Bremen Town Musicians
Bremen Town Musicians
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647 reviews
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233
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235
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Michael B
Kelkheim (Taunus), Germany121 contributions
Dec 2019
The Bremer Stadtmusikanten belong to Bremen/Germany as a mascot following a fairy tale of the brothers Grimm. It's funny to find a similar statue in Riga. Here the animals are looking through a kind of wall rather than into a restaurant window in the fairy tale. We learned that Riga is a sister city of Bremen and has been given a replica of the musicians by the city of Bremen.
Written January 16, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
lonewolf44
Kingston upon Thames, UK1,303 contributions
Jul 2017
You can't miss this striking statue between St Peter's Church and the convent yard. You'll see the tourists congregating round it and rubbing the donkey's nose for luck. You might idly wonder why a sculpture of a cockerel standing on a cat standing on a dog standing on a donkey is called the Bremen Town Musicians. In a Brothers Grimm Fairy Tale, the animals were past their prime and due for the chop so they ran away to Bremen to become musicians. En route they found a cottage where robbers were preparing to sit down to a feast. By climbing on each others' backs the animals made a cacophony of noise which scared the robbers away so the animals could take over the cottage and eat their feast. So far so cute - but what's that got to do with Riga? well riga is twinned with bremen (check the signs on the city's outskirts for evidence) and in 1990 Gorbachev's Perestroika and Glasnost stirred Latvian nationalism and led a local sculptor to use the story of the Bremen musicians to suggest Latvians were staring through the Iron Curtain at the feast in the cottage of westerners and the events of 1991 when Latvians took to the barricades means he anticipated that by joining together they drove out the Soviets and took the feast and the cottage over. What a great story and allegory! And i love the fact the sculptor sneaked it past the Soviet authorities and anticipated events with uncanning accuracy. If you find it, rub the donkey's nose for luck and think about the extraordinary stories that explains it!
Written July 30, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
DeanMurphy2020
Orlando, FL7,757 contributions
Aug 2016 • Friends
The composite sculpture known as Bremen Town Musicians was created in 1990 by Bremen artist Krista Baumgaertel. (Bremen—Riga’s sister city—is a sprawling city southwest of Hamburg, Germany.) Legendary musicians perform music on Skarnu Street between the church and the convent yard: a donkey, dog, cat and rooster, each standing on the other’s back. There is surprise in the animals’ eyes, as they are peering through Iron Curtain at the free West. This is a political sculpture inspired by Gorbachev’s perestroika movement, and created shortly after collapse of the Berlin Wall late in 1989. The surprise depicted in the animals’ eyes is surprise, believing that they would see what they had been told was the West’s version of a feast: a bone instead of a piece of meat. This is an ironic view at sudden independence, something German friends in 1989 could not grasp for months. Rubbing the beak/snout of each animal supposedly brings good luck. The first two were easy, the cat a bit of a stretch, but this six-two guy with long arms couldn’t touch the rooster crowing his musician’s song. At the edge of Old Town Square, this is one of Riga's top attractions, and there's no cost to enjoy watching tourists reach as high as they can to polish the brass snouts.
Written September 23, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Sus1952
Palmerston North, New Zealand2,121 contributions
Aug 2019
This is an amazing symbol of freedom given by sister city, Bremen, in 1990, just before independence. The famous animals from folklore who escaped a life of servitude are peering through the iron curtain at freedom beyond. Well worth a visit.
Written August 9, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
lupabianca
Matlock, UK238 contributions
Jun 2019
An interesting detail as you pass by. The statue is situated by St Peter's church. In a Grimm fairy tale four ageing animals - the donkey, dog, cat and cockerel - facing cruel futures, escape and set out to become musicians in Bremen. On the way they look through the lighted window of a house and see a band of robbers enjoying a feast. The animals scare the robbers away and take over the house. The sculpture has an underlying political message, based on perestroika: these animals are gazing, not at the robbers feast, but through the Iron Curtain.
Written August 6, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
SimonGC68
Birmingham, UK37 contributions
Oct 2019
A statue that has a local tradition to see how high you can get on the musicians, the higher the luckier if you manage to rub them.... donkey, dog, cat, rooster ... the possibility for innuendo is significant
Written November 5, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
HugoLV
Jurmala, Latvia39 contributions
Feb 2019 • Business
Situated beside St Peter's Church in the Old Town. It is a gift from city of Bremen, consisting from a donkey, a dog, a cat, and a rooster. Animals are from Grimm brothers fairy tale: "Town Musicians of Bremen". Expect to take your time finding an angle for a good photo without a crowd in the picture!
Written February 24, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Le4ik
Moscow, Russia89 contributions
Sept 2018 • Family
It was unexpected to meet this monument in Riga; but that was a good surprise! And traditionally, noses of animals are shining as they has been polished by millions of tourists!-)
Written September 26, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Colin T
Hindley, UK89 contributions
Feb 2018 • Family
loved the story to the statue as did my youngest daughter and who cant love the faces on these animals. Love a good statue to rub and had fun trying to reach the rooster at the top.
Written February 18, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
simmondsi
Darmstadt, Germany748 contributions
Aug 2017 • Couples
As Bremen's twin city, Riga received a copy of the famous Bremer Stadtmusikanten statue which is based on a Brothers Grimm fairy tale. While this is smaller and a little different to the Bremen one, it's still a must see when in Riga.
If you found my review helpful I'd appreciate your vote.
If you found my review helpful I'd appreciate your vote.
Written August 17, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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