Bremen's port, together with the port of Bremerhaven at the mouth of the Weser, is the second largest port in Germany after thePort of Hamburg. Theairport of Bremen(Flughafen Bremen "Hans Koschnick") lies in the southern borough of Neustadt-Neuenland and is Germany's12th busiest airport.

Bremen is a major cultural and economic hub of Northern Germany. The city is home to dozens of historical galleries and museums, ranging from historical sculptures to major art museums, such as theBremen Overseas Museum(Übersee-Museum Bremen).^[3]TheBremen City Halland theBremen RolandareUNESCO World Heritage Sites. Bremen is well known through theBrothers Grimm'sfairy tale"Town Musicians of Bremen" (Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten), and there is a statue dedicated to it in front of the city hall.

Bremen has a reputation as a working-class city.^[4]The city is home to many multinationals and manufacturing companies headquartered in Bremen includeHachezchocolate andVector Foiltec.^[5]BundesligaclubSV Werder Bremenplay in theWeserstadionon the bank of the Weser.

For most of its 1,200 year history, Bremen was an independent city within the confederal jurisdiction of theHoly Roman Empire. Its governing merchants andguildswere at the centre of theHanseatic Leaguethat sought to monopolise theNorth SeaandBaltic Seatrade. To enlarge and confirm its independence, the city had, until theReformation, to contend with the temporal power ofthe Church, and after theThirty Years' WarwithSweden, the masters of the surroundingDuchy of Bremen-Verden.George 1 Louis, theElector of Hannover(and from 1714,King of Great Britain and Ireland) who in 1715 acquired Bremen-Verden, recognized Bremen as a free city in 1720.^[6]The city was captured in 1806 and then annexed byFrancein 1810, before it regained independence in 1815.^[6]

In 1871, Bremen was drawn byPrussiainto theGerman Empire. With its new sea anchorage and wharves at Bremerhaven, it was the principal port of embarkation for German and central European emigrants to the Americas, and anentrepôtfor Germany's late developing colonial trade. TheNorddeutscher Lloyd(NDL), founded in Bremen in 1857, became one of the world's leading shipping companies.

In the twentieth century, Bremen, a broadlyliberalandsocial-democraticcity, lost its autonomy under theHitler regime. DuringWorld War II, it was the location of nine subcamps of theNeuengamme concentration camp, mostly for French, Polish, Soviet and Jewish men and Jewish women.^[7]After the war, in which almost two thirds of the city's fabric was destroyed, the autonomy was restored. Bremen became one of the foundingBundesländer(or states) of theFederal Republic (West Germany).

Bremen lies on both sides of theRiver Weser, about 60 kilometres (37 miles) upstream of its estuary on theNorth Seaand its transition to the Outer Weser by Bremerhaven. Opposite Bremen'sAltstadtis the point where the "Middle Weser" becomes the "Lower Weser" and, from the area of Bremen's port, the river has been made navigable to ocean-going vessels. The region on the left bank of the Lower Weser, through which theOchtumflows, is the Weser Marshes, the landscape on its right bank is part of theElbe-Weser Triangle. TheLesum, and its tributaries, theWümmeandHamme, theSchönebecker AueandBlumenthaler Aue, are the downstream tributaries of the Weser.

The city's municipal area is about 38 kilometres (24 miles) long and 16 kilometres (10 miles) wide. In terms of area, Bremen is the eleventh largest city in Germany; and in terms of population the second largest city in northwest Germany after Hamburg and the eleventh largest in the whole of Germany(see:List of cities in Germany).^{[contradictory]}

Bremen lies about 50 kilometres (31 miles) east of the city ofOldenburg, 110 kilometres (68 miles) southwest ofHamburg, 120 kilometres (75 miles) northwest ofHanover, 100 kilometres (62 miles) north ofMindenand 105 kilometres (65 miles) northeast ofOsnabrück. Part ofBremerhaven's port territory forms anexclaveof the City of Bremen.

