The idea.

Rowing comes to the people. Right in the heart of downtown and the old town of Bremen the river Weser

runs through a spectacular area, with sailing ships and old buildings lining the course. Topcrews and

clubcrews compete in one race.

The history.

The Bremer Ruderverein von 1882 celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2007 with 22 eights attending.

Cambridge University won the event ahead of the German Champions and the German Junior World

Champion Eight. 10.000 people watched the races. Media coverage was excellent by all standards.

The rowers celebrated a rowers party on Saturday. 2008 saw 34 eights entering the event. The men’s

eight was won by Soroe Roklub Denmark beating the German National U23 and U19 Teams.

Top racing on the Weser

Some of the best eights from Germany, Europe and overseas compete for the„Blaues Band der Weser“

(blue ribbon). A of maximum 50 eights from junior to veteran-level will compete.

The racecourse.

On Saturday the eights will row 4,2km from just outside right into the heart of the old town, where there

is a stadium-like scenery. The famous „Schlachte“ is the place to meet, eat and celebrate in Old Bremen,

featuring nice restaurants, bars and beergardens. The second part of the race is a 400m sprint on Sunday.

Crews will be seeded according to their Saturday result. Races will then be held one on one, from

preliminaries, quarter- and semifinals to finals.

Classes: Juniors (m/f), Seniors (m/f), Masters (m/f), Mixed.

The Party.

Saturday night the Bremer Ruderverein will host a big party for all participants and guests.

Boats.

We will have a limited number of boats available. Please send us an E-Mail as early as possible.

Accommodation:

Please ask us, we will help you.

Facts on Bremen

(brāmon) , city (1994 pop. 551,600), capital of the state of Bremen, NW Germany, on the Weser River.

Known as the Free Hanse City of Bremen (Ger. Freie Hansestadt Bremen), it is Germany's largest

port after Hamburg and is a commercial and industrial center trading in cotton, wool, tobacco, and

copper. Bremen is Germany's oldest port city. It was made an archbishopric in 845, and under

Archbishop Adalbert (1043—72) it included all of Scandinavia, Iceland, and Greenland. The archbis

hops held temporal sway over a large area between the Weser and Elbe rivers, but the city of

Bremen itself remained virtually independent as its importance grew. In 1358 it became one of the

leading members of the Hanseatic League. It accepted the Reformation in 1522, and in 1646 it was

made a free imperial city. It stubbornly fought to preserve this status after the archbishopric had been

assigned to Sweden by the Peace of Westphalia and later was ceded (1719) by Sweden to the

elector of Hanover (George I of England). Bremen was occupied by France from 1810 to 1813.

The city's overseas tradefrom the late 18th cent. particularly with the United States–grew in the

19thcent., partly because of the founding (1827) of nearby Bremerhaven and the establishment

(1857) of Norddeutscher Lloyd (North German Lloyd), a large shipping company. The city joined

the German Empire in 1871. After World War I, there was a short-lived (1918—19) socialist republic

of Bremen. The city was badly damaged by bombs during World War II, but numerous historic

monuments remain, including the Gothic city hall (1405—9); the statue of Roland, the medieval hero,

which was erected in 1404 as a symbol of the city's freedom; the cathedral (begun 1043), a blend

of Romanesque and Gothic styles; and two noted churches– the Liebfrauenkirche (13th cent.) and

the Johanneskirche (14th cent.). The state of Bremen (1994 pop. 674,300), 156 sq mi (404 sq km),

was formed in 1947 by combining Bremen and Bremerhaven. (Yahoo)