Bremerhaven

Coordinates: 53°33′N, 8°35′E

Bremerhaven is a city in the federal state of Bremen, Germany. It is located at the eastern bank of the Weser river mouth, opposite the town of Nordenham. Though a relatively young city, it has a long history as a trade port, and today is one of the largest German ports, playing a crucial role in Germany's trade.

History

The town was founded in 1827, but there were settlements in the vicinity as early as the 12th century. These tiny villages were built on small islands in the swampy estuary. There were early plans to found a fortified town on this site in order to protect the ships leaving or entering the Weser River, and in 1672 Swedish colonists tried unsuccessfully to erect a castle (Carlsburg) there.

Finally, in 1827 the city of Bremen bought the territories at the Weser mouth from the kingdom of Hanover. Bremerhaven was born and became a second harbour, despite being only 50 km removed from Bremen. Due to the trade with and the emigration to North America the port and the town grew quickly.

The kingdom of Hanover founded a rival town directly beside Bremerhaven and called it Geestemünde (1845). Both towns grew and established the three pillars of trade, shipbuilding and fishing. In 1927 Geestemünde and the neighbouring municipalities of Lehe and Wulsdorf were united to become the new city of Wesermünde, and in 1939 Bremerhaven was merged into Wesermünde.

Most of the city was destroyed in World War II; however the most vital parts of the port were deliberately spared by the Allied forces to provide a usable harbour for supply of the forces after the war. During the postwar occupation Bremerhaven was an enclave run by the United States within the British zone of northern Germany. In 1947 the city became part of the Bundesland Bremen (Bremen Federal State) and was consequently renamed from Wesermünde to Bremerhaven. Today Bremerhaven is therefore, part of the state of Bremen but is a city in its own right. This is complicated somewhat by the fact that the "overseas port" of Bremerhaven belongs directly to the city of Bremen, which is located some 50 km farther up the river Weser and the situation is further complicated by the fact that the municipal administration of those parts belonging directly to Bremen (known as stadtbremisch) is the responsibility of Bremerhaven, on the basis of a treaty between the two cities (as mentioned in Section 8 of Bremerhaven's municipal constitution).^[1]

Twin cities

Bremerhaven's twin cities include:

The three roads connecting the city of Bremerhaven to the Autobahn 27 consequently are named after the original three twin cities:

• Cherbourger Straße (AS Bremerhaven-Überseehafen)
• Grimsbystraße (AS Bremerhaven-Mitte)
• Poristraße (AS Bremerhaven-Geestemünde)

Transportation

Roads

Due to its unique geographic situation, Bremerhaven suffers from a few transportational difficulties. The city has been connected to the autobahn network since the late 1970s, the A 27 runs north-south, east of the city, connecting Bremerhaven to Bremen and Cuxhaven. Road connections to Hamburg, however, are poor, the Bundesstraße 71 and secondary roads therefore carry most of the heavy lorry traffic. A proposed solution is the construction of the A 22, the so-called Küstenautobahn, that would link Bremerhaven to Hamburg and Wilhelmshaven/Oldenburg (using the Weser tunnel). Road connections 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 in the city centre, Bremerhaven-Lehe in the northern parts and Bremerhaven-Wulsdorf in the southern parts of the city. A fourth station, Bremerhaven-Speckenbüttel near the border to Langen has been out of service since 1988, though it might re-open when the Bremen S-Bahn scheme becomes operational. Bremerhaven's central station lost its last long-distance train in 2001, so nowadays only regional connections to Bremen, Cuxhaven, Osnabrück and Hamburg are provided. The freight rails in Bremerhaven however are still used heavily, mostly carrying new cars, containers and food.

Tourist attractions

Bremerhaven has only a few historical buildings, and the high street and city centre are almost exclusively post-war. The main attractions for tourists are the German Emigration Center (since August 8, 2005) and the German Maritime Museum (Deutsches Schiffahrtsmuseum) in the historical harbour with many museum ships such as the Type XXI U-boat Wilhelm Bauer, the Seute Deern (a three-masted sailing vessel), and the Hansekogge, a vintage ship dating from 1380. The Lloyd-Werft shipyard is renowned for building and renovating large cruise liners, for example the Norway. The fishing port also houses an aquarium (the Atlanticum). The zoo reopened on 27 March 2004, after a lengthy renovation. It features Arctic wildlife, both terrestrial and marine. Attractions include the Klimahaus, simulating travel adventure along the 8th line of longitude.

Every five years Sail Bremerhaven is held, a large sailing convention that attracts tall ships from all over the world. The last time it was held was in 2005, coinciding with Sail Amsterdam.

Trade

The port of Bremerhaven is the sixteenth largest container port in the world, with more than 3,500,000 containers shipped every year and it is still growing fast. In addition, more than 1,350,000 cars are imported or exported every year via Bremerhaven.

Bremerhaven imports and exports more cars than any other city in Europe, after Rotterdam and this traffic is also growing.

Politics

The Bremerhaven government is a coalition between the Social Democrats and the Christian Democrats.

Sport

Bremerhaven is home to the basketball team Eisbären Bremerhaven who play in the German Bundesliga.

References

1. ^ Verfassung für die Stadt Bremerhaven (VerfBrhv); § 8(1) Zum Stadtgebiet gehören alle Grundstücke, Fluß- und Hafenanlagen der ehemaligen Stadt Wesermünde. Gemeindeverwaltungsmäßig wird die Stadt Bremerhaven im Gebiet des stadtbremischen Überseehafens aufgrund eines Vertrages zwischen den Städten Bremen und Bremerhaven zuständig.

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