In the immediate Second World War period flying from the UK to Germany was either by BEA or Pan Am with a limited number of destinations and services. Times have changed and according to the German Tourist Board in London some 22 destinations now have direct air connections from Great Britain served by 12 airlines.
Latest carrier to join the club is OLT, founded in Emden in 1958 and one of Germany”s oldest airlines. OLT recently introduced a twice-daily service between London City Airport and Bremen conveniently timed to give a full day at each end (one flight only on a Saturday and Sunday). Operating the route is a Saab 2000, one of the fastest of the turboprops with a block time of just 1 hour 20 minutes. Time keeping should be excellent, both airports not noted for any delays. Light refreshments are served and there is a complimentary bar. Bremen lies 80 miles west of Hamburg, and about the same distance north of Hanover. OLT also operate to Berlin (Tempelhof), Nurnberg, Brussels and Copenhagen. For Airbus, who has a major plant in the area, there are company flights to Toulouse and Farnborough. The airport itself is a splendid vast modern enterprise with much the same throughput, passenger-wise, as London City. It is big and empty and a pleasure to use. Trams to town rattle by the main entrance. What is a trifle odd it that the airport insists on using buses to take and collect passengers from the commuter aircraft. If Manchester can find space to park the turboprops and RJs on the apron, why not Bremen? Any security reason is but a red herring.
Bremen has a long historical association with aviation, a home for both Junkers and Focke-Wulf before the war and the European Space Agency in more modern times. DaimlerChrysler Aerospace, ESA and of course Airbus are very established locally. Within the terminal complex is a small but fascinating aviation museum which houses the Junkers W33 ”Bremen” which became the first aircraft to fly east to west across the Atlantic in 1933. The flight, from Baldonnel in Ireland, to Greenly Island, between Labrador and Newfoundland, took an astonishing 36 hours. The aircraft was then shuttled by boat from Canada back to Germany, then to New York, thence Washington before being bought by Henry Ford for his Dearborn museum. In the late nineties it was donated to the city of Bremen and restored at the Lufthansa Flight Training Centre. Also to be seen is the Focke-Wulf Stieglitz, designed by Kurt Tank as a trainer and considered as the first practical stunt aircraft. On display also is another locally built aerospace first, the ESA space laboratory, which spend 231 days circling the globe.
Bremen, with its population of just over half a million, is a fascinating city. It is the epitome of cleanliness, a credit both the city executives and the people themselves. Bremen dates back 1200 years and in the middle ages was a leading member of the Hanseatic League.
With the gradual clogging up of the River Weser, in 1827 the good citizens founded one of the world”s first new cities of the modern era, Bremerhaven 40 miles to the north on the North Sea. Today that too is a thriving prosperous town of 127,000 inhabitants.
Bremen successfully combines the old with the very modern, the city centre itself more or less pedestrianised, dominated by the market square and the narrow alleys that lead off, ancient buildings mainly of originating in the middle ages somehow gracefully combining with 20th century designs
The Market Square centres round the flagstoned Hanseatic Cross and is dominated by the 600-year-old Rathaus or town hall (above). Built between 1405 and 1410, the Rathaus is often seen as Germany”s finest municipal building. It received its facade in a distinct Weser Renaissance style in the 17th century. A number of splendid historic rooms are the crowning glory of the interior. Dubbed the ”appetising foundation” of the Rathaus, the Ratskeller has been firmly established underneath the building for around 600 years. With its enormous vaults, large pillars, ornate wine vats, quaint dining cubicles and impressive murals, the public cellars list over 650 different German wines, creating a mellow atmosphere that shouldn”t be missed.
Between the market square and the River Weser is the B”ttcherstrasse (left) at one time inhabited by coopers and barrel makers, the narrow walkway Bremen”s ”secret high street” offers a contrasting yet interesting mixture of traditional red brick architecture and more recent expressionist elements. In addition to a number of tiny stores, crafts workshops and the Bremen Casino, the Paula Modersohn-Becker and Roselius Museums are worthwhile visiting.
In complete contrast is the Space Centre Bremen, which opened to the public on 12 February 2004 and is set to become a major attraction. Set alongside a new 60-metre-high landmark that represents an exact scale model of an Ariane 4 launcher, it is Europe”s largest indoor entertainment park covering 22,000 square metres. The leading edge visitor attraction aims to fill the full breadth of space exploration with exciting updates on space missions as well as simulations and rides in which visitors are transported across far away galaxies and extraterrestrial adventure like nothing on earth. Typically the Galaxie Express roller coaster is 550 metres long and takes you on a breathtaking journey through the mysterious darkness of Space Centre!
http://www.space-center-bremen.de
http://www.bremen-tourism.de