The ice bet in Bremen - a unique tradition
Bremen has what other cities don't: An ice bet on a frozen Weser in January. However, the Weser has not frozen over properly for almost 80 years. So this year, the motto was once again: "De Werser geiht" (The Weser is not frozen over).
During the spectacle, donations are collected for the German Maritime Search and Rescue Service (DGzRS).
Almost closed ice cover with the Weser bridge still destroyed, winter 1946/1947 Image: Staatsarchiv Bremen/US Army Signal Corps
The history of the ice bet
The bet was made for the first time in November 1828. 18 gentlemen, including Bremen merchants, bet on whether the Weser would freeze over by January 1829. The wager: a communal cabbage dinner.
Since 1928, the ice competition has been held annually on 6 January - Epiphany. A tailor, the Three Wise Men and other gentlemen in black take part. Particularly exciting: the tailor uses an iron to check whether the Weser is really frozen over. If it is not, he loses the bet.
Staging
Despite the pouring rain, hundreds of onlookers watched the spectacle on the banks of the Weser once again this year. With an air temperature of plus eleven degrees Celsius, the betting question was quickly settled. However, the punctual appearance of the tailor caused some astonishment, as the schedule actually stipulates that the tailor arrives late. As usual, he later crossed the Weser in a DGzRS boat.
The tailor crosses over with DGzRS subsidiary boat. Photo: Jürgen Howaldt (2008/17) CC BY-SA 2.0
What began almost 200 years ago as a fun idea among Bremen merchants has developed into a unique social event. Every third Saturday in January, around 800 wealthy guests are invited to the ice betting festival to eat a tasty cabbage and pinkel meal and donate to the sea rescuers. At the 196th ice betting festival on 18 January 2025 at the Congress Centrum Bremen, the spending mood brought the Record sum of 607,764 euros.
Sea rescuers
They go out when others come in and are on duty around the clock and in all weathers. With a crew of 200 employees and 800 volunteers, the sea rescuers are out on the North Sea and Baltic Sea. They have 60 rescue units and 55 stations. Every year, they carry out around 2,000 missions, which are financed exclusively by donations. Since 2009, the name of the rescue cruiser EISWETTE (station Nordstrand) has been a reminder of the traditional Bremen ice bet of 1829. The largest single donation for the DGzRS is collected every year at the ice bet festival.
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