For more information on Bremen, visit Britannica.com.
Bremen
| German Literature Companion: Bremen |
The Freie Hansestadt Bremen is a constituent Land of the Federal Republic (see Bundesrepublik Deutschland) which includes Bremerhaven by the mouth of the river Weser. Though the smallest Land, it is (after Hamburg) the second largest harbour city with an ancient tradition (see Hanse, Deutsche). Its legislative body is the Bürgerschaft, and the Land government the Senat. From 787 a diocesan city, it was from 845 ruled by an archbishop; the key of St Peter in its coat of arms is a relic of this period which ended with Bremen's independence at the beginning of the 14th c. Proud of its century-long defence of its freedom, the key has meanwhile come to represent the ‘key to the world’ (Schlüssel zur Welt). During the Reformation Bremen adopted a moderate form of Calvinism; Dutch influence of the period is also perceptible in some of its architecture. Among the buildings that have been preserved or restored are the gothic town hall (Rathaus) with its Renaissance front, the gothic cathedral of St Peter, and the Bürgerschaftshaus by the market place. In 1646 Bremen became a Freie Reichsstadt, in 1815 a member of the Deutscher Bund, and in 1866 a member of the Norddeutscher Bund. In 1871 it became a Bundesstaat of the German Empire, adopting the designation Land in 1919, and in 1920 a democratic constitution. Bremen is associated with the community of artists in the fenland village of Worpswede, which attracted Rilke at the turn of the century (Worpswede, 1903); the city's Paula-Modersohn-Becker-Haus exhibits the work of one of its finest artists (see Modersohn-Becker, P.). Bremen, the native city of Rudolf Alexander Schröder, awards an annual prize for literature. The citizens' most cherished symbol is ‘Roland der Riese am Rathaus zu Bremen’. (See Roland.)
| Wikipedia: Bremen (state) |
| Free Hanseatic City of Bremen Freie Hansestadt Bremen |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| — State of Germany — | |||
 |
|||
|
|||
 |
|||
| Coordinates: 53°4′33″N 8°48′27″E / 53.07583°N 8.8075°E | |||
| Country | Germany | ||
| Capital | Bremen | ||
| Government | |||
| - Senate President | Jens Böhrnsen (SPD) | ||
| - Governing parties | SPD / Alliance '90/The Greens | ||
| - Votes in Bundesrat | 3 (of 69) | ||
| Area | |||
| - City | 408 km2 (157.5 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2007-10-31)[1] | |||
| - City | 664,000 | ||
| - Density | 1,627.5/km2 (4,215.1/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| ISO 3166 code | DE-HB | ||
| Vehicle registration | HB | ||
| GDP/ Nominal | € 24 billion (2005)[citation needed] | ||
| NUTS Region | DE5 | ||
| Website | bremen.de | ||
The Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (German: Freie Hansestadt Bremen, pronounced [ˈbʁeːmən]) is the smallest of Germany's 16 states. A more informal name, but used in some official contexts, is Land Bremen ('State of Bremen').
Contents |
Geography
The state of Bremen consists of two separated enclaves: Bremen, officially the 'City' (Stadtgemeinde Bremen) which is the state capital, and the city of Bremerhaven (Stadt Bremerhaven). Both are located on the River Weser; Bremerhaven is further downstream and serves as a North Sea harbour (the name means "Bremen's port"). Both cities are completely surrounded by the neighbouring State of Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen). The two cities are the only administrative subdivisions the state has.
History
At the unwinding of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 the Free Imperial City of Bremen (as of 1646, after earlier privileges of autonomy of 1186) was not mediatised but became a sovereign state officially titled Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. In 1811 the First French Empire annexed the city-state. Upon the first, however only preliminary defeat of Napoléon Bonaparte, Bremen resumed its pre-1811 status as city-state in 1813. The Vienna Congress of 1815 confirmed Bremen's independance and it became one of 39 sovereign states of the German Confederation. It became part of the North German Confederation in 1867 and became an autonomous component state of the new-founded German Empire in 1871 and stayed with Germany in its following forms of government.
Bremen, which in 1935 had become a regular city at the de facto abolition of statehood of all component German states within the Third Reich, was reestablished as state in 1947. Being - at that time - actually located in the British Zone of Occupation the Control Commission for Germany - British Element and the Office of Military Government for Germany, U.S. (OMGUS) agreed in 1947 to constitute the cities of Bremen and then Wesermünde - in their borders altered in 1939 - as a German state named again Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, becoming at that occasion an exclave of the American Zone of Occupation within the British zone. In 1949 the city-state joined the then West German Federal Republic of Germany.
