![Aerial view of Bremerhaven (2019)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Aerial_view_of_Bremerhaven_%282019%29.jpg)
Bremerhaven (, ,
Low German
:
:
:
:
:
(70,000)
(30,000)
(8,000)
, familycolor = Indo-European
, fam2 = Germanic
, fam3 = West Germanic
, fam4 = North Sea Germanic
, ancestor = Old Saxon
, ancestor2 = Middle L ...
: ''Bremerhoben'') is a city at the
seaport
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...
of the
Free Hanseatic City of Bremen
Bremen (), officially the Free Hanseatic League#Lists of former Hansa cities, Hanseatic City of Bremen (german: Freie Hansestadt Bremen; nds, Free Hansestadt Bremen), is the smallest and least populous of States of Germany, Germany's 16 states. ...
, a
state
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
of the
Federal Republic of Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...
.
It forms a
semi-enclave
An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...
in the state of
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...
and is located at the mouth of the
River Weser
The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports of B ...
on its eastern bank, opposite the town of
Nordenham
Nordenham () is a town in the Wesermarsch district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located at the mouth (on the west bank) of the Weser river on the Butjadingen peninsula on the coast of the North Sea. The seaport city of Bremerhaven is located ...
. Though a relatively new city, it has a long history as a
trade
Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market.
An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...
port
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...
and today is one of the most important German ports, playing a role in Germany's trade.
History
The town was founded in 1827, but neighboring settlements such as Lehe were in the vicinity as early as the 12th century, and Geestendorf was "mentioned in documents of the ninth century".
[ p. 8. Fourth revised edition. Translated into English from the original German edition titled ''Bremerhaven – tätige Stadt im Noordseewind''] These tiny villages were built on small islands in the swampy estuary. In 1381, the city of
Bremen
Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...
established ''de facto'' rule over the lower
Weser
The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports of Bre ...
stream, including Lehe, later therefore called Bremerlehe. Early in 1653,
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
Bremen-Verden
), which is a public-law corporation established in 1865 succeeding the estates of the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen (established in 1397), now providing the local fire insurance in the shown area and supporting with its surplusses cultural effor ...
's troops captured Bremerlehe by force.
The
Emperor Ferdinand III
Ferdinand III (Ferdinand Ernest; 13 July 1608, in Graz – 2 April 1657, in Vienna) was from 1621 Archduke of Austria, King of Hungary from 1625, King of Croatia and Bohemia from 1627 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1637 until his death in 1657.
...
ordered his vassal
Christina of Sweden
Christina ( sv, Kristina, 18 December ( New Style) 1626 – 19 April 1689), a member of the House of Vasa, was Queen of Sweden in her own right from 1632 until her abdication in 1654. She succeeded her father Gustavus Adolphus upon his death ...
, then Duchess regnant of Bremen-Verden, to restitute Bremerlehe to Bremen. However, Swedish
Bremen-Verden
), which is a public-law corporation established in 1865 succeeding the estates of the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen (established in 1397), now providing the local fire insurance in the shown area and supporting with its surplusses cultural effor ...
began the
First Bremian War
The Swedish wars on Bremen were fought between the Swedish Empire and the Hanseatic town of Bremen in 1654 and 1666. Bremen claimed to be subject to the Holy Roman Emperor, maintaining Imperial immediacy, while Sweden claimed Bremen to be a media ...
(March – July 1654). In the subsequent peace treaty (; November 1654) Bremen had to cede Bremerlehe and its surroundings to Swedish Bremen-Verden. The latter developed plans to found a fortified town on the site, and much later this location became the present-day city of Bremerhaven. In 1672, under the reign of
Charles XI of Sweden
Charles XI or Carl ( sv, Karl XI; ) was King of Sweden from 1660 until his death, in a period of Swedish history known as the Swedish Empire (1611–1721).
He was the only son of King Charles X Gustav of Sweden and Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein- ...
, in
personal union
A personal union is the combination of two or more states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, would involve the constituent states being to some extent interlink ...
Duke of Bremen-Verden—colonists tried unsuccessfully to erect a castle (named
Carlsburg after Charles XI) there; this fortified structure was meant to protect, as well as control shipping heading for Bremen.
Finally, in 1827, the city of Bremen under
Burgomaster
Burgomaster (alternatively spelled burgermeister, literally "master of the town, master of the borough, master of the fortress, master of the citizens") is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chief m ...
Johann Smidt
Johann Smidt (November 5, 1773 – May 7, 1857) was an important Bremen politician, theologian, and founder of Bremerhaven.
Biography
Smidt was a son of the Reformed preacher Johann Smidt sen., pastor at St. Stephen Church in Bremen. Smidt ...
bought the territories at the mouth of the Weser from the
Kingdom of Hanover
The Kingdom of Hanover (german: Königreich Hannover) was established in October 1814 by the Congress of Vienna, with the restoration of George III to his Hanoverian territories after the Napoleonic era. It succeeded the former Electorate of Han ...
