"Bremen - the city of the musicians" a Bremen Travel Page by Bernd_L

For centuries Bremen has been a harbour-city although it is about 60 kilometres away from the coast. River Weser made it possible. Besides Hamburg it was one of the big gateways for traders of overseas goods. And this made Bremen a rich city what can be seen in its old town quarters where you find wonderful buildings in the traditional brick architecture.

But the ships grew bigger and the Weser silted up. So large vessels couldn't reach the city anymore. Therefore the citizens built a new harbour at the coast and the city of Bremerhaven was born. Together with Bremen this city forms the smallest of the 16 federal states of Germany.

Nowadays Bremens economy is struggling after a major crisis of the shipbuilding industry. While looking for new ways to earn money they made big efforts to make the city more attractive for tourists. They already had picturesque old quarters. And they added some new objects of interest like the Universum Science Center, the Space Center and the Botanica toattract people. So go there and spend a weekend or make an excursion if you spend your vacation at the North Sea coast.

Bremen is also famous for its singing animals, the so called "Town-Musicians of Bremen". A fairy tale of the Grimm brothers tells the story of four aging animals (a donkey, a dog, a cat and a rooster) who are too old to be useful and should be killed by their owners. So the four left their homes. When they met each other on the road they decided to go to Bremen to earn their living as an "Senior-Band".