The (official name; German: ''Freie Hansestadt Bremen'') is a port city in northern
Germany and the smallest one of its 16
Federal States (''Bundesländer'').
The state of Bremen consists of two separated , which is the state capital, and
Bremerhaven . Both are located on the River
Weser ; Bremerhaven is further downstream and serves as a
North Sea Harbour (the name means "Bremen's harbour"). Both cities are completely surrounded by the neighbouring State of
Lower Saxony (''Niedersachsen''). The two cities are the only administrative subdivisions the state has.
The City of
Bremen , a member of the
Hanseatic League , became an
Imperial Free City of the
Holy Roman Empire , and hence a state, in
1646 . After the state was dissolved during the
Napoleon ic period, in
1815 it became an independent country and was subsequently a member of the
German Confederation and the
North German Confederation . Several areas including the area on which the City of
Bremerhaven was to be founded were purchased from
Hanover in
1827 . In
1871 , Bremen joined the
German Empire .
While surrounding Hanover was put under
British control after the end of
World War II in
1945 , Bremen was put under administration of the
USA because the US occupation zone needed ocean access. As a result, Bremen retained its statehood even though, at this time, all other small states were merged into larger ones.
In
1905 , Bremen had an area of 256 km&
2, and a population of 263,000. In
1939 , population was 450,000.
The ''Bürgerschaft'' (city assembly) elects two
Mayor s of the city (''Bürgermeister''). One of these is then elected by the senate (which forms the executive branch) as president of the senate (''Senatspräsident'') and is thus head of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen.
Dr.
Henning Scherf (SPD) remained Mayor and Senate President, in a SPD-CDU
Grand Coalition .