. Bremen sought this territory to retain its share of Germany's overseas trade, which was threatened by the silting up of the Weser around the old inland port of Bremen. Bremerhaven (literally in en, Bremener Haven/Harbour) was founded to be a haven for Bremen's merchant marine, becoming the second harbour for Bremen, despite being downstream. Due to trade with, and emigration to North America, the port and the town grew quickly. In 1848, Bremerhaven became the home port of the
German Confederation
The German Confederation (german: Deutscher Bund, ) was an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe. It was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as a replacement of the former Holy Roman Empire, w ...
's
Navy
A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...
under
Karl Rudolf Brommy
Rear Admiral Karl Rudolf Brommy (changed his name to reflect the English pronunciation of his original name, Bromme) (10 September 1804 – 9 January 1860) was a German naval officer who helped establish the first unified German fleet, the Reich ...
.
The
Kingdom of Hanover
The Kingdom of Hanover (german: Königreich Hannover) was established in October 1814 by the Congress of Vienna, with the restoration of George III to his Hanoverian territories after the Napoleonic era. It succeeded the former Electorate of Han ...
founded a rival town next to Bremerhaven and called it Geestemünde (1845). Both towns grew and established the three economic pillars of trade, shipbuilding and fishing. Following inter-state negotiations at different times, Bremerhaven's boundary was several times extended at the expense of Hanoveran territory. In 1924, Geestemünde and the neighbouring municipality of Lehe were united to become the new city of Wesermünde, and in 1939 Bremerhaven (apart from the overseas port) was removed from the jurisdiction of Bremen and made a part of Wesermünde, then a part of the Prussian
Province of Hanover
The Province of Hanover (german: Provinz Hannover) was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1868 to 1946.
During the Austro-Prussian War, the Kingdom of Hanover had attempted to maintain a neutral position, ...
.
Bremerhaven was one of the important harbours of emigration in Europe.
![Jade-weser-muendung map de](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/Jade-weser-muendung_map_de.png)
As possibly the most critical North Sea base of the Nazi War Navy, the ''
Kriegsmarine
The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...
'', 79% of the city was destroyed in the Allied air
bombing of Bremen in World War II
The Bombing of Bremen in World War II by the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and US Eighth Air Force involved both indiscriminate "area bombing" and, as capacity improved, more targeted raids upon the city's military-industrial facilities. These ...
; however, key parts of the port were deliberately spared by the
Allied forces to provide a usable harbour for supplying the Allies after the war. All of Wesermünde, including those parts which did not previously belong to Bremerhaven, was a postwar enclave run by the United States within the British zone of northern Germany. Most of the US military units and their personnel were assigned to the city's Carl Schurz Kaserne. One of the longest based US units at the Kaserne was a US military radio and TV station, an "Amerikanischer Soldatensender",
AFN Bremerhaven
AFN Bremerhaven was originally an "Armed Forces Radio and Television Service" (AFRTS) station. (AFRTS, worldwide, is now also known as "American Forces Network" or "AFN"). The Bremerhaven affiliate station was located in northern Germany. At the ...
, which broadcast for 48 years. In 1993, the Kaserne was vacated by the US military and returned to the German government.
In 1947 the city became part of the federal state
Free Hanseatic City of Bremen
Bremen (), officially the Free Hanseatic League#Lists of former Hansa cities, Hanseatic City of Bremen (german: Freie Hansestadt Bremen; nds, Free Hansestadt Bremen), is the smallest and least populous of States of Germany, Germany's 16 states. ...
and was consequently renamed from Wesermünde to Bremerhaven. Today, Bremerhaven is a city in its own right, but also part of the
city-state
A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as ...
of Bremen, which is for all intents and purposes a state comprising two cities. In addition to being part of the federal state, the city of Bremen has owned the "overseas port" within Bremerhaven since 1927. This and other parts of Bremerhaven owned by the city of Bremen are known as ''stadtbremisch''. To complicate matters, a treaty between the two cities (as mentioned in Section 8 of Bremerhaven's municipal constitution) makes Bremerhaven responsible for the municipal administration of those parts owned directly by Bremen.
Trade
The port of Bremerhaven is the sixteenth-largest
container
A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping.
Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...
port in the world and the fourth-largest in Europe with of cargo handled in 2007
and 5,5 million in 2015. The container terminal is situated on the bank of the river Weser opening to the North Sea. In the wet dock parts, accessible by two large locks, more than 2 million cars are imported or exported every year with 2,3 million in 2014. Bremerhaven imports and exports more cars than any other city in Europe. Another million tons of "High-and-Heavy" goods are handled with
ro-ro
Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or using ...
ships. In 2011 a new
panamax-sized lock has replaced the 1897 ''Kaiserschleuse'', then the largest lock worldwide.
