Bremen Freimarkt
The Bremer Freimarkt has been taking place in the northern German city of Bremen since 1035, making it one of the oldest popular festivals in Germany. With over four million visitors annually on 17 days and more than three hundred showmen , the people in charge of the Bremer Freimarkt claim to organize the largest event of its kind in northern Germany. The traditional exclamation for the “fifth season”, as the people of Bremen also call the Freimarkt days , is “Ischa Freimaak!” , Which translates as “It's Freimarkt!”. The Bremer Freimarkt takes place in October on the Bürgerweide at the north exit ( Willy-Brandt-Platz ) of Bremen Central Station .
history
The beginnings as a commodity market
On October 16, 1035, Emperor Konrad II awarded the Archbishop of Bremen Adalbrand “ fair justice ”. This allowed the archbishop to hold a fair in the city of Bremen twice a year at certain times - in the week before Pentecost and in the week before the Willehad festival (November 8th) . Unlike the weekly markets , many of the otherwise applicable market restrictions were exposed. This means that non-local and local merchants were only allowed to sell types of goods at these times that members of other guilds and local guilds had a monopoly on during the rest of the year . For this reason, the term “free market” was established. Two points in time were determined. Both, one in spring and one in October, were based on church festivals. Skilled craftsmen only received their half-yearly wages on these dates . The second market event in October was particularly popular. The autumn season promised good sales , as many farmers came to town at that time to sell surplus crops and do their shopping for the winter.
In the 14th century the Bremen council was given market sovereignty and in the 'Krameramtsprivileg' of 1339 the name "Freimarkt" was officially mentioned for the first time. As a result, the markets were no longer tied to the church year , but kept their dates as these had proven to be favorable.
After Conrad II, each subsequent emperor had to renew the annual fair privilege regularly. This rule only came to an end under Franz II , who in 1793 placed the decision-making power over the market in the hands of the Bremen Senate. From that point on, the Hanseatics themselves decided whether and when they wanted to keep the market.
All year that led City of Bremen , the freedom of trade one only. 1861
The time of the traveling people
In the 15th century, the first smaller amusement stands were established on the open market. The so-called traveling people were welcomed and provided all kinds of entertainment for the population. Jugglers performed as well as fortune tellers and minstrels . Travelers reported in their own tents about distant countries and cultures and provided the common people with information about life beyond national borders.
In 1445, an exotic animal was exhibited for the first time with a lion in a cage. This was followed by many others over the years, such as trained bears, dromedaries and monkeys. Another "attraction" were people who were different or strange from the point of view of the time. In 1687 the 'Hottentott' from Africa and in 1799 the 'little Mademoiselle', a short woman who was only 68 centimeters tall, could be seen. The latter could even be brought to visitors' homes in small boxes on request, where they could "marvel at" it.
Although the interest of visitors in this kind of thing diminished over the centuries, probably also due to the fact that there were always better opportunities to learn about other continents and foreign peoples, in the early 20th century there was still the hairy lion man Lionel on the Freimarkt as a showman .
In 1637, the city of Bremen was granted an additional free market date by imperial privilege, which was also in spring and was attended for the first time the following year. The three open markets only lasted until around 1710, when the two spring dates were abolished and the focus was only on the autumn market. A duration of ten days was set for this, which could be extended by two more days if necessary.
At the beginning of the 17th century, at the time of the free market, the so-called “ monastery ox train” was held annually, the auction of two stately ox for charitable purposes . This custom lasted until 1896.
Development into a folk festival
For 700 years, the main task of the free market was a commodity market. It wasn't until the beginning of the 19th century that it slowly began to develop into a pure entertainment festival.
The first swing was set up in 1818, and in 1822 Anton Gercke introduced "Caroussel riding". (Although there was already a floor carousel in Bremen from 1809 onwards . However, it stood on private property by Herdentor and enriched a coffee and wine tavern .) In 1847 it was possible to buy lard cakes at the festival for the first time . Other desserts , such as honey cake and cotton candy , also became increasingly popular.
The opening of the Bremen – Hanover railway line in the same year had two advantages: on the one hand, visitors from outside had the opportunity to visit the Freimarkt, and on the other hand, the showmen were now able to transport larger rides . Their drive changed over time from steam power to electricity. The first Hau den Lukas was erected on the Freimarkt in 1857, and barrel organs followed thirteen years later. From 1881 there was a ship carousel and from 1890 a mountain-and-valley ride .
The custom of skipping afternoon classes at schools in Bremen during free market time was abolished in 1875, but there was nevertheless a silent agreement not to give students any homework at that time .
The free market in the 20th century
An important culinary innovation found its way onto the Freimarkt in 1906, when the Bremen master butcher Wilhelm Könecke cooked the first grilled sausage over an open fire.
The Bremen Freimarkt failed during the two world wars . Only in 1939 was it allowed one more time, although it was already at war, but only took place as a stall town on the Domshof .
In October 1945 a provisional 'Peace Free Market' was held, which was supposed to bring some joy and normality into post-war life. The offer was enthusiastically received by the Bremen population, so it was decided to reintroduce the free market. At the request of the showmen, the event was expanded in 1959 so that it now includes three weekends .
The Freimarkt is open from Sunday to Thursday from 1:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 1:00 p.m. to 12:00 p.m. with half an hour of “run-out”. Since 1996, the “Freimarkt bei Nacht” has been taking place from Monday to Saturday from 9 pm in one of the adjacent exhibition halls . Initially located in Hall 6, the event was moved to the newly built Hall 7 in 2003, where it attracts around 110,000 visitors.
