Bremen's Coffee History
There is no other city in Germany that is as closely associated with the word "coffee" as Bremen. Bremen looks back on a long history of coffee - Europe's first coffee factory was built in Bremen. Nowadays, the ports of Bremen and Bremerhaven are among the most important locations in the country for the importation of coffee.
© fotolia / Chopard Photography
It was a Dutchman who first brought coffee to the North of Germany. In 1673, the Bremen City Council allowed Jan Jahns van Huisten to establish the first public coffee house in the entire country. A meaningful step: in the course of time, the "brown gold" became the favorite drink among the German population, even more popular than mineral water and beer. Today, 0.41 liters of bean coffee is consumed daily throughout Germany. It is noteworthy, that the most popular coffee producers are from the North of Germany, particularly from Bremen and the surrounding area and also from Hamburg.
Roselius and Kaffee HAG
Ludwig Roselius, a name that is familiar to many Bremen residents, played an important role in the success of the drink. In 1906, he founded Kaffee HAG in Bremen, Europe's first coffee factory and at the same time the first company offering a decaffeinated version of the popular drink.
Lloyd Caffee and EduScho
Over the years an increasing number of coffee companies settled in Bremen and are still known among coffee lovers today. In addition to the Lloyd Caffee brand founded by Albert Laube in 1930, Eduard Schopf launched "EduScho" in 1924, while Johann Jacobs opened his own roastery in 1907 since his "Special Shop for Coffee, Tea, Chocolates and Biscuits" had already been attracting customers for twelve years in the Domshof square.
Jacobs Establishes Distribution Channels and Variety
Johann Jacobs offered a total of ten different coffee blends - a large product range at that time. The merchant also contributed to the development of the service sector as he was the first one who delivered his products to individual customers and bulk consumers in the Bremen area. Thereby, the popularity of the brand increased. Today, the product range of Jacobs includes whole bean and ground coffee as well as coffee pods, instant coffee, TASSIMO products and various specialties.
The Importance of the Ports
Both ports of the federal state Bremen played an important role back in the day and still do so today as every second bean in Germany is imported via Bremen or Bremerhaven. Especially the Überseestadt is an important location, particularly due to the companies that are based in this neighborhood. Various streets in the Überseestadt are reminiscent of the coffee roasting beginnings in the Hanseatic city. In the street "Am Kaffee-Quartier", which borders Lloydstraße, EduScho produced coffee for a long time while the "Johann-Jacobs-Straße", which crosses the street “Am Kaffee-Quartier”, is named after the influencing coffee merchant from Bremen.
The Coffee Business Today
A lot has changed since the early days: The Jacobs coffee brand now belongs to Jacobs-Douwe-Egberts, which is also based in Bremen and whose product range also includes Kaffee HAG and Onko. Lloyd Caffee is located in the Überseestadt and counts as one of the oldest coffee roasteries in Bremen as coffee is still roasted in a traditional way. EduScho became part of the Hamburg giant Tchibo at the end of the 1990s.
However, the coffee business in the city on the Weser is flourishing. In addition to the large, well-known brands, small-scale coffee roasteries contribute to the diverse coffee selection in northern Germany. Hereby, traditional companies such as Kaffeerösterei Münchhausen or Kaffee & Tee Hemken, which are known for individual coffee rather than mass-produced coffee, as well as relatively young companies such as Cross Coffee, which was founded in 2013, are equally important. The residents of Bremen are delighted with the diverse coffee selection as here in the North of Germany we are coffee lovers.
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