File:Karte der Häfen in Bremerhaven.png, Harbors of Bremerhaven
File:A Weser watershed closer.gif, The river Weser flows by Bremen
Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...
to the estuary at Bremerhaven (top)
File:HB 2016-0607 photo32 Bremerhaven sea port.jpg, Skyline of Havenwelten-district
File:HB 2016-0607 photo34 Bremerhaven sea port.jpg, Overseas port of Bremerhaven
File:MSC Venezuela.jpg, The MSC ''Venezuela'' docking at Bremerhaven's container port
File:2013-05-03 Fotoflug Nordholz Papenburg HP 1430.JPG, Locks and docks around Lloyd Werft
Lloyd Werft Bremerhaven GmbH is a dockyard in Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven (, , Low German: ''Bremerhoben'') is a city at the seaport of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany.
It forms a semi-enclave in ...
Climate
Bremerhaven has a temperate
maritime climate
An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...
; severe frost and heat waves with temperatures above are rare. On average, the city receives about of precipitation distributed throughout the year, with a slight peak in the summer months between June and August and a slightly drier season in late winter and early spring. Snow does fall in winter and early spring and, more rarely, in autumn. However, it usually doesn't stay on the ground for long. The hottest temperature ever recorded was on 20 July 2022, and the coldest was on 25 February 1956.
Transport
Roads
Due to its unique geographic situation, Bremerhaven suffers from a few transportational difficulties. The city has been connected to the
autobahn
The (; German plural ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official German term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. ...
network since the late 1970s. The
A 27 runs north–south, east of the city, connecting Bremerhaven to Bremen and
Cuxhaven
Cuxhaven (; ) is an independent town and seat of the Cuxhaven district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town includes the northernmost point of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the shore of the North Sea at the mouth of the Elbe River. Cuxhaven has ...
. Road connections to
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
, however, are poor. The
Bundesstraße 71
The Bundesstraße 71 (abbr: B 71) is one of the longer German federal roads numbered in the 60s and 70s series. It begins at the B 6 in Bremerhaven by the Unterweser and ends in Könnern near Halle (Saale) in Saxony-Anhalt. To begin with ...
and secondary roads therefore carry most of the heavy
lorry
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...
traffic. A proposed solution is the construction of the
A 22, the so-called ''Küstenautobahn'' (or "coastal motorway"), which would link Bremerhaven to Hamburg and
Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea, and has a population of 76,089. Wilhelmsha ...
/
Oldenburg Oldenburg may also refer to:
Places
*Mount Oldenburg, Ellsworth Land, Antarctica
*Oldenburg (city), an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany
**Oldenburg (district), a district historically in Oldenburg Free State and now in Lower Saxony
*Olde ...
(using the
Weser tunnel). Roads leading to the overseas port are regularly overloaded with freight traffic, and solutions are presently being discussed, including a deep-cut road favoured by the city government and various interest groups.
Railway
Bremerhaven has three active passenger rail stations,
Bremerhaven Hauptbahnhof
Bremerhaven Hauptbahnhof is a railway station in the city of Bremerhaven in northwestern Germany. It is the main railway hub for the city, offering regional connections to Bremen, Osnabrück, Cuxhaven, Bremervörde and Buxtehude. Museal services ...
in the city centre,
Bremerhaven-Lehe north of the centre and
Bremerhaven-Wulsdorf in the southern part of the city. A fourth station,
Bremerhaven-Speckenbüttel near the border to
Langen has been out of service since 1988, though it might reopen when the
Bremen S-Bahn
The Bremen S-Bahn (german: Regio-S-Bahn Bremen/Niedersachsen) is an S-Bahn network in Germany, covering the Bremen/Oldenburg Metropolitan Region, from Bremerhaven in the north to Twistringen in the south and Bad Zwischenahn and Oldenburg in t ...
scheme becomes operational. Bremerhaven's central station lost its last long-distance train in 2001. Now only regional connections to
Bremen
Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...
,
Cuxhaven
Cuxhaven (; ) is an independent town and seat of the Cuxhaven district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town includes the northernmost point of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the shore of the North Sea at the mouth of the Elbe River. Cuxhaven has ...
,
Osnabrück
Osnabrück (; wep, Ossenbrügge; archaic ''Osnaburg'') is a city in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population ...
and
Hannover
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German States of Germany, state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germa ...
are available. The railways in Bremerhaven, however, still carry a heavy load of freight traffic, mostly new
cars
A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, people in ...
,
containers
A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping.
Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...
and
food
Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is inge ...
.
Tram
![Fahrplanheft der Bremerhavener Straßenbahn](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/Fahrplanheft_der_Bremerhavener_Stra%C3%9Fenbahn.jpg)
Bremerhaven owned a tram from 1881 to 1982.
In the heyday, 1949, there were 6 lines. The last line was the 2 from the north of the city to the main train station. The tram was shut down on July 30, 1982.
