On wednesday, September 23rd, 1998, our class had the special luck to be by a reception in the townhall. When we came into the Fireplace Hall, that is used as rerception room, we all were enthusiasted about the splendid atmosphere. The room was big and oversight with expensive objects. We especially were faszinated about the many pictures on the walls and about the big fireplace, which certainly hasn't been used already for a long time. Some time later the students of a 10th class arrived together with the exchange students from Poland. After the schoolspeaker had greeted us, Mr Pape took over speaking. Mr Pape was the local press speaker and intended to show us the townhall.

A quick foto: Nancy and our mayor Mr. Henning Scherf.

Strange enough mayor Henning Scherf came as a surprise guest. Henning mainly spoke to the polish exchange students and asked Nancy, wether she came from Poland, too. After the greeting words of the mayor we even had the chance to see the visitor's book of the townhall.

When we came into the Gobelin Room, first the big carpet hanging on the wall injured. Later we heard, those carpets are called Gobelins and that this one was bought on an old-clothes and second-hand market in 1905 in France. In addition in the room 10 white chairs stood around a white table, too. Once a week the senators have breakfast here. They are called the Schwartauer Kreis. This name they got from the Schwartau-Extra-Jam, because they eat this jam every time.

Next, the Senate-Confirence Hall was on the programme. Here important people sit on expensive chairs, around a big circular table, called the Administration of Bremen. The carpet, lying in this room, shows typical bremish symbols, such as the "Speck-Flagge" or the Key of Bremen. Bremen was given this carefully weaved carpet as a thanks for fighting against the spread children work in the developing countries.
On the wall there is a round mirror you can see the hole room in. Mr Pape meant all classrooms should have such a mirror, so that you can see all pupils. Our teacher Mr Hestermann just agreed.

The coat of arms was a sign of the independence of Bremen.
Originally the silver key was a sign of St. Peter, one of the 12 apostles and the patron of the church of Bremen.
At the same time the silver key was a sign of the archbishop.
The religious meaning became less and less and was finally forgotten when the city claimed the symbol for its own coat of arms, its seal and its coins.

From the Senate-Confirence Hall we went to the Golden Hall. We had to go through the impressive corridor. There we saw a gold,decorated wooden clock with the inscription "time is saintly".
"The Lament of Bremen", Franz Radziwil called his painting, which shows the war and his destroying. This painting hangs in the corridor, too.
Soon we entered the Upper Hall. This room is appointed with artistic carvings, pictures and paintings. One picture, for example, shows Charlemagne, and another one shall represent the Jurisdiction of God.
Since 1545, captains, shipowners and dealer have met here for the Schaffermahl, which served to exchange experiences and knowledge about trade routes.The Schaffernmahl is the oldest brother-meal of the world.
If you look round a little bit, you would find out that in every wooden carving or in any other decoration the Key of Bremen continually appears.

A small view into the hall which is in the first floor of our town hall - the "Obere Rathaushalle"

The Güldenkammer is in the Golden Hall, too, which was built in the young style. The whole furni-ture, the fireplace and even the wall-papers of leather are decorated with gold. And in the middle of the room there is a splendid covered table.

And here a nice view by an old print. It shows the staircase to a chamber called Güldenkammer

The Celebration Hall chains direct to the Golden Hall. The Celebration Hall in the new townhall was opened in 1913. After the Second World War the citizens of Bremen met here for about
20 years.
Also in this hall are hanging paintings, such as "The High Gate", paited by F. Jakobsen or "The Panorama of Bremen", painted by Carl Vinnen in the 17th century.
At the end of the stairs to the Upper Hall hangs a whalechop that you can see quite good from out the Celebration Hall. It reminds of the port in Vegesack and has to be restored every 5-6 years. One alumnus mayor maintined once that this whalechop actually belonged to his inconsiderate secretary.
Finally Mr Pape said goodbye to us and our teacher thanked for this interesting leadership.

Once there was a man who had a donkey. For many years, the animal had carried the sacks to the mill without complaint. But now his strength was fading, and he wasn’t fit for the work any- more. His master didn’t see why he should go on feeding him, and wanted to get rid of him. The donkey noticed that something was up, so he ran away and set off for Bremen, where he thought he had a chance of becoming a town musician.

After he had been gone for a while, he found a hunting dog lying by the wayside and yapping for breath."Hey there old mutt, what are you yapping about?" asked the donkey. "Well, it’s like this," said the dog. "I’m old and getting weaker every day and I can‘t go out hunting anymore, so my master wanted to kill me. I made off as fast as I could to save my skin. But how I am going to earn my living now?" "I’ll tell you what," said the donkey, " I’m on my way to Bremen to work as a town musician. Why don’t you come and join me? I’ll play the lute and you can bang the drum." The dog liked the idea and they went on their way together.

