Around 42,000 people hold up their green-and-white scarves and sing “Lebenslang Grün-Weiß”, green and white for life. The atmosphere is phenomenal, and it’s the main reason I tell everyone new to Bremen to go to a game at least once.
I’m Cedric, and I work at Constructor University as a marketing manager. I’m not a student, but I’ve lived in Bremen for a couple of years now, and I go to Werder Bremen games fairly regularly. If you’re thinking about coming to Bremen to study, a matchday is one of the best ways to get to know this city.
For readers from the US and Canada, football here means soccer. And in Bremen it means Werder. The club was founded in 1899 and has won the German championship four times, most famously in 2004, when it also won the cup.
This is my guide to a matchday, plus a few things I wish I’d known before my first game. Our campus in Bremen-Vegesack is in the north of the city, so for our students the day starts and ends with a short train ride.
What | Details |
From campus | Under 20 minutes by train to Bremen Hauptbahnhof |
To the stadium | Tram 4 or 6 to Domsheide and a 30-minute walk along the river, or tram 10 into the Viertel and a 5–20 minute walk |
When to arrive | Ostkurve standing: 90 minutes before kick-off. Seats: no rush, but don’t miss the warm-up |
What to bring | Cash for street vendors, a scarf, and at most a small bag (max. A4) |
Getting a ticket is the hardest part. Demand is high and a lot of games sell out, partly because club members get first access. I was lucky and got mine through friends.
So if you live on campus, find the other Werder fans there. With that many students living side by side, chances are someone knows someone with a spare ticket, and going together is more fun anyway.
Otherwise, buy through the club. There’s the official ticket shop, the presale if you get a Werder membership, and the official resale platform where fans pass on tickets they can’t use. I’d stay away from unofficial resellers. The prices are inflated, and you might not even get in.
Games against less famous opponents are easier to get than the big ones. Standing tickets are usually the cheapest, and they put you right in the atmosphere. On matchday your ticket also counts as a public transport ticket in the Bremen region, so keep it on you.
For our students, matchday starts in Vegesack, in Bremen-Nord. From there it’s a short train ride to the Hauptbahnhof, Bremen’s main station.
My matchday started on Saturday around noon at the Hauptbahnhof. Kick-off against SC Paderborn was at 15:30. The station was a lot busier than usual, and everywhere I looked there were green-and-white jerseys and scarves.
From there you can either walk along the river or go through the Viertel.
Along the Weser
Take tram 4 or 6 to Domsheide, walk down to the Weser and follow the Osterdeich, the dike along the river. It takes about 30 minutes, and on a good-weather day it’s the best walk in town, if you ask me. You’re walking with thousands of other fans, and the crowd gets greener with every step. There are a few vendors along the way with drinks and sometimes a Bratwurst, mostly cash only.
About halfway, you can see the stadium and its floodlight masts sitting right on the riverbank, one of my favourite views in the city. Same river that runs past our campus in Vegesack, by the way.
If you’re short on time, take tram 2 or 3 from Domsheide towards the Viertel instead, which gets you closer.
Through the Viertel
Tram 10 goes straight into the Viertel, the alternative part of town with lots of bars and restaurants. A lot of Bremen’s life happens here, and plenty of students live here too.
On matchdays the Viertel turns into one long, slow procession towards the stadium. You can go from kiosk to kiosk (small corner shops where people buy a cold drink and hang around outside), and there’s food for pretty much any taste along the way. Most kiosks take cards if you spend about €5 or more.
And yes, drinking on the street is legal here. Take the bottles back to a shop afterwards, since there’s a small deposit on them (Pfand).
From the Viertel, the stadium is a 5 to 20-minute walk, depending on where you get off the tram.
With a standing ticket for the Ostkurve, be there at least 90 minutes before kick-off, because it fills up fast. With a seat you can take your time.
The Ostkurve is the east stand behind the goal, with the standing areas and Werder’s most active fans. That includes the Ultras, the organised fan groups who lead the chants and put together the big displays called choreos.
Whatever your ticket, don’t come at the last minute. The Ostkurve usually starts singing when the teams come out to warm up, about 30 minutes before kick-off, and just before kick-off the whole stadium sings “Lebenslang Grün-Weiß”. If you can, get a scarf beforehand so you can hold it up too.