Bus
Bremerhaven has 2020 a bus network with 19 bus lines operated by BREMERHAVEN BUS. Two of the bus lines are night lines that only go on weekends. In addition, there is the so-called ''Schnellbus-Line S'', which serves selected stops and is therefore faster. BREMERHAVEN BUS operates up to 87 regular buses through the company ''Verkehrsgesellschaft Bremerhaven AG (VGB)''. There are numerous regional buses operated by other companies that depart from Bremerhaven Central Station, to
Bad Bederkesa
Bad Bederkesa ( Northern Low Saxon: ''Beers'') is a village and a former municipality in the district of Cuxhaven, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Since 1 January 2015 it is part of the town of Geestland. It is situated approximately 20 km north ...
,
Beverstedt
Beverstedt is a municipality in the district of Cuxhaven, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 20 km southeast of Bremerhaven, and 40 km north of Bremen.
Beverstedt belonged to the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen. In ...
, Hagen,
Nordholz
Nordholz is a village and a former municipality in the Cuxhaven (district), district of Cuxhaven, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Since 1 January 2015 it is part of the municipality Wurster Nordseeküste. It is situated approximately 25 km north of ...
and
Otterndorf
Otterndorf () is a town on the coast of the North Sea in the federal state of Lower Saxony, Germany, and is part of the collective municipality (''Samtgemeinde'') of Land Hadeln. The town, located in the administrative district (''Landkreis'') of ...
. In addition, Bremerhaven is also served by buses from
Flixbus.
Tourist attractions
Bremerhaven has only a few historical buildings, and the
high street
High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym fo ...
and city centre are almost entirely post-war. The main attractions for tourists are found at the ''Havenwelten'' and include an attraction about climate change, the , the
German Emigration Center
The German Emigration Center (german: Deutsches Auswandererhaus) is a museum located in Bremerhaven, Germany dedicated to the history of German emigration, especially to the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), comm ...
(since August 8, 2005) and the
German Maritime Museum
The German Maritime Museum (german: Deutsches Schifffahrtsmuseum (DSM)) is a museum in Bremerhaven, Germany. It is part of the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Scientific Community. The main museum building was opened on 5 September 1975 by then-presid ...
(''Deutsches Schiffahrtsmuseum'') by
Hans Scharoun
Bernhard Hans Henry Scharoun (20 September 1893 – 25 November 1972) was a German architect best known for designing the Berliner Philharmonie (home to the Berlin Philharmonic) and the Schminke House in Löbau, Saxony. He was an important ...
from 1975, featuring the
Hansekogge, a vintage
cog dating from 1380, excavated in Bremen in 1962, and the historical harbour (''Museumshafen'') with a number of
museum ship
A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small numb ...
s, such as the
Type XXI U-boat
Type XXI submarines were a class of German diesel–electric '' Elektroboot'' (German: "electric boat") submarines designed during the Second World War. One hundred and eighteen were completed, with four being combat-ready. During the war only t ...
''
Wilhelm Bauer
Wilhelm Bauer (23 December 1822 – 20 June 1875) was a German inventor and engineer who built several hand-powered submarines.
Biography
Wilhelm Bauer was born in Dillingen in the Kingdom of Bavaria. His father was a sergeant of a Bavarian ...
'' (a museum of its own), the ''
Seute Deern'' (a wooden three-masted sailing vessel), and the salvage tug ''Seefalke'' from 1924. The ''
Bremerhaven Zoo
The Bremerhaven Zoo (officially Zoo am Meer, which is German for ''Zoo next to the Sea'') is located next to the river Weser and exhibits mainly species which live in the water or in northern environments; exceptions are, for instance, Common chimp ...
'' reopened on 27 March 2004, after a lengthy renovation. It features
Arctic
The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...
wildlife, both terrestrial and marine. The latest addition is the ''Klimahaus'' from 2009, simulating travel adventure along the 8th line of
longitude
Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east–west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek letter l ...
and dealing with climate issues. Two gazebos can be found on top of the ''Atlantic Hotel Sail City'' and the
Radar Tower
A radar tower is a tower whose function is to support a radar facility, usually a local airport surveillance radar, and hence often at or in the vicinity of an airport or a military air base. In addition, radar towers are used for the installatio ...
. Another tourist spot is the ''Fischereihafen'' (fishing port) in Geestemünde which also houses an aquarium (the Atlanticum). The
Lloyd Werft
Lloyd Werft Bremerhaven GmbH is a dockyard in Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven (, , Low German: ''Bremerhoben'') is a city at the seaport of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany.
It forms a semi-enclave in ...
shipyard
A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...
is renowned for building and renovating large cruise liners, for example
''Norway''.
Every five years
Sail Bremerhaven
A sail is a tensile structure—which is made from fabric or other membrane materials—that uses wind power to propel sailing craft, including sailing ships, sailboats, Windsurfing, windsurfers, ice boats, and even land sailing, sail-powered l ...
is held, a large sailing convention that attracts
tall ships from all over the world. The last time it was held was in 2015 with over 270 vessels and 3,500 crew members. In 2011 Bremerhaven set the record for the largest ever parade of boats, with 327 vessels in the parade. This record was broken in 2012 by the
Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant
The Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant was a parade on 3 June 2012 of 670 boats on the Tideway of the River Thames in London as part of the celebrations of the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II. The Queen, Prince Philip and other members of th ...
