Bremen for Culture Enthusiasts

Are you looking for a suitable cultural programme in Bremen? We've put together some tips for you to visit in terms of city culture, architecture, open ateliers and open-air events - with a few insider tips thrown in for good measure.

Urban Culture

Kultur vor Ort regularly offers you public guided tours. They take a close look at the western districts of Gröpelingen, Walle, Überseestadt or Woltmershausen. This also includes Bremen's harbour district and art in public spaces. Discover Bremen's urban culture far away from the monuments such as the town hall and the Roland statue.

Stages by the water

As a city by the river, Bremen offers various cultural stages directly next to the Weser: Humorous productions and guest appearances by comedians await you on board the theatre ship. In summer, the Seebühne temporarily offers a special kind of open-air concert experience, and the GOP Theater Bremen by the Weser offers changing variety shows with lots of acrobatics.

Architecture

You like to search for inspiration for your next trip on Instagram? Right so, because pictures say more than a thousand words. Bremen's architecture is especially diverse: from the historic buildings in the old town to the classics of the 1970s to the warehouse buildings and containers in Überseestadt. Browse on @bremermoment, @meinbremen or @visit.bremen and collect inspiration. We look forward to your motifs and find them best if you tag your pictures with the hashtags #bremermoment, #meinbremen or #bremenerleben. By the way: Do you know our Instawalks? We regularly take you on photo safaris. For more photo inspiration and information about Bremen's buildings from 1950 onwards, check out the architecture guide.

Open Ateliers

Twice a year, Bremen's artists' studios open their doors and give you a glimpse over their shoulders into their workshops. In May, nearly 30 artists and craftspeople will be opening their studios in Bremen's Neustadt district. Their offerings range from watercolours, ceramics and jewellery design to photography, music and sculpture. In October and November, the studios in the Viertel will offer an insight into their work. Under the umbrella of "KunstWerk im Viertel", numerous creative people invite you to get to know their craft and art better over the course of a weekend.

Local Culture

Are you suffering from a lack of knowledge about Bremen? No problem! We've got three tips to remedy the situation quickly:

• The Focke Museum informs you about Bremen's art and cultural history.
• You can't quite remember the story the Town Musicians? The Märchenspiel will turn you into an fairytale expert. Free of charge you can watch it every Sunday from May to September at 12 o'clock at the Domshof.
• Embark on a time-travelling journey: either to the 19th century in the cigar factory at Köksch un Qualm or accompany Bremen notables through the Schnoor in the Bremer Geschichtenhaus.

Zollkantine

The Zollkantine offers you concerts and music from Bremen's musical subculture. The venue in the Überseestadt offers a stage for music lovers from Bremen and the surrounding area. The programme of the "Open Stage - Bremen offene Bühne" is particularly entertaining because amateurs and professionals enter the stage.

Dining and Drinking Culture

Not only the way to ones heart, but also the way to culture is through the stomach. What would a visit to Bremen be without a typical Bremen meal? Bremens cuisine offers year-round classics like Labskaus and Knipp, as well as seasonal dishes like kale and pinkel. Rollo is also one of Bremen's fast-food specialities. When it comes to drinks, Bremen's breweries offer classic beer as well as craft beer varieties.

For dessert, there's Bremer Babbeler and Kluten. The people of Bremen love to drink coffee and enjoy Bremer Kaffeebrot or Klaben, during the Christmas season.

Open Air Events

Especially in summer, concerts, theatre, festivals and many other cultural events in Bremen are moved to open-air stages: La Strada, Breminale, Summer in Lesmona, Shakespeare in the Park, SummerSounds and many more.

Exploring the Harbour

Being a city next to a river, Bremen looks back on a long port history, which you can learn more about in the port museum Speicher XI. In the 1990s, the transformation of the old Überseehafen into a modern city district, today known as the Überseestadt, began. There you can find, among other things, the classic car centre in Schuppen Eins as well as the somewhat different mini-golf experience in Schwarzlichhof and numerous restaurants.

Theatre

Bremen offers a colourful theatre landscape: You'll find classics as well as modern productions, musicals, puppet theatre and much more. Looking for an insider tip? Theatre 11 in Faulenstraße grew out of a small theatre project and now trains its own actors and actresses as a non-profit project. The focus lays on plays for children and young people, with a repertoire ranging from Peter Pan and Snow White to No Exit.

Industrial Culture

In contrast to the collieries in the Ruhr area, Bremen offers a Hanseatic-style industrial culture. Around the Weser and in the former port area in Überseestadt you can discover interesting industrial buildings, such as the old wool combing works in Bremen's north. Today, up-and-coming companies are settling there again. Breweries and coffee roasting plants are among Bremen's industrial classics. You'll be spoilt for choice when it comes to tours, for example you can discover the Bremer Union Brewery or visit the Lloyd Caffee roastery. Guided tours also take place in the old grain handling plant, however, there is an absolute ban on taking photos here.

Art Vending Machines

When visiting the Bremer Viertel or Überseestadt, you should keep your eyes open! At three locations, three colourful art vending machines are waiting to provide you with art to go. Here you can get a small painting for four euros, which you can easily carry in a bag. You only choose the category, the motif remains a surprise. The project aims to make art in public spaces accessible to everyone throughout Germany.

ArtPeeks – ART'N'WALK through the City

Discover Bremen's public art on a walk past more than 25 different stops. The almost six-kilometre-long ArtPeeks route takes you in just over two hours to exciting works of art that inspire amazement, speculation and discussion. The tour starts with the Bremen Town Musicians.