Spicarium

The Spicarium was an interactive exhibition about shipbuilding, shipping, trade and yacht design housed in the Alte Speicher, a former warehouse in Bremen’s Vegesack district. The brick building, designed in the classical style, stands on the site where shipbuilder Johann Lange founded his yard in 1805. Its four-storey height and distinctive roof made it a landmark in views of Vegesack from 1821 onwards. The exhibition explored how Vegesack’s harbour expanded and why large ships could no longer reach Bremen’s Schlachte quay. Short films recreated the revolutionary year 1848, which left its mark on the area. Upstairs, hands-on stations showed how renewable energy could power ships and presented research from the Hochschule Bremen’s Bionik-Innovations-Centrum. Visitors found a large model and interactive table explaining 17th-century trade flows. A small maritime library covered shipyards, sailing and herring fishing. The building also formed part of the Maritime Mile in Vegesack, linking local history to the waterfront.