Germany - Bremen - Weserstadion

Weserstadion, the home stadium for German football club Werder Bremen, located n Bremen, Germany.

Sent by Anna from Bremen, Germany.

Weserstadion (German pronunciation: [ˈveːzɐˌʃtaːdi̯ɔn]) is a football stadium in Bremen, Germany. The Weserstadion is scenically situated on the north bank of the Weser River and is surrounded by lush green parks (the name 'Werder' is a regional German word for "river peninsula"). The city center is only about a kilometre away. It is the home stadium of German Bundesliga club Werder Bremen.

Artists that have performed at the stadium include Bon Jovi, Michael Jackson, Tina Turner, Depeche Mode, Metallica, The Rolling Stones, Guns N' Roses and Van Halen, among others.

The stadium originally included an athletics track, but that was partially removed in 2002 when the pitch was sunk by 2.1 metres (6 ft 11 in) and the stands at the straights were lengthened to the new pitch. With this the capacity rose with about 8,000 places. In 2004 four office towers were built behind the north stand. These towers offer a restaurant and offices for the club and local companies.

After various previous renovations, the stadium was expanded, completely rebuilt, and modernized from 2008 to 2011. The façade was coated with photovoltaic panels and a new roof was built on top of the old roof supporting structure (the old roof itself was torn down). Both ends (east and west) were torn down and rebuilt parallel to the endline of the pitch, removing what was left of the old athletics track. Since the rebuilding's completion at the start of the 2011/12 season, it has had a capacity of just over 42,000 seats for domestic matches and over 37,000 seats for international matches. The owner of the stadium is Bremer Weser-Stadion GmbH, which is owned half each by SV Werder Bremen and the city of Bremen (read more).

Germany - Bremen - Klimahaus Bremerhaven 8° Ost

Klimahaus 8° Ost in Bremerhaven, Germany, a unique science center focusing on climate and climate change.

Sent by Diana from Wuppertal, Germany.

From the tropical climate of the South Seas to the sweltering Sahel heat, on to the eternal ice of the Antarctic and up into the cool Alpine air - here you can experience the different weather and living conditions for yourself. Along the eighth degree of longitude, you can immerse yourself in settings that are based on real locations and find out how people live around the globe.

Immerse yourself in the fascinating world of climate at the Climate Experience Center Bremerhaven!

Discover how the climate and weather have developed and what steps we can take to protect our planet. The new permanent exhibition “Weather Extremes” brings you up close to spectacular weather phenomena - with impressive 360-degree stagings and real reports from people who have experienced them (read more).

Germany - Bremen - North Sea

Greetings From The North Sea.

Sent from Bremerhaven by Veit from Ruhr, Germany.

The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Sea in the north. It is more than 970 kilometres (600 mi) long and 580 kilometres (360 mi) wide, covering 570,000 square kilometres (220,000 sq mi).

It hosts key north European shipping lanes and is a major fishery. The coast is a popular destination for recreation and tourism in bordering countries, and a rich source of energy resources, including wind and wave power.

The North Sea has featured prominently in geopolitical and military affairs, particularly in Northern Europe, from the Middle Ages to the modern era. It was also important globally through the power northern Europeans projected worldwide during much of the Middle Ages and into the modern era. The North Sea was the centre of the Vikings' rise. The Hanseatic League, the Dutch Republic, and Britain all sought to gain command of the North Sea and access to the world's markets and resources. As Germany's only outlet to the ocean, the North Sea was strategically important through both world wars (read further).

Germany - Town Musicians of Bremen

Town Musicians of Bremen.

Sent by Andreas, a postcrosser from Germany.

This is from Wikipedia : The Town Musicians of Bremen (German Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten) is a folktale recorded by the Brothers Grimm. Despite the title of the fairy tale, the characters never actually arrive in Bremen. In Aarne-Thompson classification it is a folk tale of type 130: "outcast animals find a new home".

In the story a donkey, a dog, a cat, and a rooster, all past their prime years in life and usefulness on their respective farms, were soon to be discarded or mistreated by their masters. One by one they leave their homes and set out together. They decide to go to Bremen, known for its freedom, to live without owners and become musicians there.

On the way to Bremen, they see a lighted cottage; they look inside and see four robbers enjoying their ill-gotten gains. Standing on each other's backs, they decide to perform for the men in hope of gaining food. Their 'music' has an unanticipated effect; the men run for their lives, not knowing what the strange sound is. The animals take possession of the house, eat a good meal, and settle in for the evening.

