Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-02-05
THE QUAINT OLD TOWN OF BREMEN
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.
Written for The star and Chicago Herald

Z. CURTIS.
he Chicago Record Herald
SIS per capita for every man, woman
and child in the city. THIS debt has been
incurred in deepening the channel OF tho
River Weser. i'll building docks. ware,
houses and other public works, in lay
ing out parks. building schoohouses. mu-
seums, art gallery, theater, opera
house and other ornaments to the city
which make it one of the finest III Ger
many. =
4 4
Among the other municipal undertake
ings is public COW pasture down on the
flats along the river bank.
Pubic Any citizen, poor or rich, has
po.4,,ro the right to pasture one COW,
and by special grant OF the
Convent of Burgesses poor people who
support themselves by selling milk can
have the privilege of pastlirins a num-
Der Of cows. one of the sights of Bre'n-
en- is TO see the women so down to mix
and the children driving home the COWS
of those who have stables.
Another municipal undertaking to which
have already referred is the ratskeiler
i'll the basement of tho rathaus. which
is open from I o'clock in tile morning
until II o'clock in the night. German
wines exclusively are sold by the bot lie
or by the glass. Bread. cold meat and
sausage are also served, -and after Z
O'Clock in the evening soup. cooked
meats and vegetables are served. and In
the morning coffee and rolls and cold
viands, so that many bachelor mer-
chants, clerks and others take all their
meals there. The wines of the municipal
ratskeller are famous The cellars have
been described many, many times. The
oldest wine is ''the rose brand. which
ties wlrsh dates from l11". tr'e rose
derives it's name from n large rose which
was painted OIL the ceiling in the six
teenth century, and the familiar phrase
this ratsEeller In olden times the mem
bers of the senate used to reserve that
corner for their exclusive. use, and every
thing that was said there was considered
under the rose" or confidential.
In the plaza, or square in front Of the
rathaus, is a funny looking statue known
as the Roland 1t is a
Roland colossal figure of stone
c4.4 eighteen feet high, rudely
o'o'1e' carved and Of grotesque APP
pearance, which was erected in 14o4 on
the site Of an earlier figure OF. wood. as
symbol Of municipal home rule and the
palladium Of civil liberty. The effigy holds
naked sword in it's right hand, and on
the left arm In a defensive position is a
shield bearing the imperial eagle.
This square is surrounded by imposing
buildings-the shipping exchange, the cot
ton exchange. the Bank of Bremen, the
post Office and the law courts are all
handsome, modern buildings. while the
cathedral which rises above them is
very ancient, having been built between
1OH and 11O1. 1t is not an especially fine
example of architecture. but has some in
teresting cioister-s, and down deep III the
earth underneath is o. burial vault filled
with human munmies. some OF them 5W
or 600 years old. which are as perfect
as they were the day they were placed
there.
The atmosphere of this vault contains
some mysterious property which arrests
decomposition. 1t is asserted that q. loir
of beef, n leg Of mutton or any other
animal substance WILL boone desiccated
in q. few months. The air is SO dry that
moisture in the flesh. and at the same
time act as a preservativc. There are
several interesting old churches in the
central part of the CITY, and in the new
er part is IL beautiful opera house, where
a stock company subsidized by the munic-
or three times week during the season
:: r
There is a municipal theater managed
on the same basis. all historical museum
-..- filed. with relies of the. past
Municipal models of ships, furniture
rh..+., and textiles, arms and ar
NOR. fgureheads of famous
sloops and other objects Of interest
there is a kuustIalle containing a small
but fine collection Of old masters, and
about 2,JoO sketches and drawings b,
Durer and other German masters, arc
more than a hundred thousand cngray.
ings; there is a museum of industrial ar
filled with Interesting wood carvings AND
designs, a museum of natural history
ethnology and commerce. d public library
containing 10000 volumes. an art schoo
in a beautiful Gothic building and Eevera
fine statues. including a heroic bronz
figure of Wilhelm I of Germany.
The GeWerbehaus, erected in 1919, the
guild hall of the cloth merchants. is ar
imposing structure. But the finest pri
waite building i'll town was erected by the
North German Lloyd Steamship Com.
pany a few years ago for its Offices II
has a tower $50 feet high
Bremen used to be protected by mas
sive wall inclosing the entire city in 8
half circle. the ends of which spran.
from the banks of the River Weser, bu
that was torn down many years ago, ano
the space has been converted. into a semi
circular park. extending the entire dis
lance, with stream flowing from enc
to end in what used 10 be the moat. L
is one of the prettiest parks you cal
imagine and is u favorite meeting place
OF the people and playground OF the chill
dren. There are cafes restaurants. beel
gardens dairy lunch rooms and plenty Vi
other opportunities for refreshments.
X *
The residence portion of the city contains
some fine old mansions which have beer
passed from generation t.
Family generation for hundreds
Of years and are still tho
mansions. homes of the rich mer-
chants, steamship owners, shippers. inn
porters and exporters These merchants
have branch houses in many foreign
countries, which are managed by ths
younger sons of the firm. 1t is the rule
in Bremen that young man with eXpec
tations shall be first thoroughly educated
and follow his university training will
a course in commercial college. TheI
he is put into the home establishment fol
four or five years in order to get prac
teal experience and learn the method:
of doing business. After that he is sen
to some far-off country as a clerk in {
branch house, and is promoted from time
to time until he reaches the position ol
manager or director Thus all of the
branches OF Bremen establishments IL
Asia, Africa, Central and South Amer
lea, and in the United StateS-indeed, il
all the ports to which the North German
I etc in, Of 4 1e