Bremen

Bremen (German pronunciation: [ˈbʁeːmən] ), officially the City Municipality of Bremen, is the capital and most populous city of the German state of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (Freie Hansestadt Bremen), a two-city-state consisting of the city of Bremen itself, and Bremerhaven. An important port city with about 586,000 inhabitants, this Hanseatic city is the 11th-largest city of Germany and the second-largest city in Northern Germany after Hamburg. Bremen is the largest city on the River Weser, the longest river flowing entirely in Germany, lying some 60 km (37 mi) upstream from its mouth into the North Sea at Bremerhaven, and is completely surrounded by the state of Lower Saxony. Bremen is the centre of the Northwest Metropolitan Region, which also includes the cities of Oldenburg and Bremerhaven, and has a population of around 2.8 million people. Bremen is contiguous with the Lower Saxon towns of Delmenhorst, Stuhr, Achim, Weyhe, Schwanewede and Lilienthal. There is an exclave of Bremen in Bremerhaven, the "City of Bremen Overseas Port Area Bremerhaven" (Stadtbremisches Überseehafengebiet Bremerhaven). Bremen is the third-largest city in the Low German dialect area after Hamburg and Dortmund. The city traces its origins to a settlement in the early Middle Ages and became the seat of a bishopric in 787. During the High Middle Ages, Bremen grew into a flourishing trading centre and joined the Hanseatic League in the 13th century, establishing commercial links across Northern Europe. Its autonomy as a free imperial city was recognised within the Holy Roman Empire, and despite periods of conflict, Bremen retained a strong civic identity. In later centuries, the city developed into a key hub for shipping and overseas trade, contributing to Germany's maritime economy. Bremen is a major cultural and economic hub of Northern Germany. The city hosts a variety of galleries...