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THE TOWN BEHIND THE TOWN MUSICIANS OF BREMEN<br />
Bremen is different: free of stress, unpretentious, restful,<br />
attractive – and with fairytale characters exuding an<br />
extraordinary appeal as globally esteemed ambass -<br />
adors. A new brand core highlights Bremen’s identity.<br />
Bremen is a good place to live and work. Even the Town<br />
Musicians of Bremen knew that. While the Roland statue is<br />
the official landmark of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen,<br />
in terms of popularity the Town Musicians of Bremen are<br />
at least on an equal footing with the knight in armour.<br />
They have become the prime ambassadors for the state,<br />
even ahead of the football club Werder Bremen.<br />
The Town Musicians of Bremen are one of the best known<br />
fairytales by the Brothers Grimm. Since 1819, the adventures<br />
that the donkey, dog, cat and rooster encountered<br />
on their journey have become a firmly established part of<br />
Grimm’s “Children’s and Household Tales”. The story is<br />
classified as a so-called “servants’ tale”, with the four animal<br />
heroes standing for rebellion against servitude and suppression.<br />
Their destination was a free Hanseatic city,<br />
according to the old motto “town air makes you free” – free<br />
of serfdom and existential destitution – a hope that certainly<br />
wasn’t always fulfilled for everyone, but which has<br />
lost none of its pull in the age of globalisation, as illustrated<br />
today by the relentless growth of the mega-cities<br />
in Asia or South America.<br />
But of course the Town Musicians in the fairytale weren’t to<br />
know about all that. Their leader, the donkey, just knew<br />
“Something better than death we can find anywhere”, a<br />
motto still valid today for all those setting off into the<br />
unknown to start a new life. The popularity of future Town<br />
Musicians on their way north also resulted from the fact<br />
that they wouldn’t let themselves be distracted from their<br />
goal. They overcame hunger and thirst, and although they<br />
were actually the weaker ones, they pooled their resources<br />
with cunning and courage to defeat the overpowering<br />
robbers and make themselves at home in their house.<br />
Bronze statue next to the Town Hall<br />
Envious people claim that the Town Musicians never made<br />
it to Bremen but settled in Syke or elsewhere in the affluent<br />
suburbs and only commuted into town for the occasional<br />
appearance on the Marktplatz. This is a dilemma<br />
that Bremen as a business location still suffers from today:<br />
every day, Bremen provides work for thousands of commuters<br />
who use the city’s infrastructure, but who live out<br />
in the surrounding areas where they also pay their income<br />
tax. This is an ongoing point of conflict in the financial<br />
equalisation scheme between the German federal states.<br />
But this does not apply to the Town Musicians. They are<br />
and always will be in Bremen. Tourists from all over the<br />
world make sure of that on a daily basis, crowding around<br />
the bronze statue by Gerhard Marcks and taking lots of<br />
pictures of each other grasping the donkey’s front hooves.<br />
That’s supposed to make their wishes come true. According<br />
to the historical records, there have been town musicians<br />
in Bremen ever since 1339. “The City and Council<br />
Musicians” played at ceremonial events, accompanied<br />
the council on delegations and repeatedly hired strolling<br />
musicians to fulfil their official obligations, thus adding<br />
freelancers to their core team for specific projects. And so<br />
the animal musicians in Grimm’s fairytale had a justifiable<br />
hope of finding their fortune in Bremen.<br />
Continued on page 53<br />
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