, with 1,000 boats.
The passenger terminal ''Columbuskaje'', built at the Weser bank in 1927 to avoid time-absorbing locking, has been transferred into a cruise terminal (Columbus Cruise Center Bremerhaven/CCCB). Also three
marina
A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats.
A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...
s are available, the latest accessible through a new lock at ''Neuer Hafen''.
Population
Politics
Bremerhaven has a city council with 49 members. It also elects 15 members of the
Bürgerschaft of Bremen
The Bremische Bürgerschaft (State Parliament of Bremen, literally “Bremish Citizenry” or “Citizenry of Bremen”) is the legislative branch of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen in Germany. The state parliament elects the mem ...
.
Sport
The
Fischtown Pinguins
The Fischtown Pinguins, also known as REV Bremerhaven, are a professional ice hockey team based in Bremerhaven, Germany. From 2004 to 2016 the team played at the second level of ice hockey in Germany, until the 2012–13 season the 2nd Bundesliga ...
, also known as REV Bremerhaven, are a professional ice hockey team in the
DEL
Del, or nabla, is an operator used in mathematics (particularly in vector calculus) as a vector differential operator, usually represented by the nabla symbol ∇. When applied to a function defined on a one-dimensional domain, it denotes ...
, Germany's top ice hockey league.
Eisbären Bremerhaven
Eisbären Bremerhaven ( en, Polar Bears Bremerhaven) is a professional basketball club from Bremerhaven, Germany, that competes in the ProA. The team was established as the professional section of the club BSG Bremerhaven and played in the first- ...
(Polar Bears), founded 2001, is a basketball team playing in the German second-tier level league
ProA
Proas are various types of multi-hull outrigger sailboats of the Austronesian peoples. The terms were used for native Austronesian ships in European records during the Colonial era indiscriminately, and thus can confusingly refer to the ...
.
The American Football team is the
Bremerhaven Seahawks which play in the German Regio Nord of the 3rd League. The Seahawks are the second oldest team in Germany.
Local
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
clubs are
Leher TS
Leher Turnerschaft is a German football club from the Lehe district of Bremerhaven in the state of Bremen. Founded in 1898, it plays in the Bremen-Liga in the fifth tier of the German football league system.
The origins of the club are in the ...
,
SFL Bremerhaven and until 2012
FC Bremerhaven
FC Bremerhaven was a German association football club located in Bremerhaven, Bremen.
History
The club was founded 1 June 1899 and soon merged with ''VfB 1899 Lehe'' to become ''FC Bremerhaven-Lehe''. In 1917 ''FC'' merged with ''SC Sparta Brem ...
.
TSV Wulsdorf
TSV Wulsdorf is a German multi-sports club from the district of Wulsdorf in the city of Bremerhaven. It has 12 different sports sections.
History
The origins of the club go back to the formation of ''Fußball Club Wulsdorf'' in 1900, which later ...
and
OSC Bremerhaven
OSC Bremerhaven is a German sports club based in Bremerhaven, in the federal state of Bremen.
History
The club was founded in 1972 as ''Olympischer Sport-Club Bremerhaven'' in a merger of various local football clubs including ''ATS Bremerhav ...
also have a football teams but as part of a
multi-sport club
A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports.
Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...
.
Research and education
Bremerhaven is home to the
Alfred Wegener Institute
The Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (German: ''Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung'') is located in Bremerhaven, Germany, and a member of the Helmholtz Association o ...
, a national research institute which is concerned with maritime sciences and climate and keeps a number of
research vessel
A research vessel (RV or R/V) is a ship or boat designed, modified, or equipped to carry out research at sea. Research vessels carry out a number of roles. Some of these roles can be combined into a single vessel but others require a dedicated ...
s, amongst them the heavy research
icebreaker
An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...
RV Polarstern
RV ''Polarstern'' (meaning pole star) is a German research icebreaker of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) in Bremerhaven, Germany. ''Polarstern'' was built by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft in Kiel and Nobiskrug in R ...
. It also runs the
Neumayer-Station III
Neumayer-Station III, also known as Neumayer III after geophysicist Georg von Neumayer, is a German Antarctic research station of the Alfred-Wegener-Institut. It is located on the approximately thick Ekström Ice Shelf several kilometres south ...
in the Antarctic.
The
Fraunhofer Society
The Fraunhofer Society (german: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V., lit=Fraunhofer Society for the Advancement of Applied Research) is a German research organization with 76institutes spread throughout Germany ...
maintains research laboratories in Bremerhaven for development and testing of Wind Power components.
The
German Maritime Museum
The German Maritime Museum (german: Deutsches Schifffahrtsmuseum (DSM)) is a museum in Bremerhaven, Germany. It is part of the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Scientific Community. The main museum building was opened on 5 September 1975 by then-presid ...
is part of the German
Leibniz Association
The Leibniz Association (German: ''Leibniz-Gemeinschaft'' or ''Wissenschaftsgemeinschaft Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz'') is a union of German non-university research institutes from various disciplines.
