Bremen might have been on a river, but its position was suited to becoming a port for Europe-wide trade. Visitors to Bremen see a city built on the wealth of commerce developed over centuries and its ports are among its main attractions.

The beginning of northern merchant activity was the biggest driver of Bremen’s prosperity and civic pride. Bremen from the mid-14th century was formally part of the network of ports known as the Hanseatic League and pro¬duced the characteristic trading ships called cogs. Their business links helped the rising merchant class assert their independence during Bremen’s Renaissance boom.

The Schlachte harbour area is an easy-to-visit sight on the Weser east bank that is steeped in history. It was in use from at least the 13th century and was Bremen’s central port for 600 years. It was developed with a stone quay and in later centuries added unloading machinery including cranes and levers. Its early medieval predecessor, a short stream called Balge that ran roughly parallel with the Weser from the Schnoorviertel, likely went out of use when it proved too shallow for seagoing craft and was later filled in.

Unloaded trade goods had to be hauled up and carted to storage houses. At the height of trade an area about 400 hundred metres long was employed. The progressive silting of the Weser increasingly restricted shipping and by the 18th century only loading barges could dock there, meaning transshipment.

The Schlachte was rebuilt as a promenade in 2000 and ships are moored there today and along the Martinianleger.

Cogs transport Bremen’s riches

The traditional cogs were stout, single-masted ships that became the workhorses of northern European trade between the 12th and 15th centuries, linking the ports of the Baltic and North seas in a network of mercantile activity that helped develop the economy of the north.

The cog likely evolved from earlier viking and Frisian ships and was adapted to the needs of the shallow and often tidal harbours of the North Sea coast. Unlike the sleek longships, cogs featured a broader beam and a flat bottom, enabling them to carry heavy cargo while being able to ground safely on mudflats at low tide.

They were constructed using carvel (edge-to-edge) planking on the bottom – which creates a smooth hull surface – and clinker-built (overlapping) side planking, a hybrid method that gave strength to the shallow hull.

A typical Hanseatic cog was between 15 and 30 metres long, with a capacity ranging from 30 to more than 200 tons. A single square sail on a sturdy central mast provided propulsion, and a high stern with a rudder mounted on the sternpost – an innovation replacing the older side-mounted steering oar – greatly improved manoeuvrability.

The cog’s shape maximised cargo space, making it ideal for transporting bulk goods such as grain, timber, fish, cloth, salt and furs, which were the standards of Hanseatic trade. Crews were relatively small, perhaps a dozen men, allowing more room for goods and lowering operating costs.

The cogs’ high sides and raised forecastles and sterncastles meant they could accommodate archers or even small cannons by the late 14th century, turning the cargo carrier into a defensive platform to meet the threat of pirates and privateers. Some cogs also served in military campaigns, transporting soldiers and supplies.

These ships locked Bremen into a trade network that connected it with Lübeck, centre of the Hanseatic League, and port cities such as Hamburg, Visby, Novgorod, Bergen, Bruges and London.

A cog hull of this type dated to about 1380 was found in the river Weser in 1962 and is now preserved on display in the Deutsches Schifffahrtsmuseum in Bremerhaven. It is considered one of the best-preserved medieval trading ships in the world.

By the 15th century, larger, more manoeuvrable ships such as the hulk and the caravel began to replace cogs as trade routes expanded and naval technology advanced.

Search for new ports leads to Bremerhaven

Thanks to the silting of the Weser, the Schlachte’s capacity to handle ever-larger shipping progressively shrank up to the 17th century. A transshipment harbour was needed to maintain Bremen’s trade.

To meet this need Vegesack, at the confluence of the Lesum river north-west of Bremen, became one of Europe’s earliest artificial harbours, built from 1619 to 1623. Goods were transferred to barges for ferrying into Bremen or onto carts.

In the 19th century, the importance of fishing and shipbuilding increased and by the 1930s the Vegesack harbour supported Europe’s largest herring fleet.

Today, the Alter Speicher warehouse and parts of the harbour area and old town – especially around Alte Hafenstrasse – preserve their maritime ambience with a riverfront walk, small pubs and traditional housing.

By the 19th century the silting problem had worsened, making access impossible for the large ships of the age. Bremen bought land near the mouth of the Weser and Bremerhaven was founded in 1827 as a deep-sea port, primarily for overseas trade and emigration and as a base for the merchant marine.

Bremerhaven, more than 50km north of Bremen, provided a vital continued connection to the sea, facilitated Bremen’s growing maritime trade and guaranteed its commercial future. This also funded Bremen’s 20th century arts attractions.

In 1947 Bremerhaven was included in the new federal state of Bremen.

After dredging operations in the Weser in the 1880s, the Europahafen was established in 1887 and the following year the Freihafen was opened as an international free port north of the old town in a precinct now known as the Überseestadt. At the same time Bremen joined the German customs union.

Maritime museums among Bremen’s top things to see

Museums in and near Bremen have collected memories of the city’s maritime and trading history. The Übersee-Museum also presents the geography, ethnography and artefacts from its overseas connections.

The replica 14th century cog Roland von Bremen has been salvaged and restored after sinking at the Schlachte in 2014. Ubena von Bremen, a replica based on the 1380 cog wreck, is being restored at the Deutsches Schifffahrtsmuseum.

The last historical cotton warehouse in Bremen, on the site of the old international port, is now home to the Hafenmuseum Speicher XI in the Überseestadt docklands area north of the city centre. Its theme is history, change and working lives in the free port over more than a century.

At the Vegesack harbour precinct there is a museum at the Alter Speicher warehouse. A regional muse¬um is nearby at Schloß Schönebeck, a 17th century manor house with exhibits that include boatbuilding and historical fisheries.

Apart from the 1380 cog, Deutsches Schifffahrtsmuseum at Bremerhaven preserves historical ships including 19th and early 20th century sailing ships, motor vessels and recreations. Visitors can book harbour trips on some of these.

The triple-masted Alexander von Humboldt is a highlight of any visit to Bremerhaven’s Neuer Hafen, when it is not on day sailing trips or overseas journeys, such as a six-month trip to the Caribbean.

German emigrants flow from Bremen to America

Over 7.2 million people emigrated from Bremerhaven during the 19th and early 20th century. This makes Bremerhaven one of the busiest emigration ports in continental Europe during that period. Many of these emigrants were seeking new lives in the Americas.

There are now 10 places named Bremen in the US, in Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, North Dakota and Ohio.

Today the emigration museum Deutsches Auswandererhaus Bremerhaven at Neuer Hafen recreates experiences of embarkation and passage to America in the 19th and 20th centuries. Visitors can begin research on ancestors who emigrated and discover their history. The emigrants were not only German. Austrians, Hungarians and Jewish people from eastern and central Europe made their way to Bremen, from where twice as many travellers as from Hamburg left to create new lives.

From 1832 laws were designed to make shipping lists mandatory, but in 1874 records from 1872 and before were destroyed. Almost 3,000 passenger listings for the years 1920-39 have survived. 

Visiting the ports of Bremen

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The Schlachte is a short walk west from Bremen’s cathedral and old town. The Übersee-Museum is at Bahnhofsplatz. To reach Vegesack, take train RS1 to Schönebeck or bus 90-92 to Bahnhof Schönebeck.

Bremerhaven is 35-45 minutes by train from Bremen. Take train RS2 to Bremerhaven Hauptbahnhof, then bus 502 or 505-6 to Hochschule Bremerhaven before walking west to Deutsches Schifffahrtsmuseum on the Weser bank.