Bremen Germany Bremen

Germany

A donkey, a dog, a cat and a rooster stacked in a pyramid: Bremen's most beloved statue honours four animals who, in the Brothers Grimm's tale, never actually made it into the city. The Town Musicians of Bremen dreamed of coming here; millions of travellers have made the trip in their place. Those arriving by way of the Weser land in the best possible spot: the Schlachte, the old merchant riverside now turned promenade, just minutes from the Hanseatic heart of the city.

From the Riverbank to the Marktplatz

Boats dock at the Martinianleger and along the Schlachte, right where the city once moored its trading ships in the days of the Hanseatic League. Today, terraces and beer gardens line the docks, lively from midday into the evening whenever the weather allows, but turning your back on the river and walking five minutes is enough to step into another century: the market square opens up in all its theatricality, ringed by gabled façades, home to two stars that have been UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 2004.

The Town Hall and the Roland Statue

The Rathaus, a Gothic brick building fitted with a flamboyant Renaissance façade in the 17th century, ranks among the finest civic buildings in Europe, and among the rare old German town halls to have come through the war undamaged. In front of it has stood, since 1404, the stone Roland, a knight more than five metres tall, a symbol of municipal freedoms: as long as he stands, the saying goes, Bremen remains free. The statue of the four musicians hides at the western corner of the building; the donkey's leg, polished smooth by generations of hands, gleams like gold.

Böttcherstrasse, a 1920s Folly

Just steps from the square, a hundred-metre lane holds one of the country's most singular architectural adventures. In the 1920s, coffee merchant Ludwig Roselius, the inventor of decaffeinated coffee, had Böttcherstrasse rebuilt as a manifesto of brick expressionism: carved façades, a porcelain carillon that chimes at set hours, craft workshops and museums follow one another in a golden half-light. Walking through feels like stepping into a dream made of red brick, and it's easy to see why locals call it their "secret street."

The Schnoor, a Village Within the City

Five more minutes on foot brings you to the Schnoor, the city's oldest quarter: a maze of 15th- and 16th-century houses packed tightly along lanes so narrow two people can barely pass each other. Once home to fishermen and craftsmen, these houses now hold shops, workshops and tea rooms, and the quarter miraculously survived the bombing that levelled much of the centre in 1944. It's the place for little finds, gingerbread, jewellery, puppets, and for photos taken looking up at the shop signs.

Structuring Your Day

• Two hours: the Marktplatz, the Rathaus, the Roland statue and the Town Musicians of Bremen.
• Three hours: add Böttcherstrasse and its carillon.
• Four hours or more: finish with the Schnoor and a break on the Schlachte, facing the river.

One Last Donkey's Leg

Tradition holds that you should grip the donkey's leg with both hands, never just one, that would bring bad luck, while making a wish. Passengers heading back to their ship along the Schlachte at sunset, as the gabled brickwork turns copper, usually know exactly what to wish for: to come back. The four musicians of the tale had it right after all; there really is, on the banks of the Weser, something better than what you leave behind.