Later that night, the robbers return and send one of their members in to investigate. He sees the Cat's eyes shining in the darkness and thinks he is seeing the coals of the fire. He reaches over to light his candle. Things happen in quick succession; the Cat scratches his face with her claws, the Dog bites him on the leg, the Donkey kicks him and the Rooster crows and chases him out the door, screaming. He tells his companions that he was beset by a horrible witch who scratched him with her long fingers (the Cat), an ogre with a knife (the Dog), a giant who had hit him with his club (the Donkey), and worst of all, the judge who screamed in his voice from the rooftop (the Rooster). The robbers abandon the cottage to the strange creatures who have taken it, where the animals live happily for the rest of their days.

Germany - Town Hall and Roland on the Marketplace of Bremen

Town Hall and Roland on the Marketplace of Bremen, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Sent by Michael, a postcrosser from Germany.

The Bremen Town Hall and Roland are an outstanding ensemble representing civic autonomy and market freedom, as developed in the Holy Roman Empire. The town hall represents the medieval Saalgeschossbau-type of hall construction, as well as being an outstanding example of the so-called Weser Renaissance in northern Germany. The Bremen Roland is the most representative and one of the oldest of the Roland statues erected as a symbol of commercial rights and freedom.

The city of Bremen is situated in north-western Germany, on the river Weser. The site of the medieval town has an oblong form, limited by the river on the south side and by the Stadtgraben, the water moat of the ancient defence system, on the north side. The town hall is situated in the centre of the eastern part of the old city area, separating the market in the south from the Domshof, the cathedral square in the north. The statue of Roland is located in the centre of the market place. The town hall is placed between two churches: the Dom (cathedral church of St Peter) is located on the east side, and the Liebfrauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) on the west. Across the market is the Schütting, the seat of the ancient merchant guilds. On the east side of the market is the Modernist building for the municipal institutions, the Haus der Bürgerschaft, built in the 1960s.

The World Heritage site consists of the town hall and the Roland statue; the buffer zone encloses the market and the cathedral square. The town hall has two parts: the Old Town Hall, on the north side of the market place, which was built in 1405-9, and renovated in 1595-1612, and the New Town Hall that was built in the early 20th century as an addition facing the cathedral square.

The Old Town Hall is a two-storey hall building with a rectangular floor plan. It has brick walls and wooden floor structures. The exterior is in exposed brick with alternating dark and light layers; the roof is covered by green copper. The ground floor served for merchants and for theatrical performances. The upper floor is the main festivity hall, of the same dimensions. Between the windows, there are stone statues representing the emperor and prince-electors, which date from the original Gothic phase, integrated with late Renaissance sculptural decoration symbolizing civic autonomy. In the 17th century the town hall was renovated, and the middle three of the eleven axes of the colonnade were accentuated by a bay construction with large rectangular windows and a high gable, an example of the so-called Weser Renaissance.

The New Town Hall was the result of an architectural competition, and it was built in 1909-13, designed by Gabriel von Seidl from Munich. The building has three main floors, and it was intended for representation and chancellery. The elevations are covered in tiles (clinker); windows and details are built from south German limestone.

The stone statue of Roland is about 5.5 m tall, and it was initially erected in 1404 to symbolize the rights and privileges of the free and imperial city of Bremen. Such statues were common in German towns and townships, representing a martyr who died in the struggle against heathens. The statue of Bremen is associated with the Margrave of Brittany, a paladin of Charlemagne.

The origins of Bremen go back to the 8th and 9th centuries, when it became the seat of a bishop. In 965, Bremen was given the rights to raise customs and to mint. There is a reference in 1225 to a city council whose members are known as consules; this council prepared a civic code as a law of the people. The town joined the Hanseatic League in 1358. Although having already obtained privileges of civic autonomy, it was formally recognized as a Freie Reichstadt (free imperial town) in 1646. Since 1947 it has been one of the Länder of the Federal Republic of Germany. The Roland statue in stone was erected in 1404, replacing an earlier wooden statue, and is considered the oldest Roland statue still in place in Germany. (Source)

Bremer Stadtmusikanten

Sabine, a partner in WiP always send interesting postcards and this one shows a Bremer Stadtmusikanten, or The Bremen Town Musicians.

This is from Wikipedia : The Bremen Town Musicians (German Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten, also translated as The Musicians of Bremen) is a folktale recorded by the Brothers Grimm. Despite the title of the fairy tale the animals never actually arrive in Bremen.