As of 2020, 96 non-university research insti ...
.
The (Hochschule Bremerhaven) was founded in 1975 and is expanding since with more than 3.000 students in 2009. The university is attended by a large number of overseas students from all over the world. Among the courses offered are Process Engineering, Information Technology and the BA Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Leadership programme, the first programme modelled after the Finnisch Team Academy format in a German language higher education institution.
Twin towns – sister cities
![BremerhavenGermanEmigrants](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/BremerhavenGermanEmigrants.jpg)
Bremerhaven is
twinned with:
*
Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, France (1960)
*
Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire
Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes directly to the south-east forming a conurbation. Grimsby is north-east of Linco ...
, England, UK (1963)
*
Pori
)
, website www.pori.fi
Pori (; sv, Björneborg ) is a city and municipality on the west coast of Finland. The city is located some from the Gulf of Bothnia, on the estuary of the Kokemäki River, west of Tampere, north of Turku and north-w ...
, Finland (1969)
*
Frederikshavn
Frederikshavn () is a Danish town in Frederikshavn municipality, Region Nordjylland, on the northeast coast of the Jutland peninsula in northern Denmark. Its name translates to "Frederik's harbor". It was originally named Fladstrand.
The town h ...
, Denmark (1979)
*
Szczecin
Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major s ...
, Poland (1990)
*
Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad ( ; rus, Калининград, p=kəlʲɪnʲɪnˈɡrat, links=y), until 1946 known as Königsberg (; rus, Кёнигсберг, Kyonigsberg, ˈkʲɵnʲɪɡzbɛrk; rus, Короле́вец, Korolevets), is the largest city and ...
, Russia (1992)
The three roads connecting the city of Bremerhaven to the
Autobahn 27 consequently are named after the original three twin towns:
* Cherbourger Straße (AS Bremerhaven-Überseehafen)
* Grimsbystraße (AS Bremerhaven-Mitte)
* Poristraße (AS Bremerhaven-Geestemünde)
In addition to that, there are also streets which earlier had been named after Szczecin (Stettiner Straße) and Kaliningrad (Königsberger Straße).
Notable people
![Gottfried-semper](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Gottfried-semper.jpg)
*
Hans Joachim Alpers
Hans Joachim Alpers (14 July 1943 – 16 February 2011) was a German writer and editor of science fiction and fantasy. Together with Werner Fuchs and Ulrich Kiesow he founded Fantasy Productions, which became one of the premier German RPG- and ...
(1943–2011), writer and editor of science fiction and fantasy
*
Lale Andersen
Lale Andersen (23 March 1905 – 29 August 1972) was a German chanson singer-songwriter and actress born in Lehe (now part of Bremerhaven). She is best known for her interpretation of the song ''Lili Marleen'' in 1939, which by 1941 transcend ...
(1905–1972), singer and actress, sang WW2 song "
Lili Marleen
"Lili Marleen" (also spelled "Lili Marlen'", "Lilli Marlene", "Lily Marlene", "Lili Marlène" among others; ) is a German love song that became popular during World War II throughout Europe and the Mediterranean among both Axis and Allied troo ...
"
*
Roger Asmussen
Roger Asmussen (September 6, 1936 in Bremerhaven – June 7, 2015) was a German politician. He was a representative of the German Christian Democratic Union.Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands, Retrieved on July 29, 2009
Life and care ...
(1936–2015), politician (CDU), German Minister of Economy and Transport in 1987
*
Uwe Beckmeyer (born 1949), politician (SPD)
*
Adolf Butenandt
Adolf Friedrich Johann Butenandt (; 24 March 1903 – 18 January 1995) was a German biochemist. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1939 for his "work on sex hormones." He initially rejected the award in accordance with government po ...
(1903–1995), biochemist
*
Jeanne Córdova
Jeanne Córdova (July 18, 1948 – January 10, 2016) was an American trailblazer of the lesbian and gay rights movement, founder of ''The Lesbian Tide'', and a founder of the West Coast LGBT movement. Córdova was a second-wave femini ...
(1948–2016), American pioneer
lesbian and gay rights activist
*
Jenny Dolfen
Jenny Dolfen (born 1975) is a German illustrator and teacher.
She was born in Bremerhaven, and in 2001, she received a degree in English and Latin at the University of Cologne. Dolfen lives near Aachen with her husband and her two children.
Dolf ...
(born 1975), illustrator and teacher
*
Volker Engel
Volker Engel (born 17 February 1965) is a German special effects artist who is best known as one of the people who won at the 69th Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects on the film ''Independence Day''. He won with Douglas Smith, Clay Pinney ...
