Bremen
[key], city, capital of the state of Bremen, NW Germany, on the Weser
River. Known as the Free Hanse City of Bremen (Ger. Freie Hansestadt
Bremen), it is Germany's largest port after Hamburg and is a
commercial and industrial center trading in cotton, wool, tobacco, and
copper. The city's products include ships, aircraft, steel, machinery,
electrical equipment, textiles, beer, and foodstuffs, particularly roasted
coffee. In recent years Bremen has employed about half its workforce in
commerce, transportation, and the service sector. The shipyard that was once
its largest employer closed in 1996. Bremen is Germany's oldest port city.
It was made an archbishopric in 845, and under Archbishop Adalbert
(1043–72) it included all of Scandinavia, Iceland, and Greenland. The
archbishops held temporal sway over a large area between the Weser and Elbe
rivers, but the city of Bremen itself remained virtually independent as its
importance grew. In 1358 it became one of the leading members of the
Hanseatic League.
It accepted the Reformation in 1522, and in 1646 it was made a free imperial
city. It stubbornly fought to preserve this status after the archbishopric
had been assigned to Sweden by the Peace of Westphalia and later was ceded
(1719) by Sweden to the elector of Hanover (George I of England). Bremen was
occupied by France from 1810 to 1813. The city's overseas trade—from
the late 18th cent. particularly with the United States—grew in the
19th cent., partly because of the founding (1827) of nearby Bremerhaven and
the establishment (1857) of Norddeutscher Lloyd (North German Lloyd), a
large shipping company. The city joined the German Empire in 1871. After
World War I, there was a short-lived (1918–19) socialist republic of
Bremen. The city was badly damaged by bombs during World War II, but
numerous historic monuments remain, including the Gothic city hall
(1405–9); the statue of Roland, the medieval hero, which was erected
in 1404 as a symbol of the city's freedom; the cathedral (begun 1043), a
blend of Romanesque and Gothic styles; and two noted churches—the
Liebfrauenkirche (13th cent.) and the Johanneskirche (14th cent.). The city
has a major art museum and a museum of overseas ethnology. The state of
Bremen, 156 sq mi (404 sq km), was formed in 1947 by
combining Bremen and Bremerhaven.
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