BREMEN, a duchy of Germany, in the province of Lower Saxony, lying between the rivers Weser and the Elbe; of which the former separates it from the duchy of Oldenburg, and the other from that of Holstein. The air is cold; but the country is fertile, and well peopled. It formerly belonged to the Swedes, but was afterwards sold to the king of Great Britain, as elector of Hanover, in 1716. In the winter it is subject to inundations. In 1617, on Christmas-day, several thousand cattle were drowned, besides several hundred of men; and the country was so covered with water, that it has cost immense sums to repair the dykes. Bremen is the capital town.