Schnoor is a neighbourhood in the medieval centre of the German city of Bremen, and the only part of it that has preserved a medieval character. The neighbourhood owes its name to old handicrafts associated with shipping. The alleys between the houses were often associated with occupations or objects: There was an area in which ropes and cables were produced (string = Schnoor) and a neighboring area, where wire cables and anchor chains were manufactured (wire = Wieren).
Schnoor is also the name of the main street in this neighbourhood. Another street there is Marterburg.
In the Hanseatic city of Bremen, the Schnoor was one of the poorer corners. While the rich merchants settled in the Obernstraße (Upper Street), which was meant as well geographically (ridge of the dune) as socially, or in the Langenstraße (Long street, along the Balge, Bremen's first harbour), the Schnoor developed in the 10th century as a district of fishermen. The inhabitants built thatched cottages on the little island between the rivers Weser and Balge. Therefore, during its first centuries it was liable to high floods.
The first ferry service was established here, and the first bridge crossing the Weser was built around the year 1240. You can find an old wall and parts of a round tower which was erected around 1200, near the so-called Marterburg.
In the 13th century Franciscan friars had settled and their St. John's church was constructed in the following decades.
Today the oldest houses date back to the 15th century. Most of them are from the 17th and 18th centuries. While other parts of Bremen developed with plots of about one square kilometre and merchant's villas, the plots in the Schnoor have areas which are just enough for a single houses on 55 square metres. The narrow streets were not suitable for the increase in traffic from the 19th century. The quarter became one of the poorest parts of Bremen, a situation that meant renovations were unaffordable. During the Second World War the Schnoor suffered only slight damage, so that owners of the houses had to pay a Lastenausgleich after 1945. But by the mid-1950s the houses were in a pitiable state.
The Senate of the Free Hanseatic Town of Bremen decided in 1959 to rebuild the historic area of the Schnoor. House owners were invited to restore rundown buildings with financial support from the State of Bremen. This development was in contrast to the common practice in many towns and cities in Germany and Europe until the late 1970s.
The situation changed with the Venice Charter for the Conservation and Restoration of Monuments and Sites (1964) so that in 1973 the Schnoor became a historic district under official heritage conservation through the State Monument Authority. [1]
One of the most famous houses which has been preserved in its original state is the Schifferhaus in the street of Stavendamm. Another historic building is the Landherrnamt (1856) which initially housed the authorities administering the State of Bremen. [2]
The Birgittenkloster (Convent of Saint Birgitta), a small Bridgettine convent founded in October 2002 is located in the Schnoor, [3] as is St. John's Church, a listed building with a history going back to the 14th century. [4]
Wesermarsch is a Kreis (district) in the northwestern part of Lower Saxony, Germany. Neighboring are the districts of Cuxhaven and Osterholz, the city of Bremen in the state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, the urban district of Delmenhorst, the district of Oldenburg and the urban district of Oldenburg, and the districts of Ammerland and Friesland.
Vegesack is a northern district of Bremen, the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen.
Lilienthal is a municipality in the administrative district of Osterholz, Lower Saxony, Germany. It borders Bremen.
Bremen, officially the City Municipality of Bremen, is the capital of the German state of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, a two-city-state consisting of the cities of Bremen and Bremerhaven. With about 570,000 inhabitants, the Hanseatic city is the 11th largest city of Germany and the second largest city in Northern Germany after Hamburg.
Balge is a municipality in the district of Nienburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany, located on the Weser river. The community belongs to the Samtgemeinde Weser-Aue which consists of six municipalities including Balge.
The Shipper's House in Bremen, Germany is a building in the oldest district of the Free Hanseatic city of Bremen. The house was registered as an historical monument in 1973 and is in Schnoor. During the last 25 years of the 20th century the house was a private museum. It was an attraction for many visitors including the former German Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher.
The Balge was a short branch of the Weser on its eastern side, running through what is now the centre of Bremen. As it served as a harbour in the early Middle Ages, it significantly contributed to Bremen's development as a port. The river gradually narrowed until in 1608, it was canalised. In 1838, it was completely filled with earth.
