Bremen has been a proud trading city for more than a thousand years. As a member of the Hanseatic League and later a Free Imperial City, it guarded its independence fiercely, and together with Bremerhaven it is still the smallest of Germany's 16 federal states. Its Market Square, framed by a Gothic town hall and watched over by a giant stone knight, is one of the finest in the country. Here are the facts and stories that make the city special.
10 fun facts about Bremen
- A World Heritage town hall: the Town Hall was built in the early 15th century and given its richly decorated Weser Renaissance facade in the early 17th. In 2004 it was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List together with the Roland statue in front of it.
- A stone knight for freedom: the Roland statue was put up in 1404, and the figure alone is 5.47 metres tall. Legend says Bremen will stay free as long as Roland stands, and a spare Roland is said to be kept in the town hall's vaults, just in case.
- Musicians who never arrived: in the Brothers Grimm tale, the donkey, dog, cat and rooster set off for Bremen but never get there. Gerhard Marcks's bronze of the four has stood beside the town hall since 1953, and the donkey's front legs are rubbed shiny by visitors hoping for luck.
- A hole that makes animal noises: drop a coin into the Bremer Loch, an opening in the pavement of the Market Square, and you hear one of the four Town Musicians. The money goes to charity.
- A wine cellar from 1405: the Ratskeller under the town hall is one of the oldest wine cellars in Germany and is known for serving only German wines.
- A street of brick and gold: Böttcherstraße was rebuilt in the 1920s and early 1930s for the coffee merchant Ludwig Roselius, the man who first brought decaffeinated coffee to market. A golden relief of the Archangel Michael fighting a dragon marks its entrance.
- Bells made of porcelain: on the House of the Glockenspiel in Böttcherstraße, 30 bells of Meissen porcelain ring out several times a day, while carved panels turn to show ocean crossers such as Christopher Columbus and Charles Lindbergh.
- The Schnoor: Bremen's oldest quarter is a maze of narrow lanes and tiny houses, many from the 17th and 18th centuries, where fishermen and craftsmen once lived.
- A stone to spit on: a stone set into the pavement of the Domshof marks the spot where the poisoner Gesche Gottfried, who killed 15 people with arsenic, was executed on 21 April 1831. It was the last public execution in Bremen, and some people still spit on the stone.
- A fair since 1035: the Freimarkt, held every October, goes back to a market charter granted in 1035 and is one of the oldest fairs in Germany.
The Town Musicians of Bremen
In the tale recorded by the Brothers Grimm, a donkey grown too old to carry sacks runs away to become a town musician in Bremen. On the road he meets a worn-out hunting dog, a cat and a rooster, all about to be got rid of by their owners, and they join him. At nightfall they find a robbers' house in the forest. Standing on one another's backs, they bray, bark, miaow and crow, then crash through the window. The robbers flee in terror. When one creeps back in the dark, he is scratched, bitten, kicked and crowed at, and tells his gang that a witch, a man with a knife, a monster with a club and a judge are waiting inside. The animals like the house so much that they stay, and never reach Bremen at all.
What to eat in Bremen
- Kohl und Pinkel: kale stewed for hours and served with Pinkel, a smoked sausage made with oats or barley and bacon. It is the classic winter dish, eaten after the first frost.
- Knipp: a sausage of oat groats and pork, sliced and fried until crisp, often with fried potatoes and pickled gherkins.
- Labskaus: the sailors' dish of corned beef mashed with potatoes and beetroot, topped with a fried egg and served with a rollmop herring.
- Beck's: Bremen's best-known beer has been brewed in the city since 1873.
Good to know before you go
- The Schlachte promenade along the Weser is lined with beer gardens and restaurants, and river and harbour boat trips leave from here.
- The Freimarkt fills the city in the second half of October, and from late November the Christmas market spreads across the Market Square and along the Schlachte.
- Bremerhaven, with the German Emigration Center and the Klimahaus, is under an hour away by regional train.
Explore Bremen with World City Trail
Our Bremen scavenger hunt turns these sights into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops and takes around two hours, with about 34 minutes of walking, and takes you along the Schlachte promenade and through Böttcherstraße.
At each stop you solve a puzzle and hear a short story, at your own pace. You can start whenever you like and play in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish or Dutch.
Play the Bremen scavenger hunt →
Facts checked in October 2026.