Politics
Political system
 |
This section requires expansion. |
The Bürgerschaft (city assembly) elects two mayors of the state (Bürgermeister). One of these is then elected by the senate (which forms the executive branch) as president of the senate (Senatspräsident) and is thus head of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen.
2003 state elections
Dr. Henning Scherf (SPD) remained Mayor and Senate President, in an SPD-CDU grand coalition. As promised he resigned after half of the legislative period. The Mayor and Senate President since 8 November 2005 is Jens Böhrnsen.
| Party | Party List votes | Vote percentage | Total Seats | Seat percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social Democratic Party (SPD) | 123,480 | 42.3% (-0,2) | 40 (-7) | 48.2% |
| Christian Democratic Union (CDU) | 86,819 | 29.8% (-7,2) | 29 (-13) | 34.9% |
| Alliance '90/The Greens | 37,350 | 12.8% (+3,8) | 12 (+2) | 14.5% |
| Free Democratic Party (FDP) | 12,294 | 4.2% (+1,7) | 1 (+1) | 1.2% |
| Deutsche Volksunion (DVU) | 6,642 | 2.3% (-0,7) | 1 (=) | 1.2% |
| Law and Order Offensive Party | 12,876 | 4.3% (+4,3) | 0 (=) | 0.0% |
| Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) | 4,885 | 1.7% (-1,2) | 0 (=) | 0.0% |
| All Others | 7420 | 2.6% (-0,5) | 0 (=) | 0.0% |
| Totals | 291,766 | 100.0% | 83 (-17) | 100.0% |
2007 state elections
The 2007 elections were held on 13 May.
| Party | Votes | % | +/– | Seats | +/– | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social Democratic Party (SPD) | 36.8% | –5,5 | 33 | –7 | 39.8% | |
| Christian Democratic Union (CDU) | 25.7% | –4,1 | 23 | –6 | 27.7% | |
| Alliance '90/The Greens | 16.4% | +3,6 | 14 | +2 | 16.9% | |
| The Left Party.PDS | 8.4% | +6,7 | 7 | +7 | 8.4% | |
| Free Democratic Party (FDP) | 6.0% | +1,8 | 5 | +4 | 6.0% | |
| German People's Union (DVU) | 2.7% | +0,4 | 1 | ±0 | 1.2% | |
| Others | 4.0% | +1,4 | 0 | ±0 | 0.0% | |
| Totals | 100.0% | 83 | 100.0% |
Education
The University of Bremen is the largest university in Bremen. Furthermore Bremen has a University of the Arts Bremen, a University of Applied Sciences in Bremen and another one in Bremerhaven, and more recently the Jacobs University Bremen.
See also
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bremen |
References
- ^ "State population". Portal of the Federal Statistics Office Germany. http://www.statistik-portal.de/Statistik-Portal/de_zs01_hb.asp. Retrieved 2007-04-25.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Learn More
 | Gramke (family name) |
| Viebrock (family name) |
| Bockelman (family name) |
 | What is the distance between dusseldorf and bremen? Read answer... |
| What is the longitude and latitude of bremen? Read answer... |
| Is there a bus from bremen to amsterdam? Read answer... |
Help us answer these
 | Is there a rail link to bremen? |
| What is Bremen's state nickname? |
| Train from groningen to bremen? |
Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:
Copyrights:
 |
 | Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
 |
| German Literature Companion. The Oxford Companion to German Literature. Copyright © 1976, 1986, 1997, 2005 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Read more |
 |
| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Bremen (state)". Read more |
Related answers
- Where is New Bremen?
- What is the distance between Berlin and bremen?
- Who lives in Vegesack bremen germany?
ADVERTISEMENT
Answer these
- What is the area of Bremen?
- Where is Bremen- Germany?
- What is the longitude of Bremen?
- Is there a direct train from Bremen to Munich?
Mentioned in
- Fierke (family name)
- Harpenau (family name)
- Hatten (family name)
- Lankenau (family name)
- Lienemann (family name)
- Schwegman (family name)
- Strohm (family name)
- Nathan Chytraeus (person)
- Bremen Town Musicians (1965 Children's/Family Film)
- Bremer (family name)
