BREMERHAVEN 



915 



BREST 



situated on both banks of the River Weser, 

 forty-six miles from the North Sea. The older 

 .portion of the town, forming the business sec- 

 tion, has narrow and crooked streets, but the 

 modern part has fine boulevards, gardens and 

 handsome residences. Bremen is the commer- 

 cial center of Northwest Germany and has four 

 harbors capable of accommodating the largest 

 vessels afloat. The exports consist chiefly of 

 woolen goods, linens, glass, hemp, hides, oil, 

 wooden toys and other manufactured -goods. 

 More than eighty per cent of the imports 

 consist of foodstuffs. All public utilities, in- 



LOCATION OF BREMEN 



eluding gas, electric light and water works, are 

 municipally owned and are profitably con- 

 ducted. Previous to the War of the Nations 

 more immigrants to the United States and 

 Canada sailed from Bremen than from any 

 other European port. In June, 1916, the first 

 merchant submarine in the history of the world, 

 the Deutschland, sailed from Bremen and ar- 

 rived in Baltimore, Md. By the employment 

 of such vessels the Germans hoped to break 

 the blockade established against them by the 

 allied powers. 



The schools of Bremen are excellent; the 

 city spends twice as much money annually on 

 education as it does on its police force. Pop- 

 ulation in 1910, 246,827. 



BREMERHAVEN, brem ' er hay v'n, an im- 

 portant seaport of Germany, in the state of 

 Bremen on the estuary of the Weser River, 

 thirty-eight miles north of the city of Bremen. 

 It has a good harbor and here are situated the 



drydocks and repair shops of the North Ger- 

 man Lloyd Steamship Company. During the 

 War of the Nations the harbor was the head- 

 quarters of the German submarine fleet. Ves- 

 sels bound for the port of Bremen sometimes 

 wait at Bremerhaven until the tide is suffi- 

 ciently high for them to proceed up the river. 

 The chief industry is shipbuilding and the 

 manufacture of articles needed in that industry. 

 It is connected with Geestemiinde by a draw- 

 bridge over the River Geeste, the two towns 

 forming practically one municipality. Popula- 

 tion in 1910, 24,165. 



In September, 1916, a German submarine 

 vessel, fully war-equipped, sailed from Bremer- 

 haven to the shores of the United States, a 

 distance of 3,400 miles, eluding hundreds of 

 English and French traps set for vessels of its 

 class. 



BRESLAU, bres'lou, capital of the province 

 of Silesia, in Germany, beautifully situated on 

 both banks of the Oder River, 350 miles from 

 its mouth and 202 miles southeast of Berlin. 

 The city is divided into an old and a new 

 portion, the old retaining the characteristics of 

 a medieval city, the new being a modern 

 manufacturing town. The cathedral, built in 

 the twelfth century, is an imposing structure 

 containing very valuable art treasures and an 

 altar of beaten silver. The flourishing uni- 

 versity occupies a fine Gothic building over- 

 looking the river; it has a library of 400,000 

 volumes and an observatory. The trade of the 

 city is very extensive, as it is situated close 

 to large iron and coal fields and is a forwarding 

 and receiving depot for the products of the 

 surrounding territory. The manufactures con- 

 sist of machinery, tools, railway cars, gold and 

 silver work, carpets, furs, cloth, glass and china. 

 It is also an important military center, be- 

 cause of its location near the Polish frontier, 

 and has a large permanent garrison. Its ancient 

 ramparts have, however, been converted into 

 promenades. Population in 1911, 512,105. 



BREST, an important seaport and one of 

 the chief naval stations of France, in the 

 department of Finistere, 389 miles west of 

 Paris. It has a fine harbor, protected by 

 powerful forts which overlook the narrow en- 

 trance. The city is ancient, and many of its 

 streets are narrow, crooked and dirty; in some 

 parts they are so steep that the second story 

 of a house may be on a level with the ground 

 floor of the one next above it. Steps are cut 

 in the street to facilitate ascent and descent. 

 Although extensive commerce is carried on, the 