The inner city lies on a Weser dune, which reaches a natural height of 10.5 metres (34 feet, 6 inches) above sea level atBremen Cathedral; its highest point, though, is 14.4 metres (47 feet, 3 inches) above sea level and lies to the east at thePolizeihaus,Am Wall196. The highest natural feature in the city of Bremen is 32.5 metres (107 feet) above sea level and lies inFriedehorst Parkin the northwestern borough of Burglesum.^[8]: 25As a result, Bremen has the lowesthigh point of all the German states.^[9]

Bremen has a moderateoceanic climate(Köppen climate classificationCfb) due to its proximity to the North Sea coast and temperate maritime air masses that move in with the predominantly westerly winds from the Atlantic Ocean. However, periods in which continental air masses predominate may occur at any time of the year and can lead to heat waves in the summer and prolonged periods of frost in the winter. In general though, extremes are rare in Bremen and temperatures below −15 °C (5.0 °F) and above 35 °C (95.0 °F) occur only once every couple of years. The record high temperature was 37.6 °C (99.7 °F) on 9 August 1992, while the official record low temperature was −23.6 °C (−10.5 °F) on 13 February 1940. On 13 October 2018, Bremen recorded its warmest October day on record with 28.6 °C (83.4 °F).^[10]However, the astronomerHeinrich Wilhelm Matthias Olbersreported to have measured −27.3 °C on 23 January 1823.^[11]Being at some distance from the main North Sea, Bremen still has a somewhat wider temperature range thanBremerhaventhat is located on the mouth of Weser.

Average temperatures have risen continually over the last decades, leading to a 0.6 °C (1.1 °F) rise in the mean annual temperature between 1961–90 and 1981–2010 reference periods. As in most parts of Germany, the year 2014 has been the warmest year on record averaging 11.1 °C (52.0 °F), making Bremen the second-warmest German state after Berlin in 2014.^[12]While Bremen is located in the comparatively cloudy northwestern part of Germany, there has been a significant increase in average sunshine hours over the last decades, especially in the months of April, May, and July, causing the annual mean to rise by 121 hours between the reference periods of 1961–90 and 1991–2020.^[13]This trend has continued over the last 10 years (2011–2020), which average 1680 hours of sunshine, almost 200 hours more than in the international reference period of 1961–90.^[14]Nevertheless, especially the winters remain extremely gloomy by international standards with December averaging hardly more than one hour of sunshine (out of 7 astronomically possible) per day, a feature that Bremen shares with most of Germany and its neighbouring countries, though.

Precipitation is distributed fairly even around the year with a small peak in summer mainly due to convective precipitation, i.e. showers and thunderstorms. Snowfall and the period of snow cover are variable; whereas in some years, hardly any snow accumulation occurs, there has recently been a series of unusually snowy winters, peaking in the record year 2010 counting 84 days with a snow cover.^[15]Nevertheless, snow accumulation of more than 20 centimetres (8 in) remains exceptional, the record being 68 centimetres (26.8 in) of snow on 18 February 1979.

The warmest months in Bremen are June, July, and August, with average high temperatures of 20.2 to 22.6 °C (68.4 to 72.7 °F). The coldest are December, January, and February, with average low temperatures of −1.1 to 0.3 °C (30.0 to 32.5 °F). Typical of its maritime location, autumn tends to remain mild well into October, while spring arrives later than in the southwestern parts of the country.

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1350	10,000	—
1650	25,000	+150.0%
1811	36,630	+46.5%
1852	57,055	+55.8%
1864	70,692	+23.9%
1871	82,969	+17.4%
1890	125,684	+51.5%
1900	161,184	+28.2%
1910	247,437	+53.5%
1919	262,767	+6.2%
1925	295,585	+12.5%
1933	324,189	+9.7%
1939	431,800	+33.2%
1945	366,427	−15.1%
1951	463,049	+26.4%
1961	569,862	+23.1%
1971	594,591	+4.3%
1981	553,261	−7.0%
1991	551,219	−0.4%
2001	540,950	−1.9%
2011	542,707	+0.3%
2022	575,071	+6.0%
Population size may be affected by changes in administrative divisions.