Grab a drink and a snack on the way in. Bags can be A4 at most, and you’re better off leaving the backpack at home.
The unwritten rules of the Ostkurve
- A few things to know if you’re in the Ostkurve:
- Don’t take photos of people. A quick picture or a short video of the atmosphere is fine, but filming the match or yourself for long is considered rude.
- The more central you stand, the more intense it gets, but the flags will block your view now and then.
- The first few rows are usually “reserved” for the Ultras.
- Sing along, even if you don’t know the words. You’ll pick them up.
- Don’t wear the other team’s colours.
Werder Bremen 2:2 SC Paderborn
Saturday, 17 October 2026
Goals: Marino, Tigges (Paderborn); Füllkrug (2) (Werder)
We took the Viertel route that day. One kiosk owner was very sure about the game: “Lücke macht heute einen”, Lücke’s scoring today. Lücke is what fans call Füllkrug, after the gap in his front teeth. Then I ignored my own advice. We were running late, so we ended up quite far to the side of the Ostkurve and really had to squeeze in.
Before kick-off there was confetti and smoke from the Ostkurve. The Paderborn fans had a tifo, a big display of their own, but with all the smoke hardly anyone could see it.
The first half was very typical Werder. We played well and then made a couple of stupid mistakes. Marino and Tigges scored for Paderborn, both out of nowhere, and the stadium went a bit silent. 0:2 at the break. Annoying.
I left two or three minutes before the half-time whistle to beat the crowds, went to the toilet and got two beers. I’d recommend it.
After changing sides, also in typical Werder fashion, the team really fought back in the second half. When Füllkrug scored to make it 1:2, the kiosk owner was right after all, and the stadium woke up again. Suddenly every tackle got a roar.
Then Werder got a penalty, and the tension was super high. Füllkrug stepped up and scored. Lücke had made two. 2:2, and the place exploded: people hugging strangers, the Ostkurve bouncing, the whole stadium a proper Hexenkessel, German for “witches’ cauldron”. Somewhere in the chaos, the person I came with got an involuntary Bierdusche (beer shower) from behind us, which was funny.
For the last few minutes, the whole stadium tried to pull the team over the line. We had one really nice combination, but the keeper got to the finish and steered it around the post. It stayed 2:2. A good game from the team, just the first-half mistakes cost us.
Still, the fans honoured the team’s spirit, and players and fans celebrated together after the whistle. Peak Werder experience.
After the game you can head back into the city and go to a few bars or out for dinner.
The classics are a Rollo from Tandour (Bremen’s word for a wrap) and a “Krabbel die Wand hoch” shot at Eisen. The name means “crawl up the wall”.
For me, the night ended with some drinks with friends at a kiosk, talking and joking about the game before going home. If you live on campus, it’s a short train ride back to Vegesack.
For me, a Werder matchday says a lot about Bremen. It’s a city you can mostly walk, and in places like the Viertel there’s always something going on. People also make it easy to join in, even if you’ve only just arrived.
If you live on campus in Vegesack, you get a quieter, green part of Bremen during the week, with your friends and classmates close by. And when the weekend comes, the city is a short train ride away.
If you’re thinking about studying in Bremen, have a look at what living on our campus is like and at student life at Constructor University. Many of our study programmes are here.
Through the official ticket shop. For sold-out games, use Werder’s official resale platform.
Werder Bremen plays home games at the Weserstadion. Current dates and kick-off times are on the match schedule on their website.
Not at all. The campus is in Vegesack, in the north of Bremen, and the train to Bremen Hauptbahnhof takes less than 20 minutes. From there, trams take you everywhere in the city. Check [BSAG timetables and matchday info] for current connections.
Yes. On matchday, your Werder ticket also works as a public transport ticket in the Bremen region (VBN).
For the full atmosphere, go for a standing ticket in the Ostkurve and arrive early. If you’d rather have a clear view of the pitch, take a seat. But that always depends on what tickets you are offered.
Bratwurst, currywurst, fries, pretzels, beer, soft drinks, and vegetarian options.
No. Football is universal. Also, most chants repeat, so you’ll pick them up quickly.
