A Commitment to Tradition : Germany

Together with Bavaria, Hamburg and Saxony, the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen is one of the political entities which already existed prior to 1945; after San Marino, it is the second oldest city republic in the world. The Free Hanseatic City of Bremen consists of the city of Bremen (549,000 inhabitants) and the city of Bremerhaven (130,000 inhabitants), which lies 65 kilometers farther down the Weser River. The territory in between the two cities belongs to the state of Lower Saxony.

First mentioned more than 1,200 years ago, namely in the year 782, a bishopric since 787, and endowed with the rights of a free city by Emperor Frederick I Bar-barossa in 1186, Bremen joined the Hanseatic League in 1358. With the erection of the statue of Roland in1404 and the construction of the Town Hall in 1405, the city demonstrated its claim to self-determination. In 1646 Bremen was elevated to the status of a free imperial city; since 1806 it has called itself the Free Hanseatic City. Bremerhaven was founded in 1827 and elevated to the status of a city in 1851. The state parliament bears the traditional name “Bremische Burgerschaft"; the state government is called the “Senat", and the president of the Senat is the minister-president of the state. Every year, on the second Friday in February, distinguished German public figures are invited to the historic “Schaffermahlzeit” banquet held by Bremen’s maritime community in the Town Hall.