Bremen's economy boomed in line with the West GermanWirtschaftswunderof the 1950s and 60s. This saw the growth, and permanent settlement, of a large migrant worker population, drawn largely fromTurkeyand southern Europe. A new wave immigration occurred after the turn of new century, following the entry ofPoland,Bulgariaand other formerEast Bloccountries into theEuropean Union, and after 2015 with the settlement ofrefugees from Syriaand other war-torn regions. Today Bremen has a population of 567,000 and is the 11th largest city in Germany and 5th largest city by area with area of 318.21 km²(122.86 sq mi), which makes this city area bigger thanMunich.

By the second decade of the century out of a population (includingBremerhaven) of approximately 680,000, over 115,000 had foreign citizenship,^[8][20]and nearly twice that number, almost a third of the total population, could be classified as having non-German origin/ethnicity.^[21]

Number of minorities in Bremen by nationality as of 31 December 2022:^[22]

Rank	Nationality	Population (31.12.2022)
1	Turkey	22,860
2	Syria	17,345
3	Ukraine	5,370
4	Bulgaria	9,325
5	Poland	9,455
6	Afghanistan	4,215
7	Russia	3,420
8	Romania	4,240
9	Ghana	3,170
10	Serbia	3,535
11	Nigeria	2,350
12	Iran	2,460
13	Albania	2,420
14	Portugal	2,835
15	Italy	2,470

The recent influx has somewhat moderated the tendency toward an accelerated ageing of the population. As it is, more than half the population of the state of Bremen are over 50, and more than a quarter are over 60.^[23]

TheStadtbürgerschaft(municipal assembly) is currently made up of 72 of the 87 legislators of the state legislature, theBremische Bürgerschaftwho reside in the city of Bremen. The legislature is elected by the citizens of Bremen every four years.

Bremen has a reputation as aleft-wingcity. The port, shipyards and related industries sustained a large and unionised working class. This translated into support for theSocial Democrats, considered Bremen's natural governing party. However, in the 1980smechanizationof 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.^[24]The state today is governed by a coalition of the Social Democratic Party,The GreensandThe Left.

In November 2019 the right-wing group Phalanx 18 was banned by the city-state of Bremen.^[25]

One of the two mayors (Bürgermeister) is electedPresident of the Senate(Präsident des Senats) and serves as head of the city and the state. The current mayor isAndreas Bovenschulte.^[26]

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Social Democratic Party(SPD)		32.9	5.7	30	6
	Christian Democratic Union(CDU)		22.4	2.0	20	0
	Alliance '90/The Greens		15.1	7.4	14	7
	The Left		9.5	3.9	8	3
	Free Democratic Party(FDP)		6.5	4.1	6	6
	Alternative for Germany(AfD)		5.5	N/A	4	N/A
	Citizens in Rage(BIW)		3.2	0.5	1	0
	The Party		1.9	N/A	0	N/A
	Pirate Party Germany(PIRATEN)		1.5	0.4	0	0
	Human Environment Animal Protection(The Animal Protection Party)		1.2	N/A	0	N/A
	National Democratic Party(NPD)		0.2	1.4	0	0
Totals			100.0%	—	83	—

Provisional results; the AfD did not reach the 5% threshold in Bremerhaven (and will hence only receive seats for votes from Bremen), the BIW did not reach the threshold in Bremen (and will only receive one seat in Bremerhaven, none in Bremen).^[27][28]

