Memories and hints of a travelling IT professional.
It is very unusual that real cities are named within fairytales. Bremen, Germany is one of the very few examples as the Brothers Grimm made the city the target destination of a donkey, a dog, a cat and a rooster that want to flee their lifes and become musicians there. ‘Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten‘ describes their story and they never arrive at Bremen as they succeed in chasing some robbers out of a house – which they then decide to live in.
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The statue of Roland on the market place of Bremen, Germany is one of the town’s landmarks. It is more than five meters high and together with its platform and decorations it reaches a height of more than 10 meters, making it the biggest free-standing statue of medieval times in Germany. The statue shows military leader Roland who guarantees the city its freedom and rights.
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I’ve seen many town halls in the past but the one at Bremen, Germany is one of the most beautiful. It is richly decorated outside as well as inside and is one of the most important buildings of the Weser renaissance and gothic styles. It was built between 1405 and 1410 as a replacement for the former town hall in romanesque style (built before the 1220s). Together with the Roland it is now a UNESCO World Heritage site.
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The cathedral of Bremen – the Bremer Dom – is dedicated to Saint Peter and standing next to the town hall and the statue of Roland. It is a beautiful protestant church building with a fine rosetta in front and two towers with a height slightly above 90 meters. The first church building in that place dates back to the year 784, the current church is from the 11th century CE. It is mostly designed in gothic style with neo-romanesque elements.
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The Kunsthalle Bremen is an art museum next to the city center of Bremen, Germany. It is located between the northern end of the Osterdeich along river Weser and the Stadtgraben (the water next to the former city fortifications). From the museum it is a very short walk to the main market place. The art collection dates back to the year 1823, the current building was created in 1849.
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A nice mediterranean restaurant and coffee bar in the perfect location: the Casa can be found at the northern entry to the Viertel, one of the best city quarters of Bremen, Germany with many bars and restaurants. They offer breakfast, tapas, pizza, pasta – but also salads, soups and vegetarian options. In addition to the seats inside you can also find some nice places outside around the restaurant.
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If you’re standing in front of the ibis hotel at Bremen, Germany you might wonder if this is really a ‘good location’: it is located at the Rembertiring and a giant roundabout. But it is a good place if you want to visit the city – the railway station is less then 10 minutes on foot, the city center is close-by and it is next to the Viertel. You can even walk to the Weserstadion within 25 minutes, it is just two kilometers away.
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The Fährmannsfest at Hannover, Germany is one of these music festivals that evolved over time and became bigger and bigger. Founded in 1983 it was first a free open air concert with local bands financed by selling food and drinks. Today even some well-known bands play here in front of up to 10.000 visitors and for two of the three days of the festival you now have to buy a ticket.
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When you’re standing next to the Steinertsee at Kaufungen, Germany you won’t directly notice that it is an artificial lake and you can’t image what happened here in the past. Between 1955 and 1967 brown coal was taken from the earth of the Steinertfeld. Between 1960 and 1968 this place was additionally used as a waste dump – but from 1971 on things changed and a large recreation area (the Steinertseepark) was created.
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The Gut Windhausen at Niestetal, Germany is a hidden gem that already has seen better days. A village at this location was mentioned first in 1241, the ownership changed over time. The best times began when Maria Anna Amalia of Courland, the wife of Charles I, landgrave of Hesse-Kassel bought the area and general Martin Ernst von Schlieffen moved in. A manor house in baroque style was built here by his request from 1769 on.
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