Bremen-Vegesack

Vegesack is a northern district of Bremen, a city in northern Germany.

Geography

Vegesack is located at the mouth of the river Lesum, beside the Weser River, at coord|53|10|07|N|8|37|30|E|region:DE|display=inline,title] . Abutting the district of Vegesack to the northwest is the district of Blumenthal, in the southeast the district of Burglesum. Across the river Weser is Lemwerder, connected by a ferry service.

History

Vegesack has been affected by navy and shipbuilding for almost 400 years:
* whaling ships set sail bound for Greenland,
* the forerunner of the Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Rettung Schiffbrüchiger (DGzRS), the German life boat service, was founded here,
* by the beginning of the 20th century, Vegesack was the port of registry of Europe's biggest herring fleet,
* until 1997 the shipyard Bremer Vulkan was employer for many citizens,
* today traditional ships and historic captain's houses remind of the long history.

:14th century: first mention of a ferry across the Weser. :1453: first mention of the name "Vegesack" (starting from the pub "Thom Fegesacke"). :1619-1623 the first artificial river harbour of Germany is built in Vegesack:1852 Vegesack receives town privileges :1939 integration of the town of Vegesack into the town of Bremen.

Until September 30 1944 a concentration camp was established in Vegesack. [The camp is listed as No. 184 Bremen-Vegesack in the official German list.] The camp was a subcamp to the Neuengamme concentration camp.

Historical population

:1812: 1,379:1883: 3,811 :1905: 4,133 :1960: 35,193 :2003: 34,505

Culture and sights

Museums

The former school ship "" can be visited.

Theatre

Since 1989, the Statt-Theater-Vegesack [http://www.statt-theater-vegesack.de/] , a semi-professional troupe of actors, has performed both classical and self-composed plays. The performances take place in the [http://www.buergerhaus-vegesack.de/ Bürgerhaus Vegesack] community centre.

Music

The event centre KITO [http://www.kitoinbremen.de/] , hosted in an old storehouse, offers jazz, blues, folk and classical concerts and political theatre.

Parks

Along the river Weser is the Stadtgarten (town garden) stretches along the Weserpromenade between the ferry and the [http://www.bbv-sailing.de/glaserne_werft.html Gläserne Werft] (shipyard showcase). At the bottom of the scarp you can find many foreign trees and a rose garden, at the top are villas and captain's houses.

Regular events

The "Vegesacker Hafenfest" [http://www.hafen-vegesack.de/] (Vegesack harbour festival) takes place on the first weekend in June. Three days full of live music, shanty choirs, maritime attractions and happy people.

The "Festival Maritim" [http://www.festival-maritim.de/] (beginning of August) also offers a lot of international maritime live music, Kleinkunst, open-air cinema and "Kutterpullen", a rowing contest.

At the beginning of September, Vegesack celebrates the "Vegesacker Markt" (Vegesack market); a fair with fairground rides, raffle booths, shooting galleries and much more. In 2005 the fair was held for the 197th time. It starts with the pageant across the city, and ends with the wet funeral in the Weser.

Transportation

Vegesack is connected to the A 27 by the Autobahn 270 .

A railway branch line, operated by DB Regio, links Vegesack to Bremen central station and Verden. Public transport is served by several bus lines of the Bremer Straßenbahn AG.

A car ferry connects Vegesack and Lemwerder.

Education and Science

Jacobs University Bremen in Grohn.

Districts

Vegesack

Area 1.7 km², 6,617 inhabitants

Grohn

Area 2 km², 6,159 inhabitants

Schönebeck

Area 2.5 km², 5,562 inhabitants

Aumund-Hammersbeck

Area 3.1 km², 7,980 inhabitants

Fähr-Lobbendorf

Area 2.3 km², 8,187 inhabitants

ee also

*List of subcamps of Neuengamme

Notes

References

*Official German list of concentration camps [http://bundesrecht.juris.de/begdv_6/anlage_6.html Verzeichnis der Konzentrationslager und ihrer Außenkommandos] de icon

External links

* [http://www.bremen.de/sixcms/detail.php?id=635672&_stid=551205&_sttit=Vegesack Vegesack at www.bremen.de]
* [http://www.vegesack.de/ www.vegesack.de, commercial portal]