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Tales from the riverbanks

Lee Swettenham
2/ 6/2008

NEW air links from Manchester mean that there’s no better time to explore the best that northern Germany has to offer – including two of the country’s finest cities.

An hour’s flight will take you to the atmospheric, historic and fiercely independent city of Bremen. Well over 1,000 years old, Bremen built much of its prosperity from trading with its Northern European neighbours between the 13th and 17th centuries, the so-called Hanseatic League.

The most obvious relic of this era is the magnificent Rathaus in the town’s main square. Originally built between 1405 and 1410, its ornate Renaissance-style façade was added in 1710, and it was awarded UNESCO World Heritage site status four years ago. Both outside and in (guided tours of the building are available), it is among the most beautiful and lavish buildings of its kind.

Leading from the main square is Böttcherstrasse, a curious alleyway that lends its fame totally to – of all things – decaffeinated coffee.

The street was bought up entirely though the early 20th century by Ludwig Roselius, owner of the Café HAG company which invented ‘decaf’. A man of rather particular artistic tastes, he enlisted architects and artists to rebuild the street in an unusual expressionist style.

Delicate peal

At the top of the hour, porcelain bells begin a delicate peal from the roof of one of the buildings, upon which a revolving façade turns and displays murals of the world’s great explorers and inventors. The off-the-wall feel of the street, with art shops, museums, galleries and hotels, has made it a real feast for the senses.

It is also indicative of how Bremen has come to plough its own furrow in German history. There are dozens of tales of the city sticking two fingers up at authority in various ways and going off on a tangent. Where other cities are part of the large states of Germany, Bremen (and near-neighbour Bremerhaven) has remained independent as its own Federal state, the country’s smallest.

With all its history, Bremen is a forward-thinking city too. The spectacular UFO-like silver pod that is Universum is acclaimed world-wide as one of the finest new science museums, with almost all exhibits allowing for hands-on play and discovery – fun for the kids and adults alike.

At the southern end of Böttcherstrasse is Bremen’s lifeblood for centuries, the River Weser.

In its prosperous trading past, the river was the hub of the city. Nowadays only the odd pleasure cruise will float by, but the lack of industrial ships has allowed for the reinvention of the area.

Promenade

The Schlachte is the end result – a large riverside promenade with restaurants, bars and beer gardens big enough to cater for more than 2,000 people. It is, as you’d expect, the place to be, and on weekends and summer evenings you’ll find it heaving with locals eating, drinking and enjoying life on the riverbank.

A short journey on the ultra-efficient – yet rather expensive – German railway network brings you to another city whose existence is based on water.

To Hamburg, Germany’s second city with 1.7M inhabitants, the river Elbe means everything. On its banks, the city has the world’s largest inland port, and far from sitting on its laurels, it is embarking on an extraordinary project to increase the river’s impact further.

Harbour City is Europe’s largest construction site. Over the next 15 to 20 years, it will expand the city centre area by 40 per cent. Bars, restaurants, concert halls, apartment blocks and businesses will create 40,000 new jobs and increase the population by up to 20,000.

Even though it’s a building site, the sheer scale of the emerging project is enough to bring tourists flocking to it. How many will flock there once it is complete is anyone’s guess.

Much of what is thriving about Hamburg revolves around the riverside – just back from the waterfront is the vibrant St Pauli district, home to the city’s arty student types, and a legendary and once-notorious area of sin.

Seedy

The Reeperbahn, formerly a seedy red-light quarter for sea-farers, ne’er-do-wells and sex tourists, has since the 1990s been transformed into something quite different.

You can still partake of the more dubious pleasures, if that’s your thing, but nowadays this kilometre-long stretch is also home to less salubrious bars, clubs, theatres and art galleries. And with it being where The Beatles first honed their trade in the 1960s, there’s a rich heritage of live music that continues today.  If it’s fun and frolics that you want, look no further.

However, if you prefer something more sedate, then move away from the bright lights and into the city centre, perhaps to the ‘museum mile’ near the train station where many of the city’s 45 museums stand. Or to where the town hall – looking far older than its 120-year age suggests – stands resplendent on Rathausmarkt.

And a few yards from here is another sign of water’s importance here. The huge Alster lake is surely unique amongst European cities – boundaried by main busy roads it still manages to maintain an oasis-like feel of calm.

It provides the ideal escape from the hustle and bustle of the shopping meccas of Monckebergstrasse and the huge arcades like Europa-Passage.

Hamburg attracts more tourists from Britain than from any other country. With everything it has to offer, it’s easy to see why.

FACTS:

Lee flew to Bremen from Manchester via Ryanair (www.ryanair.com)

He stayed at:
Best Western Hotel Schaper-Siedenburg
Bahnhofstr. 8
28195 Bremen
http://www.siedenburg.bestwestern.de/

And: Best Western Hotel St. Raphael
Adenauerallee 41
20097 Hamburg
www.straphael-hamburg.bestwestern.de

For more information go to:
http://www.bremen-tourism.de/english/bremen.cfm
http://www.hamburg-tourism.de/en/
http://www.germany-tourism.co.uk