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]
Fisher House In the middle of the 18th century, the first steps were made towards a municipally oriented settlement structure in Brake. In 1746, some 28 residential houses were documented in Brake. Craftsmen, merchants, fishermen, barge shippers and maritime pilots lived here. Among the latter war a man named Addick Addicks. In 1731, he and his wife Elisabeth commissioned the construction of the building now known as the “Fischerhaus” (“Fisher House”). It is one of the oldest houses in Brake, a so-called Low German Hall House. At the beginning of the 1990s, the house was painstakingly restored. In the meantime, the atmospherically charming rooms are often the settings of weddings. Additionally, Brake´s Heritage Society and the Association “Culture in the Fisher House” host concerts, small presentations and readings in the house. [More]
Mayor's House In 1856, Brake received the official designation as a city, along with Varel and Elsfleth, and this move forward was accompanied, at least for some years, by an economic upturn. The Mayor´s House (“Bürgermeisterhaus”) is a city mansion in the late classical style and serves as an architectural articulation of wealth. It was built in 1862 by Johann Friedrich Schumacher, a captain from Elsfleth.Between 1881 and 1909, it was the residence and office of his In 1856, Brake received the official designation as a city, along with Varel and Elsfleth, and this move forward was accompanied, at least for some years, by an economic upturn. The Mayor´s House (“Bürgermeisterhaus”) is a city mansion in the late classical style and serves as an architectural articulation of wealth. It was built in 1862 by Johann Friedrich Schumacher, a captain from Elsfleth. Between 1881 and 1909, it was the residence and office of his son, Friedrich August Schumacher, who served for some 28 years as the mayor of the city of Brake and died on 27 May 1909, shortly after retiring from that office. He took care of all official business from his private home, the name of which recalls these days. Today, several rental apartments are located within the house. [More]
Plassmann's Villa The art nouveau villa with the crest above the impressive gateway belonged to the wood trader Wilhelm Plassmann (1852-1931). In 1907, he commissioned its construction by the architects Hans and Heinrich Lassen from Bremen. Actually, it was his second residential house in Brake. Wood trading was a flourishing industry. Plassman supplied above all the numerous shipyards of wooden ships with his highly desired construction material – such as, for example, the shipyard of Ide Oltmann in the immediate vicinity. However, even the suppliers of the shipyards as well as many building and carpentry business were among his customers.Around 1900, the affluent class in Brake began copying the British style of living with great enthusiasm. Even today, the villas document the wealth once prevalent in the maritime city of Brake. [More]
Maritime Museum - Haus Borgstede & Becker The packing house was built in 1808 by the ship broker and the subsequent shipyard owner Hinrich Oltmanns. It served as an interim storage facility of the company “Oltmanns & Seeman”, allowing freight and commercial goods to be temporarily kept until their further transport by ship. On the ground floor, a ship´s chandler store was opened from early on.As of 1818, the British Vice Consul and an agent of the North German Lloyd, John Saville MacNamara, lived here with his wife, who became entwined with countless legends. Following MacNamars death in 1845, Johann Hinrich Borgstede and Julius Ludwig Becker, two businessmen from Brake, purchased the building, and this became the exclusive property of Becker a year later, remaining in the family until 1979. In 1985, this house, known as “Haus Borgstede & Becker”, became the second site of the Maritime Museum of the Oldenburgian Lower Weser. [More]