Stadtbezirk (borough)	Stadtteile (urban districts), Ortsteile (subdistricts, selectively)	Area	Population	Density of population	Maps
Mitte (Central) 1	Mitte (Central) Altstadt (Old city), incl.Schnoor Ostertor, part ofViertel (Bremen) Häfen (Ports)	33.741 km²	17,392	515 / km²	Mitte	Häfen
Süd (South) 2	Neustadt (New Town) Alte Neustadt (Old New Town, near the Weser, opposite of the City) Buntentor (an old suburb, southeast of Alte Neustadt) Huckelriede, between Buntentor and Habenhausen Hohentor, west of Alte Neustadt Neuenland, withBremen Airportand some hightech companies Neustadt, Südervorstadt and Gartenstadt Süd between Alte Neustadt and the airport city Obervieland[de] Arsten (near Weser river, upstream) Habenhausen (near Weser, north of Arsten) Kattenesch (west of Arsten) Kattenturm (northwestern section) Huchting, mainly west of riverOchtum Woltmershausenwith Rablinghausen, between Weser river andNeustädter Hafen Seehausen, a village near river Weser Strom, a village	66.637 km²	123,303	1,850 / km²	Neustadt Huchting Seehausen	Obervieland Woltmershausen Strom
Ost (East) 3	Östliche Vorstadt(Eastern Suburb) Steintor (near the city), part ofViertel (Bremen) Fesenfeld (northern part of Steintor) Peterswerder (withWeserstadion) Hulsberg (north of Peterswerder) Schwachhausen Vahr[de](withAalto-Hochhaus) Horn-Lehe(withUniversity of Bremen) Borgfeld Oberneuland[de] Osterholz Hemelingen Hastedt (near Östliche Vorstadt) Sebaldsbrück (east of Hastedt) Hemelingen (south of Sebaldsbrück, near Weser river) Arbergen (east of Hemelingen) Mahndorf (east of Arbergen)	108.201 km²	218,843	2,023 / km²	Östliche Vorstadt Vahr Borgfeld Osterholz	Schwachhausen Horn-Lehe Oberneuland Hemelingen
West 4	Blockland Findorff Walle Gröpelingen[de] Oslebshausen	56.606 km²	89,216	1,576 / km²	Blockland Findorff	Walle Gröpelingen
Nord (North) 5	Burglesum[de] Vegesack Blumenthal Rönnebeck Farge Rekum[de](withValentin submarine pens)	60.376 km²	98,606	1,633 / km²	Burglesum Blumenthal	Vegesack

• Many of the sights in Bremen are found in theAltstadt(Old Town), an oval area surrounded by theWeser River, on the southwest, and theWallgraben, the former moats of the medieval city walls, on the northeast. The oldest part of the Altstadt is the southeast half, starting with theMarktplatzand ending at theSchnoorquarter.
• TheMarktplatz(Market square) is dominated by the opulent façade of theTown Hall of Bremen. The building was erected between 1405 and 1410 inGothic style, but the façade was built two centuries later (1609–12) inRenaissance style. The Town Hall is the seat of the president of theSenate of Bremen. Today, it hosts a restaurant in original decor with giganticwine barrels, theRatskeller in Bremen. In July 2004, along with theBremen Roland, the building was added to the list ofUNESCO World Heritage Sites.
• Two statues stand to the west side of the Town Hall: one is the statueBremen Roland(1404) of the city's protector,Roland, with his view against theCathedraland bearing Durendart, the "sword of justice" and a shield decorated with animperial eagle. The other near the entrance to theRatskellerisGerhard Marcks'bronze sculpture(1953)Die Stadtmusikanten(Town Musicians), which portrays the donkey, dog, cat and rooster of theGrimm Brothers'fairy tale.
• Other interesting buildings in the vicinity of the Marktplatz are theSchütting, a sixteenth-century Flemish-inspired guild hall,Rathscafé,Raths-Apotheke,Haus der Stadtsparkasseand theStadtwaage, the formerweigh house(built in 1588), with an ornate Renaissance façade, and the nearbyEssighaus, once a fine Renaissance town house. The façades and houses surrounding the market square were the first buildings in Bremen to be restored afterWorld War II, by the citizens of Bremen themselves.
• St Peter'sCathedral(13th century), to the east of the Marktplatz, with sculptures ofMosesandDavid,PeterandPauland Charlemagne. TheBismarck Monumentis also outside the cathedral, which is the only monument in Germany to depict Otto von Bismarck in an equestrian format.
• On Katherinenklosterhof to the northwest of the cathedral, a few remaining traces can be found ofSt Catherine's Monasterydating back to the thirteenth century.
• TheLiebfrauenkirche(Our Lady's Church) is the oldest church of the town (11th century). Its crypt features several impressive murals from the fourteenth century.
• Off the south side of the Markplatz, the 110 m (120 yd)Böttcherstraßewas transformed in 1923–1931 by the coffee magnateLudwig Roselius, who commissioned local artists to convert the narrow street (in medieval times, the street of the barrel makers) into an inspired mixture ofGothicandArt Nouveau. It was considered "entartete Kunst" (degenerate art) by the Nazis. Today, the street is one of Bremen's most popular attractions, with theGlockenspiel Houseat No. 4 with itscarillonofMeissen porcelainbells.^[29]
• At the end of Böttcherstraße, by the Weser bank, stands theMartinikirche(St Martin's Church), a Gothic brick church built in 1229, and rebuilt in 1960 after its destruction in World War II.^[30]
• Tucked away between the Cathedral and the river is theSchnoor, a small, well-preserved area of crooked lanes, fishermen's and shipper's houses from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, now occupied by cafés, artisan shops andart galleries. TheConvent of Saint Birgitta(Birgittenkloster) founded in 2002 is a small community of just seven nuns offering guest accommodation.^[31]
• Schlachte, the medievalharbourof Bremen (the modern port is some kilometres downstream) is today a riverside boulevard with pubs and bars aligned on one side and the banks of Weser on the other.^[32]
• TheVierteldistrict to the east of the old town combines rows of nineteenth-century Bremen houses (Bremer Häuser) with museums and the theatres ofTheater Bremenalong the city's cultural mile (Kulturmeile (Bremen)[de]).^[33]
• Knoops Park which is one of the larger green spaces in the city that many locals love to visit especially when the weather is warmer. There is also an option to rent smallrowboatsin the middle of the park.
• TheNasir Moscheeis the first purpose built mosque of theAhmadiyyaMuslim Community in Bremen.^[34]

