Art and culture at every turn
Getting up from the sofa and heading off into town is always worthwhile in Bremerhaven, especially during the annual “Long Night of Culture”. But Bremerhaven boasts other cultural venues too. In the good hands of artistic director Ulrich Mokrusch, the reputation of the three-genre city theatre, now over a century old, has spread far beyond the city itself. The local scene has also been enriched of late: The Pferdestall culture centre has opened, and the new Piccolo Teatro in the Alte Bürger area is Germany’s smallest theatre. Off to a successful start, it is an alternative to more established stages, among them the Theater im Fischereihafen (TiF).
The visual arts have also found a new home in Bremerhaven. Between film and stage, cinema and theatre, the collection of Bremerhaven’s historic art association, which dates back to 1886 but concentrated on young and contemporary art at an early stage, has been on display at the modern Kunsthalle art museum since 2007. Yet for all the culture in Bremerhaven, there is always time for a real fest. Whether large or small, there are enough opportunities to take it all in – the Sail regatta, the Geeste street festival or the open-air cinema evenings at the harbour.
About 65 million euro were invested by the State of Bremen and the City of Bremerhaven in urban renewal and in projects such as the theatre restoration and the repository of the Historical Museum. Here the focus was on achieving three goals:
- Re-emphasizing the role of Bremerhaven as a major regional centre
- Strengthening the competitiveness of the inner city against the greenfield retailers in the surrounding areas
- Orienting the city ahead of time towards the new attractions in the Old Port / New Port area
In 2002, not only was the new arcade in the city completed, a decision-making process lasting almost ten years concerning the design of the central area around the historical ports was finally brought to a conclusion. For this excellent position within the city, the decision-makers envisaged a mixture of tourist magnet, new living and working space, and catering and shopping opportunities. Now the plans for the “Havenwelten” harbour worlds quarter were all wrapped up: the extensive project was to be implemented in cooperation with various partners and operators.
