Category Archives: Richard Grassick

All posts by RIchard

“The Law Is An Ass”, Said Alice.

The on-going local spat between citizen activists and the Bremen authorities in Neustadt took another twist last week, as the former tried their hand at legal parking, and the latter responded with the, umm, full weight of the law.

The Alice in Wonderland, parallel universe reality, reared its head in Biebricherstrasse, where last year the same group of citizens were punished for trying to calm local traffic. This time, they chose to park two cars legally by leaving them on the roadside, rather than on the pavement where all other cars illegally park.

Continue reading “The Law Is An Ass”, Said Alice. →

Out of the Blue and Into the Black

Right, here’s a post for people who like their rock ’n’ roll loud.

Continue reading Out of the Blue and Into the Black →

Green Light for Cycle Neighbourhood

Further to our post in December, it has been announced this week that Bremen has been successful in its bid for federal funding towards a budget of €2.4m (2.396.650m €) for the proposed Bicycle Neighbourhood in the Neustadt district of the city.

Continue reading Green Light for Cycle Neighbourhood →

The Good, The Bad, The Trees

Fahrradstrassen from Moving Films on Vimeo.

The second post in our series about Cycle Streets follows a team as they look more closely at some of Bremen’s former, current and future Cycle Streets. They found that, not only is car parking a dominant factor in driving their development, but there is also a forgotten victim – Bremen’s trees.

Jan Gehl – Cities for People

Jan Gehl – Architect, Urban Planner, Visionary and Humanist

Jan Gehl is an experienced architect and urban planner from Copenhagen with a very special view on his environment. Today he has become something of a patron for pedestrians and cyclists. Continue reading Jan Gehl – Cities for People →

Parkallee – No Stars For The Cunning Plan

Anyone who has been on a cycle tour of Bremen will know the city’s top attraction Der Stern (The Star). The Stern roundabout sits in the Schwachhausen district, Northeast of the city centre and has seen changes to its layout over the years. Now new plans are afoot. Continue reading Parkallee – No Stars For The Cunning Plan →

Frightening the Horses

In 2014, as we began our research into Bremen’s cycling history, we spent many hours in the Bremen State Archive. It was there that we met Florian Reiß, a historian who Continue reading Frightening the Horses →

Cycling in Bremen – The Early Years

“I believe that if all Germans cycled, they would lose their dull sensuality and be happier and more agreeable.” (Ricarda Huch to Richard Huch 1896)[1.Huch, Ricarda: Du mein Dämon, meine Schlange…letter to Richard Huch 1887 – 1897, P. 612, cited by Reiß, Florian Nikolaus: Vom Radfahren in Bremen – Die Bremer Fahrradgeschichte bis zum Ersten Weltkrieg, in: Bremisches Jahrbuch, Band 94, 2015, P. 149f]

“In no other city in Germany, are cyclists treated as humanely as here in Bremen” (German Bicycle Association meeting in Bremen 1897)[2.Cited by Reiß: Bremer Fahrradgeschichte, P. 162]

Bremer Bicycle History Part 1: 19th century to early 20th century

One glance at Bremen, and you soon realise the importance of the bicycle. In Bremen so many people ride bikes. How come? Continue reading Cycling in Bremen – The Early Years →