Focke-Museum

Description:

• This is one of the best regional museums in this area of Germany, and we particularly applaud the user-friendly way in which the various exhibitions are displayed. The glory days of Bremen as a maritime power in the Middle Ages and through the Renaissance era are evoked in the main gallery. For safekeeping, and because they were deteriorating in the weather, the original statues carved for the facade of the Rathaus are on display here, along with ecclesiastical art, secular art, and various objets d'art, much of it retrieved from town houses of the long-departed Bremen aristocracy. Lots of portraits of fat merchants also attest to the former prosperity of Bremen. In addition, you can wander back into history to the days of the conquering Romans. Although the Roman collection is the richest, there are artifacts from prehistoric times along with Saxon antiquities. Americans may be particularly interested in documents showing the massive transport of German emigrants to the U.S. on the steamers operated by the Norddeutscher Lloyd Shipline. In the park on the museum grounds is a typical thatched farmhouse once common to Lower Saxony.

• © Frommer's 2012

Awards:

Frommer's

•  Recommended 2010