The Bremer Marktplatz is a square situated in the centre of the Hanseatic City of Bremen. One of the oldest public squares in the city, it covers an area of 3,484 m2 (37,500 sq ft). It is no longer used as a market place except for the Christmas market and the annual Freimarkt Fair at the end of October.
The Schütting, situated on the Marktplatz in Bremen, initially served the city's merchants and tradesmen as a guild house. In 1849, it became Bremen's chamber of commerce. Since 1973, it has been under monument protection. It lies on the south site of the Bremen marketplaces directly across from the town hall.
The Stadtwaage at No. 13 Langenstraße in Bremen (Germany) is the building in which the municipal weighing scales used to be housed. The facility was created in order to levy taxes and excise duties while protecting merchants and customers against fraud and dishonesty.
The Schlachte is a promenade along the east bank of the River Weser in the old town of Bremen in the north of Germany. Once one of the city's harbours, it is now popular for its restaurants, beer gardens and river boats.
The Birgittenkloster is a Bridgettine convent in Bremen, Germany, founded in October 2002. The first convent to be founded in Bremen since the Reformation, it has adopted an ecumenical role in line with the teachings of Saint Bridget.
The Marterburg is a street in the Schnoor district of Bremen in the north of Germany. The name comes from Mattenburg as it was the place where the millers used to store flour in Matten (silos). The street runs from Ostertorstraße in a southwesterly direction curving slightly westwards before reaching the Tiefer near the river. Sidestreets include Kolpingstraße, Hinter der Balge and Schnoor. The street follows the old city wall which forms the rear of the houses on the eastern side, sometimes being used as part of their foundations. Many of the buildings to the south of Kolpingstraße are old listed buildings, several of which have been restored.
The Landgericht Bremen is the courthouse of the State of Bremen on the Domsheide in the old town of Bremen, Germany. It was built in the late 19th century in the French Renaissance style and completed in 1906. It has been a listed building since 1992. In addition to the judicial services of the regional court, the building houses sections of the Public Prosecutor's department (Staatsanwaltschaft) and of the district court (Amtsgericht).
The Landherrnamt is a building in the Schnoor district of Bremen, Germany, which was designed by Alexander Schröder in the Neo-Romanesque style and completed in 1856.
The Langenstraße is a historical street in the old town of Bremen in the north of Germany. First mentioned in 1234, it is one of Bremen's oldest streets and one of the most important for the city's merchants. It no doubt originated at the time when the first settlements grew up on the north bank of the Balge. It runs west from the Marktplatz parallel to the River Weser over Bürgermeister-Smidt-Straße to Geeren. Many of the street's historic buildings were seriously damaged during aerial bombings in the Second World War but were carefully reconstructed in the postwar period.
The Suding & Soeken building is a gabled house at No. 28 Langenstraße in Bremen, Germany. Referred to as a Kaufmannshaus or Kontorhaus, it is one of the city's few historic merchant houses to survive the war undamaged. It is noted for its projecting Renaissance bay window and its two-tiered Baroque stairway ascending from the hallway.
Robinson Crusoe House is a stepped-gabled house on Böttcherstraße in the old town district of Bremen, Germany. It was built by the prosperous coffee merchant Ludwig Roselius who admired the pioneering spirit of Daniel Defoe's fictional hero Robinson Crusoe.
St. John's Church is a Roman Catholic provost church in Bremen. It was built in the fourteenth century as a Franciscan abbey church and has been a listed monument since 1973.
The Focke Museum is the museum of history and the history of art for the city and state of Bremen. It was formed in 1924 by the merger of a museum of industry and commerce and the previous historical museum, and is named for the founder of the latter, Johann Focke (1848–1922), a Bremen privy councillor and father of Henrich Focke. It is located in 4.5 hectares of grounds in the Riensberg neighbourhood of the city. In addition to a main building which opened in 1964 and was extended in 2002, the museum complex includes buildings dating from the 16th to the 19th centuries.