Audiotour Hello, Bremen!

Hello, we are in Bremen today. This city was founded in 787 by Charlemagne as an episcopal seat. The city's heyday began in 845, when it was under the rule of Archbishop Adalbert. In 1260 the city joined the Hanseatic League. Rapid economic development allows Bremen to emerge from the authority of the archbishop and become a free city. Today the city of Bremen, with a population of about 550 thousand inhabitants, is the tenth largest city in Germany. On the red cloth of the coat of arms of the city of Bremen there is an upturned beard silver key. The key is an attribute of the Apostle Peter, patron of the Bremen Cathedral. It first appears on the hallmark of the city of Bremen in 1366. Today the coat of arms looks the same as it did in 1891. Folk tradition speaks of the connection between the Bremen coats of arms and the coat of arms of the city of Hamburg, and jokingly says that “Hamburg is the gateway to the world, but the key to the gate is in Bremen.”