(born 1965), visual effects supervisor and producer
*
Heino Ferch
Heino Ferch (born 18 August 1963) is a German film, theatre and television actor. His notable film roles include Albert Speer in ''Downfall (2004 film), Downfall'' (2004) and Harry Melchior in The Tunnel (2001 film), ''The Tunnel'' (2001).
Biogr ...
(born 1963), actor
*
Wolfgang Gaede
Wolfgang Max Paul Gaede (25 May 1878 – 24 June 1945) was a German physicist and pioneer of vacuum engineering.
Life
Gaede was born in Lehe, Bremerhaven, the son of Prussian Colonel Karl Gaede and Amalia, nee Renf. In 1897 he began studyin ...
(1878–1945), physicist and pioneer of
vacuum engineering
Vacuum engineering deals with technological processes and equipment that use vacuum to achieve better results than those run under atmospheric pressure. The most widespread applications of vacuum technology are:
* Pyrolytic chromium carbide coatin ...
*
Johanna Goldschmidt (1807–1884), social activist, writer and philanthropist
*
Werner Grübmeyer
Werner Grübmeyer (1 June 1926 Lehe (Bremerhaven, Germany) – 5 October 2018Renate Funke: Authentisch, transparent, nachvollziehbar: Ehrenbürger – Archiv Werner Grübmeyer.' In: Unser Harz, 2, 2021, S. 32–34. Hannover) was a Germans, German ...
(1926-2018), politician
*
Corinna Harney
Corinna Harney (born February 20, 1972) is an American model and actress. She was chosen as ''Playboy's'' Playmate of the Month for August 1991 and ''Playboy's'' Playmate of the Year for 1992. Harney is sometimes credited as Corina Harney, Cor ...
(born 1972), German-American model and actress
*
Carl Hermann
Carl Heinrich Hermann (17 June 1898 – 12 September 1961), or Carl Hermann , was a German physicist and crystallographer known for his research in crystallographic symmetry, nomenclature, and mathematical crystallography in N-dimensional spa ...
(1898–1961), professor of
crystallography
Crystallography is the experimental science of determining the arrangement of atoms in crystalline solids. Crystallography is a fundamental subject in the fields of materials science and solid-state physics (condensed matter physics). The wor ...
*
Christoph Maria Herbst
Christoph Maria Herbst (born 9 February 1966) is a German actor and comedian.
Early life
Herbst was born in Wuppertal. After passing the Abitur, he became a trainee banker and was active at the free theatre scene in Wuppertal at the same time ...
(born 1966), actor and comedian at Stadttheater Bremerhaven 1992–1996
*
Carola Höhn
Carola Höhn (30 January 1910 – 8 November 2005) was a German stage and movie actress.
Selected filmography Film
* ''The Weekend Bride'' (1928)
* '' Don Juan in a Girls' School'' (1928)
* '' From a Bachelor's Diary'' (1929)
* '' Youthful Ind ...
(1910–2005), stage and movie actress
*
Eberhard Jäckel
Eberhard Jäckel (; 29 June 1929 – 15 August 2017) was a German historian. In the 1980s he was a principal protagonist in the Historians' Dispute (''Historikerstreit'') over how to incorporate Nazi Germany and the Holocaust into German hist ...
(1929–2017), historian, studied role of
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
in German history
*
Lou Jacobs
Johann Ludwig Jacob (January 1, 1903 – September 13, 1992), professionally known as Lou Jacobs, was a German-born American Clown#Auguste, auguste clown who performed for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus for more than 60 years. ...
(1903–1992), American clown and entertainer
*
Erich Koch-Weser
Erich Koch-Weser (26 February 1875 – 19 October 1944) was a German lawyer and liberal politician. One of the founders (1918) and later chairman (1924–1930) of the liberal German Democratic Party, he served as minister of the Interior (1919–1 ...
(1875–1944), lawyer and politician
*
Sigrid Lorenzen Rupp
Sigrid Lorenzen Rupp (1943 – May 27, 2004) was a German-American architect. She ran a private practice, SLR Architects, in Palo Alto, California, from 1976 to 1998, and specialized in designing facilities for tech companies in Silicon Valley.
...
(1943–2004), German-American architect
*
Norman Paech
Norman Paech (born 12 April 1938, Bremerhaven) is a retired German professor and member of the political party The Left.
Career
After taking his '' Abitur'' exam in Hamburg, Paech studied history and law at the University of Tübingen, as well ...
(born 1938), university professor and politician (The Left)
*
Johannes Piersig
Johannes Piersig (24 November 1907 – 26 April 1998) was a German Kantor, docent for organ playing, music education and music theory, and later in 1979/80 rector of the Free University of Hamburg.
Life
Born in Geestemünde, Piersig studie ...
(1907–1998), Kantor, docent af music educator
*
Betty Schade (1895–1982), German-born American actress of the silent era
*
Hans Joachim Schliep
Hans Joachim Schliep (born 22 March 1945, in Drangstedt) is a Germans, German Lutheran theologian, pastor and author. From 1990 to 1999 he was director of the ''Amt für Gemeindedienst'' (English: Office for Community Service, since 2002 ''Haus kir ...
