Bremen in numbers
Facts and figures on the two-city state of Bremen
Did you know that ...
... Bremen is one of Germany’s leading industrial hubs? That the cities of Bremen and Bremerhaven together make up the federal state of Bremen? Travel for about an hour – and around 60 kilometres – through Lower Saxony and you end up back in Bremen.
We have put together a selection of other useful information and figures about Bremen and Bremerhaven, the local people and the business location for you.
- The federal state of Bremen has a population of around 676,000.
- The city of Bremen has a population of around 566,570.
- 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 (2021: 55,2%).
- 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 12,500 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 2021, the transshipment volume was 1.7 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.
- 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.