Venue & Travel

Venue

FOSS4G-Europe is proudly hosted by Jacobs University in the of Free Hanseatic City of Bremen located in the Northern part of Germany. It is famous for its Bremen Town Musicians, its town hall, a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site, and its maritime traditions which are most visible in the Vegesack neighborhood close to the Jacobs University campus.

Being the second most populous city in Northern Germany and tenth in Germany, it has a thousand year long tradition of seafaring and international exchange across Europe and beyond. Settlements actually date back as far as about 12000 BC! FOSS4G-Europe will take place during the warmest period in Bremen, with average high temperatures around 22 °C (71.6 °F), but actually going into the 30s °C frequently; also, sunshine probability is high at that time. [Source: Wikipedia.]

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Travel Directions

Detail information is available on how to get to Jacobs University by car, train, or plane. Or simply read on.

By Plane

Bremen Airport is located close to the city center. It offers convenient direct flights to many European destinations, as well as generally good international connections via Frankfurt, Paris, or Amsterdam.

Arriving at the airport, take Tram 6 up to Bremen Hauptbahnhof (main station), then follow instructions below to Bremen-Schönebeck station for a five minute walk to campus. There is a ticket machine on the tram which takes Euro coins, get a Tarif Zone II ("Preisstufe II") ticket at €3.00 which is valid all the way to Bremen-Schönebeck. Total travel time from Bremen Airport to Jacobs University is approximately one hour.

It is worth checking for convenient flight connections to Hamburg or Hannover as well. Both airports have train connections to Bremen within two hours travel time. Intercontinental travelers may want to check for cheaper direct flights into Amsterdam or Frankfurt. Train travel to Bremen takes about five hours, see also next section.

By Train

Should you end up at Bremen main station without a through ticket to Bremen-Schönebeck, you must buy a ticket at one of the ticket machines in the station. You cannot buy tickets on the train. Get a Tarif Zone II ("Preisstufe II") ticket at €3.00. You may have to validate the ticket by time-stamping it in one of the little blue boxes on the station platform.

When you arrive at Bremen-Schönebeck, take the stairs up the bridge, cross the bridge and follow the road (which turns into Bruno-Bürgel-Straße). You will reach the Jacobs main gate (B in map below) after approximately 500m.

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Congratulations, you're almost there! For the very> last meters, find here maps of the conference halls.

Accommodation

Basically, there are three options available, in ascending distance and price:

• On campus a limited contingent of rooms is available. These are modern single rooms within five minutes walk of lecture halls, the library, small group study rooms, cafeterias, and recreation facilities.
  • Residential Colleges (single room in a double apartment with a shared bathroom, 35 Euro/night incl. bedding, 2 towels)
  • Guest House (single room 40 Euro, double 70 Euro) -- limited availability!
• Close to campus (10min by bus):
  • Atlantic Hotel (single room 79.20 Euro; double room 103.50 Euro - use reservation code "Jacobs University FOSS4GE")
  • Strandlust (single room 96.50 Euro; double room 140 Euro - mention Jacobs University when reserving)
  • Schulschiff Deutschland (double room 48 Euro) beware - it's sailing ship made of steel, so your wifi stick may work restricted in your room)
• downtown Bremen (30min from Bremen Central to campus by commuter train): see Bremen tourism central or your favorite booking site

Note that conditions have been negotiated with the hotels and will not correspond to their (higher) prices advertised. Quote "Jacobs University" to get the reduced rate when contacting the hotel.

For reservations, contact us!