BREMEN

In the 8th century the troops of Charlemagne advanced to the Weser in order to christianise the tribes settling here. The Swedish Viking Rurik, who had been given lands in Friesland, looted the city in 859, and as a result of this and other offences was expelled by Louis II. Bremen, which may have been an older settlement, became a bishopric2; a deed claiming the town's foundation in 788 has now been recognised as a forgery, so the exact date is unknown. In the following centuries the bishops of Bremen were the driving force behind the Christianisation of Scandinavia.

In the 12th century, the power of the archbishops was challenged by Heinrich the Lion. The duke was successful and became the ruler of the town. These events led to a civil government and a loss of clerical power. Bremen became a merchants' town, and its ships dominated the southern portions of the North Sea. This dominance ended when the Hanseatic League, originally a trade alliance of the Baltic Sea only, expanded to the North Sea. In the early 14th century, ships from Bremen acted as pirates to board hanseatic cogs. In order to avoid open war, aldermen from Bremen went to the Hanseatic Council in Lübeck and agreed to become members of the league (1358)3.

Bremen remained a reluctant member of the Hanseatic League. The town demanded support for its wars against the chieftains of Frisia, who ruled the region around the Weser mouth, but they seldom joined campaigns in the Baltic Sea. In 1425, the conflict escalated when the citizens burnt hanseatic documents in the market place. Bremen was expelled from the league in 1427. The consequences soon followed: the sudden loss of power led to territorial claims of neighbouring states (e.g. Oldenburg) and significant territorial losses.

Germany's first man-made harbour was built at Vegesack in 1620. 6

On March 6, 1901 an assassin attempted to kill Wilhelm II of Germany in Bremen.

After World War II, Bremen became a part of the American occupation zone since the USA wanted to have one port town within their zone. This prevented the inclusion of Bremen into the new Land of Lower Saxony that was formed around it within the British zone, and secured Bremen's independence as a Federal State in its own right in the new West German federation.

Key identification notes: The tilted Key of St. Peter is found on virtually every coin minted in Bremen, even from medieval times. The terms "Freie" and "Hansestadt" refer to the city's status as an Imperial Free City and being a city of the Hanseatic League.

Vereinsthalers (right click and select "view image" on the 1864 coin to see a larger picture)