City of Bremen

Country: Germany
State: Bremen
Language: German
Currency: EUR
Climate: moderate, continental
Population: 563,290
Time zone: UTC+01:00 (CET), summer: UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Member of EU: Yes
Telephone Area Code: 0421

The Hanseatic city of Bremen is the vibrant heart of north-west Germany and home of the famous Bremen Town Musicians. It’s a city where different aspects of history, tradition, science, nature and culture come together to form a fascinating whole. Simply put, Bremen is well worth discovering.

Bremen is the largest city on the River Weser, the longest river flowing entirely in Germany, lying some 60 km upstream from its mouth into the North Sea, and is surrounded by the state of Lower Saxony. A commercial and industrial city, Bremen is, together with Oldenburg and Bremerhaven, part of the Bremen/Oldenburg Metropolitan Region, with 2.5 million people.

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 thirteenth largest city in Germany; and in terms of population the second largest city in northwest Germany after Hamburg.

Bremen's port, together with the port of Bremerhaven at the mouth of the Weser, is the second largest port in Germany after the Port of Hamburg. The airport of Bremen (Flughafen Bremen “Hans Koschnick”) lies in the southern borough of Neustadt-Neuenland and is Germany's 12th 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 the Bremen Overseas Museum (Übersee-Museum Bremen). The Bremen City Hall and the Bremen Roland are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Bremen is well known through the Brothers Grimm's fairy 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. The city is home to many multinationals and manufacturing companies headquartered in Bremen Foiltec.

For more information about Bremen, check out www.bremen.eu.