More contemporarytourist attractionsinclude:

• Universum Science Center, amodern sciencemuseum
• TheRhododendron-Park Bremen, a major collection ofrhododendronsandazaleas; also includes abotanical garden
• Botanika, a nature museum within the Rhododendron-Park Bremen that attempts be to the same as theUniversum, but for biology
• Beck's Brewery, tours are available to the public which includebeer tasting
• TheKunsthalle Bremen, an art museum with paintings from the nineteenth and twentieth century, maintained by the citizens of Bremen
• Focke Museum,^[35]museum of art and cultural history
• TheÜbersee Museum Bremen(Overseas (World) Museum) is anatural historyandethnographicmuseum near by theCentral Station Bremen.
• TheKunstsammlungen Böttcherstraße, an art museum inexpressionist architecturefromBernhard Hoetgerwith paintings from the twentieth century fromPaula Modersohn-Becker
• The Weserburg Museum für moderne Kunst ("Weserburg Modern Art Museum"), a modern art museum located in the middle of the Weser River^[36]

• Mediumwave transmitter Bremen
• Fallturm Bremen
• Bremen-Walle Telecommunication Tower

TheFreie Waldorfschulein Bremen-Sebaldsbrück was Germany's first school built to thePassivhauslow-energy buildingstandard.^[37]

According to data from the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, Bremen had a GDP per capita of $53,379 in 2013, higher than the average for Germany as a whole. For comparison, in 2013, the World Bank reported Germany had a GDP per capita of $46,268, and the EU overall had a GDP per capita of $35,408 in the same year.^[38]

Bremen is the second development centre of the region, afterHamburg. It forms part of the production network ofAirbusSAS and this is where equipping of the wing units for all widebody Airbus aircraft and the manufacture of small sheet metal parts takes place. Structural assembly, including that of metal landing flaps, is another focal point. Within the framework ofAirbus A380production, assembly of the landing flaps (high lift systems) is carried out here. The pre-final assembly of the fuselage section (excluding the cockpit) of theA400Mmilitary transport aircraft takes place before delivery on to Spain.^[39]

