Germany Guide
Bremen
The Schnoorviertel
Southwest of the Dom, the traditional quarter of fishermen, sailors and craftsmen on the Weser's banks is both the oldest residential district in Bremen and an urban village. Named after the narrow main street Schnoor (schnur translates as "string"), it survived postwar modernists who mooted ripping the area down, and benefited from a preservation order that saw restoration of its cottages. Today the Schnoor is a photogenic quarter of upmarket boutiques, galleries and restaurants – touristy, certainly, but charming nonetheless. The area's gateway is Lange Wieren, the "long wire" that leads to the string of the Schnoor. Here barn-like Propsteikirche St Johann was built as a church by the medieval Franciscan order; vows of poverty meant a spire was too great an extravagance. Beyond, Schnoor peels away as cute half-timbered cottages painted in chalky pastels.
Alley Wüste Stätte halfway down on the right is home to the quaint Hochzeitshaus (Marriage House) at no. 5. The tiny house stems from a medieval decree that couples from the surrounding area who married in Bremen had to spend a night in the city. The two-bed, one-room hotel (0162/104 49 54, www.hochzeitshaus-bremen.de) is hailed locally as the smallest hotel in the world. More miniature still is Wüste Stätte 3: an outside ladder leads to a door on the upper floor rather than waste inside space on a staircase. Further along at no. 10, where pre-Reformation pilgrims bedded down before they embarked for Santiago de Compostela – hence the statuette of St James outside – the St Jacobus Packhaus is Bremen's only remaining Altstadt warehouse. Spruced up for EXPO2000, it spins through city history, using costumed actors in places, as Bremer Geschichtenhaus (Mon noon–6pm, Tues– Sun 11am–6pm; €4.90; www.bremer-geschichtenhaus.de). The latest attraction in the area is the Antikenmuseum (Wed– Sun noon–5pm; €3) uphill at the end of Schnoor. Its small but superb œuvre of Grecian vases stands up to comparison with pieces in any major city in the country.