Oltmanns The oldest shipyard in Brake was founded by the ship´s carpenter Hinrich Oltmanns in 1791. Up until its bankruptcy in 1901, some 143 wooden sailing ships were launched here, including galiotes, schooners, brigs, barques, fully-rigged ships and Weser barges. The shipyard was also well-known outside of the region, given the high quality of services, particularly in the construction of fast vessels. Accordingly, orders were placed by customers located beyond the Weser coastline, such as Hamburg and the Netherlands. Following the death of Ide Oltmanns senior in 1856, his widow Anna Rebecka steered the company for nearly 30 additional years. The villa of the Family Oltmanns, built in 1861, is a so-called “Helgenbaas-House” and has been maintained practically unchanged until today. [More]
Ship Chandlery The Family Arnold has been operating its ship chandlery here in this location since 1884. In such a place of business, the residents of Brake as well as the crew members of the sailing ships laying over in the harbor were able to purchase everything they needed for their personal use, including colonial goods such as cocoa, coffee and tobacco. Above all, however, the assortment encompassed equipment required in the work onboard, such as buckets, cordage and blocks as well as lamps and oil. A good supplier of ships had to be capable of delivering provisions for 100 daily rations per crew member of a large tall ship within a single day. Today, the Hillrich Arnold GmbH is engaged not only in the shipchandlery, but also in trading mineral oil, and it owns a bunker vessel involved in underway operations. [More]
Brommy's Villa Nothing more than a simple stone reminds us of the former business and residential house of the entrepreneur, shipyard owner and restaurant owner Gerhard Gross. In this very location, he and his family housed Carl Rudolph Bromme, better known as “Brommy”. Brommy was, as of 1849, a rear admiral and the commander of the German military fleet. The fleet headquarters were located in Bremerhaven; the city of Brake served as an additional base and as a winter berth, although the fleet was disbanded in 1852. In the same year, Brommy married Caroline, the daughter of Gerhard Gross. Caroline´s brother Karl, who served under Brommy as a midshipman, founded a merchant shipping line in 1876 and a company which is now an international logistics enterprise domiciled in Bremen. As of 1881, Karl was a member and, as of 1896, the president of the State Parliament of Oldenburg. [More]
Public House For nearly twenty years, from 1845 to 1866, Brake was also an emigrant harbor. Thereby, the year 1854 represented the peak with more than 7,000 passengers. The “Public House” is a witness with regard to this era. Prospective emigrants often spent weeks waiting here for the chance to set sail. During that time, facilities such as the “Public House” served them as a store or a place of dwelling. Even the local ship chandleries catered to this group of people. Indeed, the “Public House” and the ship chandleries were located beneath the same roof. In 1866, a small group of emigrants commenced the last transit from Brake into the New World. Bremerhaven had already specialized in this lucrative transport business. In 1854, more than 75,000 people were transported from Bremerhaven towards America. [More]
Lock The floodgate lock of Brake connects the sea harbor – the Stromkajen – to the inland harbor. In the past, this very point served as the entry into the “Braksiel”, which was utilized as a protected moorage for small vessels, prior to its subsequent use as an expanded harbor basin. Already as early as the beginning of the 19th century, the space for mooring was extraordinarily limited, given that the ships of the Imperial Navy overwintered here. On the 29th of October 1861, the first ship passed through the floodgate in Brake. In 1980, the facility was modernized to serve as a chamber lock independent of the tides and with the ability to protect against storm surges. [More]
Sailmaker Block The street Lindenstrasse was founded in 1798, comprising the second section between the streets Breite Strasse and Mitteldeichstrasse towards the inland harbor. However, it was first built up as of 1850. In 1874, the residential house, the workshop and the warehouse of the sailmaking company Segelmacherei Block was built. Even today, the sign continues to make reference to the original function of the site. Indeed, in this very location, the in part formidable sails for the brigs, barques and fully-rigged ships of Brake were cut on the drawing floor beneath the ceilings and seamed together in the workshop. The load roller beneath the gable facilitated the transport of the heavy canvasses and other materials. Currently, the house serves as an example of a typical craftsman´s house in Brake towards the late 19th Century. [More]
Tobias Anton Tobias (1777-1849) was an extraordinarily successful personality in Brake. In 1802, he opened at the age of 25 initially a bakery. He sold his bread to the crews of the numerous ships moored in Brake. Thereby, he laid the foundation for his subsequent wealth. Shortly thereafter, he founded a brewery, a shipping line, a shipyard and a train oil distillery. Above all, his son Christian Tobias (1803-1876) was involved with a fleet of 13 ships, including the barque "Azaria", displayed as a model in the Maritime Museum, in hunting down seals and whales near Greenland as well as in the South Pacific. The inscription on the facade of the storehouse, first built in 1890, reminds us of the bygone era. [More]
Maritime Museum - Telegraph The so-called Telegraph was built in 1846 as a station along the semaphore (optical telegraph) line between Bremen and Bremerhaven. Oldenburg´s administration financed the venture. Having a signalmast on their roofs, the merchants and shipowners were now able to conveniently relay messages between ships arriving and departing – at least during the daytime and with good visual conditions. Nonetheless, as soon as 1852, this form of communications was history. The electromagnetic telegraphy distinguished itself in terms of reliability and rapidity. The building subsequently served in various functions, including as a prison and as a firehouse. Since 1960, it has been the parent house of the Maritime Museum of the Oldenburgian Lower Weser. In 2014, following an extensive period of renovation and modernization, it was reopened. [More]
House Suhren Georg von der Vring (1889-1968), until this day the only honorary citizen of Brake, was a writer and a painter. He grew up at the house of his grandfather Georg Suhren in the Schulstrasse in Brake. Georg von der Vring attended the Evangelical Educational Seminar in Oldenburg and subsequently the Royal Academy of Arts in Berlin. In addition to his merit as a painter, he also gained recognition as an author. In 1927, his book “Soldier Suhren” was regarded as the first German anti-war novel. Already at the age of 14, Georg von der Vring left his city of birth, but he remained tru to Brake throughout his life. His grave is located in the cemetary Kirchhammelwarden. The Maritime Museum of the Oldenburgian Lower Weser honors the artist with a small exhibition. [More]
Harriersand The riverine island Harriersand is eleven kilometers long and is located directly adjacent to the center of Brake. It received ist current form as a result oft he so-called “Weser correction”. Thereby, the Lower Weser was straightened and deepened from Bremen down to the estuary, as it flows into the North Sea near Bremerhaven. In the course of this technical masterpiece, a revolutionary achievement under the direction of Bremen´s Chief Construction Officer, Ludwig Franzius (1832-1903), Harriersand was formed by uniting seven riverine islands along Brake´s coast. Harriersand is now home to 150 holiday cottages, a campsite and many small sand beaches. The ferry GUNTSIET travels regularly between Brake and Harriersand. [More]