Immerse yourself in strange, fascinating worlds: The mostly interactive exhibitions in these five unusual houses revolve around great questions of humanity, life and nature.

1

Universe Bremen

Man, Earth and Cosmos are the three major theme worlds of the Universums Bremen. But don't worry: the knowledge is imparted in a playful way. Almost all of the 250 stations can be tried out and explored. True to the motto: Try before you buy! During the daily science show at 12 and 3 p.m., a scientist explains complex facts in an understandable way. After visiting the tornado station, you will finally know the difference between a tornado and a hurricane. Things get really shaky on the earthquake sofa. There, visitors experience three real earth tremors on their own bodies. And great fun is the lie detector - which works how exactly? Universum Bremen reveals the answer.

How to get to Bremen by train: Plan arrival.

The data globe at Universum Bremen explains the complexity of our world © Universum Bremen
The data globe at Universum Bremen explains the complexity of our world © Universum Bremen
2

Klimahaus Bremerhaven 8° East

Become a globetrotter without harming the climate? Experience the heat and cold of the different continents and learn about the climatic challenges for the respective inhabitants? Visitors can do all this at the Klimahaus Bremerhaven 8° East experience. From Bremerhaven The museum takes visitors on a virtual research trip across the globe, always along the 8th degree of longitude east. This is not a particular degree of longitude, but simply the one on which the world of knowledge also stands. In reality, everyone would have to travel 40,000 kilometers to visit the nine locations and five continents. In the Klimahaus, this long journey takes only a few hours. Stops include the South Sea beach of Samoa and the desert of the Sahel, where visitors learn about the efforts the Tuareg people have to make to extract water from the desert floor. For the Neumayer Station of the Alfred Wegener Institute in Antarctica, the motto is: Cool down! While the helicopter simulator flight to the wind turbines is very popular at the Offshore Center, the World Future Lab illustrates the impact of one's own actions on the global climate. Can the rainforest still be saved? At the Klimahaus Bremerhaven 8° Ost, it's up to you!

How to get to Bremerhaven by train: Plan arrival.

3

botanika in the rhododendron park Bremen

How do flies feel in a carnivorous plant? At botanika You can learn about it at the discovery center. The plant world is explained there from the root to the flower from unusual perspectives. In the middle of the 46 hectare Rhododendron Park is the Green Science Center, which in addition to the Discovery Center also includes three large greenhouse worlds and the second largest rhododendron collection in the world (after that of the British Queen). Nearly 600 wild species and 3,000 cultivars are owned by the house. If you prefer the exotic, you can take the jungle trail and hike from there to the Himalayan mountains. The Japanese Zen garden provides relaxation. The Chinese teahouse and the Nirvana Buddha, the largest reclining Buddha outside Asia, are also worth a visit. The Peace Buddha, weighing 450 kilos and 2.40 meters tall, is another highlight. It is a gift from the Dalai Lama and a symbol of international understanding.

How to get to Bremen by train: Plan arrival.

Butterfly encounter at botanika © Elisa Meyer / botanika GmbH
4

German Emigration House in Bremerhaven

Directly at the New Harbor in Bremerhavenwhere almost 1.2 million people set out for the New World between 1852 and 1890 alone, opened the German Emigration House. Based on 33 real family stories, 300 years of German migration history are conveyed here. A total of 7.2 million people set sail from Bremerhaven in search of a better life. The USA, Canada, South America and Australia were their destinations. The journey through time to New York, for example, begins in the German Emigration House in the room "An der Kaje" with a detailed reconstruction of a wharf around 1880. In the sanitary rooms of a fast steamer, it also quickly becomes clear that emigration in the 19th century was anything but a great trip. And in the recreated immigration office on Ellis Island near New York, you realize that the questions you had to answer there as an immigrant were quite difficult. The museum is also dedicated to immigration to Germany from 1685 to the present. And in the family research room, you can search for emigrated relatives yourself.

How to get to Bremerhaven by train: Plan arrival.

The German Emigration Center in Bremerhaven received an award in 2007 for its innovative exhibition concept © Kay-Riechers / Erlebnis Bremerhaven
5

Overseas Museum in Bremen

Why travel far and wide when you can roam 13 foreign continents at Bremen's Bahnhofsplatz? "The world under one roof" was the credo at the opening of the Übersee-Museum in Bremen Even then, ethnology, trade and natural history were united here. Today, the collection numbers around 1.2 million objects. Many of them can be seen in the foam magazine "Übermaxx," including such curiosities as a fish-skin anorak, the flightless parrot Kakapo or Japanese toe sandals made of straw. The museum's history is critically examined in the exhibition "Spurensuche - Geschichte eines Museums". How did the exhibits from all over the world find their way to the Übersee-Museum? Were they collected, bought or even stolen? What roles did shipping companies, merchants or museum employees play?

How to get to Bremen by train: Plan arrival.

Ceramics from America in the Übersee-Museum © Übersee-Museum Bremen/Matthias Haase

Universe

botanika in the rhododendron park

Klimahaus Bremerhaven 8° East

Übersee-Museum

German Emigration House

At Universum, visitors can experience scientific phenomena up close and with all their senses at over 300 exhibits © Universum Bremen

More articles from Bremen