Freimarkt

The monastery’s oxen were used in a procession and two of them were sold in an auction for charity. This custom endured until 1896.

The fair began on 18 October every year

Franz II is the last German Emperor who grants the Bremen merchants the right for the Freimarkt - as of this time, they decide themselves when they want to celebrate.

With the Enlightenment, which freed life and customs of traditional formality, and the introduction of carousels and swings, the selling market transforms into an entertainment market.

The first carousel turns on the Freimarkt - Operator: the restaurant owner, Wilhelm Pohlmann

The Bremer Freimarkt develops into an attractive event far beyond the borders of Bremen. The city has to turn away market operators for the first time due to insufficient space.

The market develops further on account of technology e.g. illumination: 1862 oil lamps are replaced by petroleum lamps, these then by gas lamps as of 1880, and four years later by electric lamps. The railway connects Vegesack, Bremerhaven, Oldenburg, Hannover and Hamburg.

The Freimarkt, which had taken place at differing locations (Grünenkamp, Domshof, Hohenstorsplatz), gets a fixed location in the heart of Bremen: on the Bürgerweide.

A procession on the second Saturday was organized. In this event some thousand people take part every year, forming more than 100 groups (for example marching bands). The procession passes the city hall, and in the afternoon the most beautiful, most unusual and imaginative groups get awards. Since the end of the 20th century the procession starts in the "Neustadt" (new city) of Bremen.

Media related to Freimarkt Bremen at Wikimedia Commons

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53°05′14″N 8°48′48″E / 53.08722°N 8.81333°E / 53.08722; 8.81333