Bremen and Oldenburg

 This weekend (Aug 7-9) I went to Bremen. As a side trip I went to Oldenburg on Saturday. This is because since I got here I have been looking into my ancestry. My mom's side came mostly from Germany, so I figured it was a good time. I found out that my 4th great grandfather (who eventually moved to America) was born in Oldenburg. While I didn't find anything related to my family there (the library closed early on Saturday for some reason, so I couldn't look through old records or anything), but with such a short trip I didn't really expect to. Either way it was cool to go to the hometown of my ancestor.

As far as a tourist destination, it has the same things most medium sized German towns do, an old city center, cool churches, a rathaus and ratskeller, some cool old buildings. I don't know if I would say there was anything particularly amazing to make it worth going if you don't have some other reason for going. But if you are in the area, it is pretty nice. Oh, and they did have a really nice park behind one of the palaces (the Schloss Garten). It was a nice city. Old and new buildings, and a lot of green spaces and parks and stuff.

Train station

The outside of the Stadt Museum

 The inside of the Stadt Museum was mostly about the history of the building and the family that lived there. There was also a cool exhibit on the history of the town.

This is shortly after my ancestor left for America, so that model is probably approximately what it looked like when he lived there.

Part of the former moat

St. Lamberti Church

Old Rathaus

Schloss Oldenburg (now a museum)

Prinzenpalais (now a museum)

Augusteum (now a museum)

the Schloss again

Boats! If I had had more time, I would have riden along the length of the Schloss Garten

Entrance Schloss Garten

Elisabeth-Anna-Palais

St. Lamberti's again

There was a pretty good farmer's market going on in front of the Rathaus

City Theatre

The back of the theatre looks more modern

Julius Mosen Platz

A former hospital turned into a library and "culture center"

St. Peter's Church

There was also a smaller park around park of the former moat

Library

New Rathaus

Saturday evening I still had time to go explore Bremen and see most of the Old Town. Bremen is also a cool town. Like Dresden, it has a lot of really cool old buildings. One of them, the Old Rathaus, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Around 60% of the city center was damaged during WWII and had to be at least partly rebuilt (including the cathedral), but the Rathaus and the Roland statue (the biggest in the world) were both unharmed.And like Oldenburg, it also has a lot of green spaces, including a park where the moat used to be. And also the River Wesser.

A Dutch Style windmill in the park Wallanlagen, which stands where the moat used to

Rathaus (the spires in the background are from the cathedral)

A closer picture of the older part of the old rathaus, which was built in the early 1400s

This building started as the Merchants' Guildhall, and now is the Chamber of Commerce. Same thing, right?

The famous statue of the Bremen Musicians (from that fairy tale)

Roland, the legendary general/knight of Charlemagne

St. Peter's Cathedral

the side of the cathedral

cool fountain

St. Martini's Church

Stairway leading down to the Schnoor Quarter

Schnoor Quarter

Cloister

Market Square again

giant kegs inside the Ratskeller

There was a bachelor party

Rathaus

Rathaus

cathedral from the back

The next morning I still had time to explore, so I went to some of the other areas of town, like Burger Park, Uberseestadt, and then inside the Rathaus for a tour.

arena

There is a hotel inside the park

Uberseestadt was listed as a highlight on my map, but don't be fooled, it's just a harbor. Or at least, don't go on a sunday when there is a triathalon going on that blocks the bus you need to take and forces you to go the long way around. After all that effort, the result seemed less than expected. But if you go not on a Sunday, I'm sure there is more to do. There were a bunch of restaurants and stuff.

Statue in the tourist office, where you have to go to buy tickets for the tour of the Rathaus

the side of the Rathaus

 The rest of the pictures are from the tour, then I got on the train to head back.

a lamp made from a whale's jaw bone

So after a five-hour train ride back, I decided I still had time to check out the Walluf wine fest. it was nice. Small and low-key, but I was able to get food, wine, and a nice view of the river. What else could you need?