Leisure and Shopping

Bremen and Bremerhaven have a number of large and small event venues. Some of them are listed below:

ÖVB-Arena Bremen: Concerts, shows, sports, and special events. This arena holds about 14,000 people. 

Stadthalle Bremerhaven: Concerts, sports, shows

Die Glocke – The Bremen Concert Hall: With its 75 years of history, Die Glocke is the musical center of Bremen. Among other things, it is famous for its excellent acoustics. 

Schlachthof Culture Centre: This cultural center attracts people from across the country for concerts, comedy, book readings, and children's theater. 

St. Petri Cathedral: Musical highlights of the cathedral include symphonies and classical music. 

Weser Stadium: The Weser-Stadium is the home field of the football team 'Werder Bremen'. Located on the Weser river, it holds over 37,000 fans. The home games are often sold out.

• You want to meet people from all over the world? Enjoy Bremen regularly organizes events to get into exchange with others. 
• Bremen has a lot to offer, but what do I do today? heute in bremen gives every day three tips for things to do in Bremen.  
• You want to get to know new restaurants in Bremen? Then take a look at bisschenbremen. 
• Bremerhaven erleben gives tips for excursions and helps to get to know Bremerhaven. 
• Bremen erleben gives tips for excursions and helps to get to know Bremen. 
• Everything about Bremen is available at Visit Bremen. 

Sprachcafe's offer the possibility to actively exchange with different people. Speaking in a local environment helps a lot learning a new language. In Bremen there are several Sprachcafe's with different focuses. Here you can find an overview of the different cafés (unfortunately only in german).

Bremen and Bremerhaven offer a variety of sports and leisure activities, and we have gathered a few recommendations for you.

• University Gym: The University gym offers an inexpensive way to stay in shape. It has a large selection of sports activities and group classes to choose from such as soccer, swimming and dancing. Keep in mind that the registration is on a first come, first served basis, late registration is only possible if there are spots open.

• Sports clubs: There is a large number of sports clubs and gyms in Bremen and Bremerhaven that offer the following sports and more: tennis, squash, badminton, handball, soccer, vollyball, basketball, dance, horseback riding, gymnastics, judo, boxing, karate, swimming, track and field, fitness, canoeing, rowing. The Sport Association of Bremen has a database of sports clubs to choose from categorized by offers and region.

• Bicycle tours in Bremen: You will find beautiful bike routes in and around Bremen. Maps of these routes can be found on the website of ADFC (German Bicycling Club) or at bookstores. ADFC offers many services that include but are not limited to bike tours and bicycle classes for adults.

• Because of its location, canoe excursions are very popular in Bremen. The Bremen Canoeing Association has an online map with canoe excursion routes in and around Bremen. Canoes can be borrowed from canoe clubs.

• Guided Tours: Bremen and Bremerhaven offer a variety of guided tours to explore the cities, and you can book them through Bremen Tourism Office. The customer service office is located in Böttcherstrasse 4 (Glockenspiel house), close to the market square and the famous Bremen Town Musicians. You can choose between tours of the city, Town Tall, Ratskeller Restaurant, Mercedez-Benz factory and more.

Bremen and Bremerhaven have many cultural institutions and museums, large or small, traditional or modern. Here are a few highlights:

Bremen

• Bremen Kunsthalle: This art museum displays 600 years of art history including painting, sculpture, print, and media. Some of the most impressive masterpieces are the special exhibitions of Claude Monet and Edvard Munch.
• Bremen Overseas Museum: This natural history and ethnographic museum has multiple exhibitions of nature, culte and more. With its permanent exhibitions relating to overseas regions, this museum invites you to explore foreign worlds and history. 
• Art collections on Böttcherstraße: The Paula Modersohn-Becker Museum and the Museum in the Roselius-Building. The Paula Modersohn-Becker Museum is the first museum dedicated to a female artist. Not only are her paintings exhibited here, but one of Bernhard Hoetgers' collections as well. The Roselius-Building houses late medieval art and home decor of the middle class of the time, as well as silver treasures from Riga.
• Focke-Museum: This is the museum of history for the city and state of Bremen, and hosts its history of the past 1200 years. A park surrounds the historic buildings. 
• Universum Bremen: An interactive science museum with over 250 exhibits, a discovery park and special exhibitions in the SchauBox. 
• Bremen Botanical Museum: Discover fascinating plants and asiatic landscapes.

Bremerhaven

• German Emigration Museum in Bremerhaven: Europe's largest Emigration Museum. Visitors can follow in the footsteps of the more than 7 million people who emigrated overseas via Bremerhaven.
• Klimahaus Bremerhaven 8° Ost: Offers a unique experience of climates around the world. You will experience the earth's climate zones and get an opportunity to speak with people who have lived in those climate zones. 
• German Maritime Museum in Bremerhaven: Situated directly on the port of the Weser peninsula, the German Maritime Museum offers an exhibition of large maritime objects on land and a lot more. 

Bremen

• Goetheplatz Theater and the New Playhouse: This theater venue's programme includes operas, operettas, concerts and plays. The Bremen theater gallery is also located here and hosts temporary exhibitiions.
• Bremen Musical Theater: This theater hosts short term events such as musicals, circuses, and other shows. 
• Bremer Shakespeare Company: Founded in 1983, the Bremer Shakespear Company offers performances of William Shakespear's plays.

Bremerhaven

• Stadttheater Bremerhaven: a diverse cultural program is offered here.

At the Bremen movie theaters movies are generally translated into German. There are, however, many independent movie theaters that play the movies in their original language with German subtitles.