(born 1945), Lutheran theologian, pastor and author
*
André Werner (born 1960), composer of classical music
*
Anders Levermann
Anders Levermann is a climate scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Columbia University. He is a Professor of the Dynamics of the Climate System at Institute for Physics and Astrophysics of the Potsdam University, Ge ...
(born 1973), environmental scientist and
climatologist
Climatology (from Greek , ''klima'', "place, zone"; and , ''-logia'') or climate science is the scientific study of Earth's climate, typically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of at least 30 years. This modern field of study ...
*
Felix Magath
Wolfgang Felix Magath (; born 26 July 1953) is a German football manager and former player.
The most notable spell of his playing career was with Hamburger SV, with whom he won three Bundesliga titles, the 1977 European Cup Winners' Cup Final a ...
(born 1953), football player and coach
*
Herta Müller
Herta Müller (; born 17 August 1953) is a Romanian-born German novelist, poet, essayist and recipient of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature. Born in Nițchidorf (german: Nitzkydorf, link=no), Timiș County in Romania, her native language is G ...
(born 1953), writer and Nobel Prize for Literature 2009, 1989 Scholarship in Bremerhaven
*
Stephan Remmler (born 1946), grew up in Bremerhaven, singer, composer and music producer
*
Willi Reimann
Willi Reimann (born 24 December 1949 in Schwagstorf (Fürstenau)) is a German retired football player and manager.
Reimann played as a young boy in a local club in Rheine, later in the Bundesliga for Hannover 96 and Hamburg, appearing in 28 ...
(born 1949), former footballer at
TuS Bremerhaven 93
OSC Bremerhaven is a German sports club based in Bremerhaven, in the federal state of Bremen.
History
The club was founded in 1972 as ''Olympischer Sport-Club Bremerhaven'' in a merger of various local football clubs including ''ATS Bremerhav ...
, football coach
*
Karl-Georg Saebisch (1903–1984), German-language theater, film and television actor, director and honorary member of the Municipal Theatre Bremerhaven
*
Hans Scharoun
Bernhard Hans Henry Scharoun (20 September 1893 – 25 November 1972) was a German architect best known for designing the Berliner Philharmonie (home to the Berlin Philharmonic) and the Schminke House in Löbau, Saxony. He was an important ...
(1893–1972), grew up in Bremerhaven, architect and exponent of organic architecture
*
Gottfried Semper (1803–1879), architect, volunteer at the port construction
*
Wolfgang Wippermann (born 1945), historian
[ Wolfgang Wippermann, German wiki retrieved 26 March 2018]
*
Helmut Yström
Helmut Yström (1881–1963) was a German politician and Senator in Bremen, Germany.
Biography
Yström's first foray into government work was his military service during World War I. From 1919 to 1937, he was a Bremen police officer. He qu ...
(1881–1963), politician, Senator in Bremen, 1945–1948, local chief of police
Sport
*
Bernd Brexendorf
Bernd Brexendorf (born 21 October 1954) is a German former professional Association football, footballer who became a physician. He worked as the club doctor of FC Schalke 04 in the 2007–08 Bundesliga, 2007–08 season and 2008–09 season.
...
(born 1954), footballer and doctor
*
Egon Coordes
Egon Coordes (born 13 July 1944) is a German former professional football player and coach.
Playing career
Coordes was born in Wesermünde, Germany. He began his career at Regionalliga North side TuS Bremerhaven 93 but quickly moved to the Bun ...
(born 1944), football player and trainer
*
Hendrik Feldwehr
Hendrik Feldwehr (born 18 August 1986) is a German swimmer, who swam at the 2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event h ...
(born 1986), swimmer
*
Eduard Pendorf (1892–1958), footballer
*
Walter Schmidt (born 1937), footballer
*
Clemens Schoppenhauer (born 1992), footballer
*
Tomas Seyler
Tomas Seyler (born 16 July 1974), nicknamed "Shorty", is a German former professional darts player.
Career
Seyler reached the second round of the Winmau World Masters in 2003, beating Vincent van der Voort in the first round, but lost to Raymon ...
(born 1974), darts player
*
Esra Sibel Tezkan
Esra Sibel Tezkan (born February 23, 1993) is a Turkish-German female football defender currently playing in the German Women's Regional League of the Middle Rhine for 1. FFC Bergisch Gladbach 2009. She is part of the Turkey women's national fo ...
(born 1993), Turkish-German footballer
*
Lars Toborg (born 1975), football player
References and notes
External links
AuswandererhausDeutsches Schiffahrtsmuseum (in German)Hochschule Bremerhaven (in English)Alfred Wegener Institut (in English)360 QTVR PanosFullscreen panos20th century timetables
{{Authority control
Enclaves and exclaves
Populated coastal places in Germany (North Sea)
Port cities and towns in Germany
Port cities and towns of the North Sea
1827 establishments in Bremen