Schnoorviertel

Tucked away between the Dom and the river is a small, extraordinarily well-peserved area of medieval fishing houses known as the “Schnoorviertel”. Rather like a thread of beads - thus its Low German name of “'Schnoor”' - little gabled houses from the 15th and 16th centuries huddle together in Bremen's oldest quarter. Though prettified, it has managed to avoid soulless gentrification.

Artisans, goldsmiths and gallery-owners now occupy many houses along the crooked lanes and tiny backyards, while restaurants and cafés cater for even the most discerning palate. Other buildings accommodate the Theatre in the Schnoor, the varieté theatre of Madame Lothár, a wedding house - arguably the world's smallest hotel - a toy museum, a Christmas shop, the Institute for Low German Language, the St Jacobus Merchant House and the friary church of St Johann.