• Larger movie theaters: Cinemaxx, Cinestar, Cinespace
• Independent movie theaters: Cinema Ostertor, Kino 46, Atlantis, Schauburg, Gondel

Bremerhaven

• Large Cinema: Cinemotion

Bremen

In Germany, business hours for stores and shopping centers are regulated by law. Most stores open between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 a. m. and close between 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p. m. Most stores (especially grocery stores) work reduced hours on Saturdays and are closed on Sundays. Most gas stations and stores near the central train stations operate 24 hours a day. 

Shopping in Bremen: Bremen has large department stores, as well as small boutiques. There are parking garages near the shopping centers for customers' use. On specific days shops are also open on Sundays. The Weserpark in the east, the Waterfront in the west and the Mediterraneo in Bremerhaven are the largest shopping malls in Bremen.

There are two popular flea markets in Bremen:

• Bürgerweide Flea Market: For the last 20 years, this flea market has offered antiques, modern goods, and oddities. The Bürgerweide flea market is located at the train station and runs every Sunday from 7:00 a. m. until 2:00 p.m. 
• Antique and Flea Market at the Weser River: This flea market has a long tradition and is open from 8:00 a.m. until -2:00 p.m. on Saturdays. 

An alternative is the "Sozialkaufhaus Neustadt" (Social buying house) in the Neustadt.

Bremerhaven

• Columbus Center: Bremerhaven's largest shopping center
• My Outlet & Shopping Center: Shop for high-quality products at outlet prices with Italian flair
• Pedestrian Zone Bremerhaven: Stroll through Bremerhaven's modern city center

When it comes to dining out, Bremen and Bremerhaven have a variety of choices. There is something to fit every taste whether you are looking to try food native to North Germany or prefer international cuisine.
The local daily newspaper - the Weser-Kurier - has an online database of restaurants recommended by restaurant testers. In Bremen and Bremerhaven there are also many possibilities to have food or drink delivered to your home. We have compiled an overview for you here.
Furthermore, we created a "Quick Dictionary" with translations of most basic products to help you with your first times shopping in German supermarkets.

Bremerhaven

The coastal town entices especially with culinary delights. Especially fish dishes are widespread. Taste maritime specialties, for example, at the Fischereihafen - Bremerhaven.de

Delivery Services are a great support if you have to transport heavy purchases, you are ill or you have to go into quarantine. We have only listed a selection of delivery services here. Most delivery services deliver during the usual opening hours. The normal opening hours in Bremen/ Germany are from Monday - Saturday between 7/8 am and 9/10 pm. On public holidays and Sundays most stores are closed.
However, if you need food outside the normal business hours, you can go to one of the following stores (selection): 

• Rewe To Go stores - to be found in: Gröpelingen, Schwachhausen, Peterwerder, Huchtingen
• Bunte Ecke - to be found in: Viertel, Neustadt 
• Rossmann at Bremen central station 
• SelFair in the Viertel

REWE Lieferdienst

The REWE delivery service offers the possibility of having food delivered to your home. You order in the online store and receive the products delivered to your home easily and conveniently. This is very helpful in times of corona and quarantine.

How does it work?
Log in to REWE, enter your location, choose whether the products are to be delivered or picked up and set a delivery time. Then you can select your desired products and add them to your shopping bag. The minimum order value for delivery is 50€. The delivery fee depends on the choice of your time window and the amount of your shopping cart. The higher your shopping cart value, the lower your delivery fee will be. At 50€ the fee is between 3,90€ and 5,90€. You pay only when you pick up your order or after delivery.

Edeka Jastrebow

Like REWE, Jastrebow (EDEKA) also offers a delivery/pickup service. Jastrebow is located in Schwachhausen and in the Vahr. The way it works is very similar to REWE: Select the desired products, put them into the shopping bag, log in to Jastrebow or register as a guest. Unlike at REWE, you have no minimum order value at Jastrebow. Also the delivery fee is now based on the distance of the delivery address: up to 5km 5€, up to 10km 10€. You can choose the delivery window yourself, just like at REWE.

HelloFresh

HelloFresh is a company that offers cooking boxes for your home. You will receive a box with recipes and the corresponding ingredients. In advance you choose which dish you want. Whether Classic, Veggie, Thermomix or Family: Every week there are many new and varied recipes to choose from. The whole thing works like a kind of subscription. However, you are free to choose whether you would like to eat the dishes weekly, monthly or even take a break. You can find more information about Hellofresh here.

Flaschenpost.de

flaschenpost.de is a beverage delivery service. If you don't have a car and need several crates of water, flaschenpost is the solution. You order your desired drinks online and flaschenpost delivers them within 120 minutes to your home.

How does that work?
Go to auf flaschenpost.de and enter your postal code. Select your drinks and put them in the shopping cart. Depending on the distance the minimum order value is at least 20€. There are no further delivery charges. Register now at flaschenpost and receive your drinks within 120 minutes. (You can also pre-order). Simply pay by credit card, direct debit or Paypal. flaschenpost also offers a deposit return service. To order more conveniently there is also an app.

Durst

Durst offers an alternative to flaschenpost. Durst also delivers beverages conveniently to your home.After entering your postal code, a beverage dealer nearby will be suggested. Depending on the retailer, the minimum order value and the delivery charge may vary. Basically this postage works just like bottle post. durst also offers a deposit return service. To order more conveniently there is also an app.

Lieferando

Ordering food is one thing. Ordering ready meals is the other. With the App Lieferando you can easily find restaurants that deliver your favorite dishes to your home. Be it sushi, pizza, pasta, doner kebab, or even a cocktail. Log in there and order whatever you want. Payment can be made online via paypal or credit card or in cash at the door when you place your order. The delivery fee and the minimum order value varies depending on the restaurant.
Note: The restaurants that use Lieferando have to pay a commission.

The providers listed here are only a selection.