Hans Hartwig Bremer

Hans was born in Hamburg, Germany to parents Herbert Claus Bremer, whose family had a long ancestry of sailors and merchants in Blankenese, Germany on the Elbe River, and Luise Auguste Bremer (née Hormann) whose family came from rural towns Heide and Itzehoe in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Hans grew up in Ahrensburg, and attended high school in Volksdorf. After World War 2, his technical inclinations led to university studies in Heidelburg, Marburg, and Göttingen, where he received his Doctorate. In Heidelburg he met the love of his life, Lore Rommeis from Mannheim, whom he married in 1954.

His career as a microbiologist began at the Genetics Institute in Cologne, Germany where he was part of a social and intellectual circle with several of the fathers of modern microbiology and genetics. Although he and Lore built a house and intended to raise their family near Cologne, fate intervened in 1962 when Hans was invited to help build the microbiology department at the University of California/Berkeley in the USA. After three years in California, the family moved to Dallas, Texas, where he was a research scientist and professor at the University of Texas/Dallas for 32 years, and raised his four children, John, Niclas, Thomas, and Anne.

During all his years in the US, Hans nonetheless still felt himself to be German, and his heart never left Ahrensburg. During retirement, Hans and Lore split their time between Texas and Germany. These were the happiest years of his life, until sadly, Lore died unexpectedly in 2005. Hans mourned her until his final days. At last he is at peace, back in his beautiful Ahrensburg, and reunited with his beloved Lore. He will be interred in Ahrensburg, Germany.

The family wishes to thank Dignity Memorial’s Sparkman/Hillcrest Funeral Home for their compassionate service to prepare Hans and repatriate his remains to Germany.