More than 3,100 persons are employed at Airbus Bremen, the second largest Airbus site in Germany. As part of the Centre of Excellence – Wing/Pylon, Bremen is responsible for the design and manufacture of high-lift systems for the wings of Airbus aircraft. The entire process chain for the high-lift elements is established here, including the project office, technology engineering, flight physics, system engineering, structure development, verification tests, structural assembly, wing equipping and ultimate delivery to the final assembly line. In addition, Bremen manufactures sheet metal parts like clips and thrust crests for all Airbus aircraft as part of the Centre of Excellence – Fuselage and Cabin.^[40]

In Bremen there is a plant ofEADS Astriumand the headquarters ofOHB-System, respectively the first and the third space companies of European Union.

There is also aMercedes-Benzfactory in Bremen, building theC,CLK,SL,SLK, andGLKseries of cars.^[41]

Beck & Co's headlining brew Beck's andSt Pauli Girlbeers are brewed in Bremen. In past centuries when Bremen's port was the "key to Europe", the city also had a large 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. Bremen is not the place where the largestwine cellarin the world is located although it was once said to hold over 1 million bottles, but during WWII was raided by occupying forces.

A large number of food producing or trading companies are located in Bremen with their German or European headquarters:Anheuser-BuschInBev (Beck's Brewery),Kellogg's,Kraft Foods(Kraft, Jacobs Coffee, Milka Chocolate, Milram, Miràcoli), Frosta (frosted food), Nordsee (chain of sea fast food),MelittaKaffee, Eduscho Kaffee, Azul Kaffee, Vitakraft (pet articles and food for cats, dogs, birds, fish, rodents and other pets), Atlanta AG (Chiquita banana), chocolatierHachez(fine chocolate and confiserie), feodora chocolatier.

Bremer Woll-Kämmerei(BWK), a worldwide operating company for manufacturing wool and trading in wool and similar products, is headquartered in Bremen.Gleisteinis a German cordage factory with head office in Bremen.

Bremen has aninternational airportsituated 3 km (2 mi) south of the city centre.

Trams in Bremenand localbusservices are offered by theBremer Straßenbahn AG(translates from German asBremen Tramways Corporation), often abbreviated BSAG, thepublic transportprovider for Bremen.^[42]

TheBremen S-Bahncovers theBremen/Oldenburg Metropolitan Region, fromBremerhavenin the north toTwistringenin the south and fromOldenburgin the west, centred onBremen Central Station. It has been in operation since 2010.^[43]This network unified existing regional transport in Bremen as well as surrounding cities, includingBremerhaven,Delmenhorst,Twistringen,Nordenham,Oldenburg, andVerden an der Aller. The network lies completely within the area of theBremen-Lower Saxony Transport Association, whose tariff structure applies.

• On August 8, 1992, inWeserstadion,Michael Jacksonperformed a show as part of hisDangerous World Tour. It was one of his three shows in Bremen and on his next and last tour he kicked off theHIStory World Tourin Bremen.
• Every year since 1036, in the last two weeks of October, Bremen has hosted theFreimarkt("Free market"), one of the world's oldest and in Germany one of today's biggest continuously celebrated fairground festivals.
• Bremen is host to one of the four big annualTechnoparades, theVision Parade.
• Bremen is also host of the "Bremer 6 Tage Rennen" a bicycle race at the Bremen Arena.
• Every year the city plays host to young musicians from across the world, playing in the International Youth Symphony Orchestra of Bremen (IYSOB).
• On March 12, 1999, the rock bandKissplayed a live show in Bremen. Before the show, they were told by the fire marshall not to use any fireworks. They did not use any fireworks until the very end, when they set off all of the fireworks at once. Because of this, they are now banned from playing in Bremen.
• Bremen was host to the 2006 RoboCup competition.
• Bremen was host to the 32ndDeutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag, 20–24 May 2009.
• Bremen hosted the 50thInternational Mathematical Olympiad(IMO) from 10–22 July 2009.^[44]
• The Rolling Stones named a Live Album "Bridges to Bremen", which was recorded 1998 in Bremen.^[45]

Bremen is home to thefootballteamWerder Bremen, who won theGerman Football Championshipfor the fourth time and the German Football Cup for the fifth time in 2004, making them only the fourth team in German football history to win the double; the club won the German Football Cup for the sixth time in 2009. OnlyBayern Munichhas won more titles. In the final match of the 2009–10 season, Werder Bremen lost to Bayern Munich. The home stadium of SV Werder Bremen is theWeserstadion, a pure football stadium, almost completely surrounded by solar cells. It is one of the biggest buildings in Europe delivering alternative energy.

