The Hanseatic City of Bremen

A world cultural heritage site with the romance of seafarers

The Hanseatic city's most famous ambassadors, the Bremen Town Musicians, never actually arrived here, as the fairy tale reveals.

Yet their bronze figures embellish the west side of the Neo-Renaissance city hall, which has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site, as has the statue of Roland, who has represented law and freedom on the marketplace since 1404. Only five years younger is the Ratskeller restaurant, an underground paradise for lovers of select beverages. It prides itself on having the largest collection of German wine, offering 650 different varieties.

Tranquil and modern, cosmopolitan and lively but never hectic is the impression that visitors gain of Bremen's city area. A real jewel is the Schnoor, a maze of lanes with picturesque houses from the 15th and 16th centuries. Temptations in nearby Böttcherstrasse include fine shops and inns, a casino, arts and crafts and a carillon that chimes regularly. All contributing to the air of seafaring romance are the harbour, the River Weser, the Ethnology Museum, the Harbour Museum Speicher XI and the training ship Deutschland, the only remaining fully-rigged ship from Germany's naval history. It has been moored in Bremen's district of Vegesack since 1996.

The innovative side of the city is on show in the Universum Science Center, botanika and EADS Astrium.

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