Bremen in numbers

• The federal state of Bremen has a population of around 685,000.
• The city of Bremen has a population of around 560,000.
• The metropolitan region of Bremen/Oldenburg has a population of around 2.7 million.

• Bremen’s Chamber of Commerce (1451) and Chamber of Skilled Trades (1849) are the oldest in Germany.
• Bremen has the highest export ratio of all German federal states (65.4 per cent in 2017).
• Bremen ranks third for real-term economic growth, at 2.1 per cent.The Mercedes-Benz plant in Bremen is Daimler’s second-largest site in the world in terms of vehicle production numbers, and it employs around 12,000 people (2022).
• The world’s most popular beer is brewed in Bremen – with some 3,000 bottles of Beck’s beer being drunk every minute.
• Bremerhaven container terminal is the fourth-largest in Northern Europe and among the 25 largest in the world.
• Bremen is the second-largest port for car transshipment in Europe. In 2018, the transshipment volume was 2.2 million vehicles.
• Bremen has more than 1,300 industrial companies and service providers in the maritime sector.
• Bremen is the second-largest production and development site in Germany for Europe’s Airbus Group.

• Bremen has eight universities and colleges with around 37,000 students (2016/2017).
• Around 50 technology research institutes (Fraunhofer and Max Planck institutes, German Aerospace Centre and German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence) are based in Bremen.
• The Alfred Wegener Institute is based in Bremerhaven.
• The drop tower at Bremen University’s Center for Applied Space Technology and Microgravity (ZARM), a huge laboratory where zero-gravity experiments are performed, is unique in Europe.

• Bremen is the greenest city in Germany.
• There are eleven swimming lakes in Bremen.
• Bremen has four rivers: the Weser, Wümme, Ochtum and Lesum.
• The river Weser and its embankment are a popular leisure destination.
• Bremen has a number of nature conservation areas.

• In 2018, Bremen welcomed 1,165,519 arrivals.
• There were 2,589,968 overnight stays in the federal state of Bremen in 2018.
• The city has around 40 million day visitors a year.
• The total gross revenues from day trips and overnight stays are around €1.7 billion.
• There are 89 hotels with 11,168 beds.
• In 2018, 238,000 travellers embarked or disembarked at the Columbus Cruise Center in Bremerhaven.

• Bremen’s Roland statue and the town hall have UNESCO World Heritage status.
• The famous fairytale figures of the Bremen Town Musicians are immortalised in a bronze statue near the town hall. In 2019, Bremen is celebrating the story’s 200th anniversary.
• The Breminale music festival is one of the four largest festivals in Germany (based on visitor numbers).
• The Rhododendron Park has 3,000 cultured varieties from almost 600 different species, making it the world’s second-largest collection of rhododendrons.
• Werder Bremen football club occupies second place in the all-time Bundesliga standings. The club’s Weser Stadium is right by the river Weser.
• Bremen is the third most bike-friendly city in Europe, after Copenhagen and Amsterdam.

>> story "We love Bremen: 10 declarations of affection"

• Decaffeinated coffee was the invention of Bremen merchant Ludwig Roselius.
• Henrich Focke invented the first fully operational helicopter.
• The ARD, West Germany’s first public-service broadcaster, was founded in Bremen on 10 June 1950.
• Bremen TV’s ‘3nach9’ was Germany’s first talkshow.
• in 1949, Bremen shoemaker Alexander Salot invented the screw-in stud mechanism for football boots.
• The rollo, a type of baked falafel wrap, was invented in Bremen.