With 18,000 students,^[46]theUniversity of Bremenis the largest university in Bremen, and is also home to the internationalGoethe-Institutand theFallturm Bremen. Additionally, Bremen has aUniversity of the Artsand theBremen University of Applied Sciences. In 2001, the privateJacobs University Bremenwas founded. All major German research foundations maintain institutes in Bremen, with a focus on marine sciences: TheMax Planck Societywith theMax Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, and theGottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Scientific Communitywith the Center for Tropical Marine Ecology (zmt).^[47]The Bremerhaven-basedAlfred-Wegener-Instituteof theHelmholtz Associationclosely cooperates with the aforementioned institutes, especially within the MARUM^[48]a center for marine environmental sciences, affiliated to the University of Bremen. Furthermore, TheFraunhofer Societyis present in Bremen with centers for applied material research (IFAM^[49]) and medical image computing (MEVIS^[50]).

• In December 1949, Bremen hosted the lecture cycleEinblick in das, was istby the philosopherMartin 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 hisFreiburgprofessorship by theDenazificationauthorities.
• Bremen is connected with a fairy tale by theBrothers Grimm, theTown Musicians of Bremen, although they never actually reach Bremen in the tale.
• The 1922 filmNosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauenswas set mostly in Bremen.
• In July 2022,Yorushikareleased a song titledBremen.

Bremen istwinnedwith:^[51]

• List of mayors of Bremen

• Tristam Carrington-Windo, Katrin M. Kohl (1998).A Dictionary of Contemporary Germany. Routledge (UK). p.page 64.ISBN1-57958-114-5.^{[dead link]}}
• Claus Christian (2007): A photographic excursion through Bremen, Bremen-North, Bremerhaven, Fischerhude and Worpswede, ISBN 978-3-00-015451-5
• Dannenberg, Hans-Eckhard; Schulze, Heinz-Joachim (1995).Geschichte des Landes zwischen Elbe und Weser vol. 1 Vor- und Frühgeschichte. Stade: Landschaftsverband der ehem. Herzogtümer Bremen und Verden.ISBN978-3-9801919-7-5.
• Dannenberg, Hans-Eckhard; Schulze, Heinz-Joachim (1995).Geschichte des Landes zwischen Elbe und Weser vol. 2 Mittelalter (einschl. Kunstgeschichte). Stade: Landschaftsverband der ehem. Herzogtümer Bremen und Verden.ISBN978-3-9801919-8-2.
• Dannenberg, Hans-Eckhard; Schulze, Heinz-Joachim (2008).Geschichte des Landes zwischen Elbe und Weser vol. 3 Neuzeit. Stade: Landschaftsverband der ehem. Herzogtümer Bremen und Verden.ISBN978-3-9801919-9-9.
• Herbert Schwarzwälder(1995),Geschichte der Freien Hansestadt Bremen.Vol. I – V. Bremen:Edition Temmen[de],ISBN3-86108-283-7

• Official city website
• Official visitors information (various languages)
• Bremen City Panoramas – Panoramic Views and virtual Tours
• Official site of the city center
• Official site of the Schnoor quarter
• Official site of the shopping quarter Das Viertel
• Official site of the Weser promenade SchlachteArchived2022-05-31 at theWayback Machine
• Official site of the shopping avenue Sögestraße
• Official site of the shopping mall Lloyd Passage
• Official site of the shopping quarter Ansgari Quartier
• Remnant from World War II in Bremen