The turnover of the Bremer Freimarkt increased from 2,738,162 German marks (~ 1.4 million euros ) in 1954 to over 3,324,911 DM (~ 1.7 million euros) three years later and to 136,908,100 DM (~ 70 million euros) in 1990. The tradition of the folk festival has been the bread-for-the-world collection since 1967 , which is carried out by the Baptists with more than 170 volunteer collectors and supported by numerous showmen in ideas and material . During the Freimarkt, the closing times for restaurants in the city were lifted.
Budengasse on the Bremen Freimarkt at night
Steaks on the swivel grill at the Bayern tent
The Olympia Looping on the Bremen Freimarkt
Chain carousel on the Bremen Freimarkt in the evening
View from the ferris wheel to the southeastern Freimarkt area
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Location and numbers
The location of the free market changed very frequently over the years. It originally took place in the Liebfrauenkirchhof in front of the Liebfrauenkirche . At the beginning of the 15th century, however, it was moved to the market square. From here it continued to expand over the centuries. At the beginning of the 19th century, the Domshof, in 1803 the Weser peninsula Herrlichkeit (until 1830) and in 1851 the Liebfrauenkirchhof were again included in the exhibition space. In 1854 stalls and rides appeared for the first time on the Domsheide , in 1830 in the Bremer Wallanlagen , in 1854 in the vicinity of the train station , in 1862 in the Rembertiviertel and in 1889 in Hohenlohestrasse. The individual areas were not spatially connected to each other, but they were understood as a single festival.
Due to the densification of the development on the right side of the Weser , the space there were fewer, so that around 1890 the Freimarkt extended to the Neustadt to the left of the Weser, where it took place on the large open space of Grünenkamp . In 1913 the Freimarkt was still divided into two parts, but in 1919 it was agreed to hold it exclusively on the Grünenkamp . This arrangement lasted until 1934, in which the festival back to the right side of the river near the station on the nowadays Findorff belonging Bürgerweide moved where it is celebrated today. In the second half of the 20th century, the carnival area was significantly expanded by the demolition of the former abattoir site in 1994 and was the construction of the exhibition halls 4-6 and in the first years of the 21st century with the construction of Hall 7, belonging to the Fair - and event center Bremen , again narrowed and now has a total of a little more than 100,000 square meters of display space. Every year at Easter, a spring folk festival, the Easter meadow , takes place on the Bürgerweide .
In 2014 the open market was filled by 345 fairground businesses, and in 2015 the market administration issued 335 approvals.
Small free market
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In addition to the main free market on the Bürgerweide, there is also the small free market in Bremen's old town. This takes place at the same time and extends over the market square, the Liebfrauenkirchhof and their connecting paths such as the Schoppensteel . Small rides and pleasure shops can also be found in other places in the city center. The Kleine Freimarkt is rather nostalgic and has, among other things, a medieval market .
On the Freimarkt weekends, the museum tram- Freimarkt line runs between the Freimarkt and the Kleiner Freimarkt.
opening
The Freimarkt, the initial autumn market, always began on October 9th in the first few centuries. In 1700 the beginning was moved to October 18, and in 1815 to October 21.
In 1959, the Bremen citizenship passed a resolution that stipulated that the official opening of the Freimarkt should be celebrated on a Saturday. This regulation has now been repealed.
Nowadays, the opening usually takes place on a Friday and is celebrated at 4:00 p.m. on the Bremen market square as part of the Small Freimarkt, with members of the chimney sweep guild hanging a large cardboard gingerbread heart on the Bremen Roland . It is true that the actual festival on the Bürgerweide opens the gates at the same time, but there is the traditional keg tapping in Bayern tent by the Bremer interior minister until two hours later instead. The evening of the opening day begins with a large fireworks display.
Free market parade
Since 1967, the big free market parade has taken place every year on the second Saturday of the event. This is one year about 3,500 to 5,000 people who are organized in 150 groups (for example, marching bands and floats crews) and chestnut (in Bremen, the term "sweet" or "Bonschen" used) chocolates and fruits etc. throw into the crowd.
The train starts on Saturday morning from 10 a.m. and takes about three hours until the last participants arrive at their destination, the station square . The start has been taking place in Pappelstrasse in the Neustadt district of Bremen since the end of the 20th century . The route with a total length of 3.4 kilometers on the Mayor Smidt bridge , by the Upper Street , past the Town Hall and Cathedral , through the Schüsselkorb , the Sögestraße , Herdentor and Herdenstorsteinweg the station square . Then the prizes are awarded to the most beautiful, unusual and imaginative groups - “the three best running groups and the most creative moving vehicles” are selected by a jury and awarded a cash prize at the subsequent celebration in the Bayern tent.
The play is watched by an estimated 250,000 spectators on the streets and is broadcast on television in a cooperation between Norddeutscher Rundfunk and Radio Bremen TV .
literature
- Fritz Peters: Freimarkt in Bremen - history of a fair . Schünemann, 1962, ISBN 978-3-7961-1763-3 .
- H. Grape-Albers (Ed.): 950 Years of Bremer Freimarkt - Exhibition in the lower hall of the Old Town Hall from October 6 to November 3, 1985 . Bremen 1985.
- Johann-Günther König : The Bremer Freimarkt - The showmen and their audience . Kellner, Bremen 2010, ISBN 978-3-939928-44-7 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Findorff - district with a kick ( memento from September 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), homepage of the city of Bremen
Coordinates: 53 ° 5 ′ 14 " N , 8 ° 48 ′ 48" E