Before long , they came upon a cat sitting by the wayside. She looked like she had all the cares in the world." What‘s up with you puss?" asked the donkey. "How could anyone be happy with prob-lems like mine," replied the cat. "I’m getting on a bit, my teeth are getting blunt and I’d rather sit beside the stove and daydream than chase around after mice, so my mistress wanted to drown me. I ran away, but I just don’t know what to do now. Where shall I go?" "Come with us to Bremen. You’re good at singing serenades - you could become a town musician there". The cat thought that was a good idea and went along with them.

Shortly afterwards, the three fugitives passed by a farm. A rooster was perched on the gatepost, crowing loudly for all he was worth." What’s all the crowing about, my feathered friend?" asked the donkey. "I’ ve just forecast fine weather," because it’s the day of Our Lady, the day she washes the Christ-child’s little shirts and wants to dry them. But as tomorrow is Sunday and guests are coming for dinner, the farmer’s wife has got it in for me. She’s told the cook to put me in the soup. They’re going to chop off my head this evening. So I’m crowing my heart out while I still can." "What’s the good of that ?"declared the donkey. "Why don’t you come with us instead. We’re going to Bremen. Whatever you do and wherever you go, it’ll be better than dying. You’ve got a fine voice, and if we all play together, it should sound pretty good. " The rooster agreed to his suggestion and the four of them set off.

The city of Bremen was more than a day's journey away, however, so in the evening, they got to a wood where they decided to spend the night. The donkey and the dog lay down under a big tree, and the cat and the rooster settled among the branches. The rooster flew right to the top, where he felt safest. Before he went to sleep, he took a last look round in all directions. He thought he saw a light in the distance, and called to his companions that there must be a house nearby. The donkey said: "Well, we ought to get up and go there, for this isn’t a very good place to stay ."The dog declared that he wouldn’t mind having a few bones with some meat on them eiher. So they headed for the light. It got bigger and brighter until finally they arrived at a robbers’ house with a light burning in the window. The donkey, because he was the biggest, went up to the window and looked in. "What can you see, old grey ears?" asked the rooster. "What can I see?" replied the donkey. "A table laid with wonderful food and drink. A gang of robbers are sitting around it enjoying their meal" "That’s just what we need," said the rooster. "Yes, if only we could get in there, "said the donkey. The animals discussed how to set about chasing the robbers away. Finally, they had worked out a plan. The donkey would put his front hooves on the window-sill, the dog would jump up onto the donkey's back, the cat would climb onto the dog, and lastly, the rooster would fly up and perch on the cat’s head. When they had done just that, they all started making music at once. The donkey brayed, the dog barked, the cat miaowed, and the rooster crowed. The animals then burst through the window into the room, shattering the window panes. The robbers jumped out of their seats on hearing the terrible noise. They thought it must be a ghost and fled into the woods in their terror. The four companions sat down at the table and took what was left of the meal. They ate as though they thought it could be their last bite for a whole month .

Once the four musicians had finished eating, they put the light out and looked for somewhere to sleep, each one choosing the resting place that suited him best. The donkey lay down on the dung heap, the dog went behind the door, the cat made her bed at the warm hearth, and the rooster flew up to perch on a beam. Tired from their long journey, thei soon fell asleep. Just after midnight, the robbers, who were watching from a distance, saw that the light was out and that all seemed to be quiet in the house. The chief robber said: "We shouldn’t have let ourselves be frightened off like that." He got one of the others to go and look at the house. The robber approached the house, and hearing nothing, went into the kitchen to light a candle. He mistook the fiery, glowing eyes of the cat for live coals, and held his match to them so it could catch fire. The cat wasn’t in the mood for jokes, and jumped into his face, spitting and scratching. The robber was frightened out of his wits and tried to escape through the back door. But the dog, who was lying there, jumped up and bit him in the leg. And as the robber ran across the yart past the dung heap, the donkey gave him a mighty kick with his back legs.The noise woke the rooster and he cried "cook-a-doodle-doo" from his perch. The robber ran back to his chief as fast as he could and said: "There‘s a horrible witch in the
house. She spat at me and scratched my face with her long fingernails. And there's a man with a knife at the door. He stabbed me in the leg. As for the yard - there’s a black monster lurking there. He set about me with a wooden club. And the judge is sitting up on the roof. He called out: ’Bring that rascal here!’ I got away as fast as I could."


From then on , the robbers didn’t dare to go into the house. But the four Bremen town musicians liked it so much there that they didn’t want to leave.