Hugo Almeida scored the winner in the 50th minute, before captain Frank Baumann and Jurica Vranjes were sent off in a turbulent match.
Bayern Munich, which clinched the title Sunday, cruised to a 2-0 win over Arminia Bielefeld on goals from Franck Ribery and Lukas Podolski.
In other matches Wednesday, Nuremberg scored an important 2-0 win over another relegation rival, Duisburg; Wolfsburg won 3-2 at Eintracht Frankfurt; and Hertha Berlin also won on the road, beating Bayer Leverkusen 2-1.
Schalke, a 3-0 winner over Bochum on Tuesday, had temporarily moved past Werder into second place. But Werder improved to 60 points, two better than Schalke with two rounds remaining.
Hamburg lost its third straight and is now level on 51 with Stuttgart, with both teams likely to compete in the UEFA Cup next season. Before the match, Hamburg confirmed that it was in talks with former Tottenham coach Martin Jol to succeed Huub Stevens, who is leaving at the end of the season.
Captain Rafael van der Vaart had an opportunity to score for Hamburg with a free kick from the edge of the penalty area but the shot was deflected.
Werder goalkeeper Tim Wiese had given away the free kick when he charged out of the area in a mistimed clearance attempt and instead stomped on the neck of Hamburg striker Ivica Olic. Wiese was lucky not to be ejected for a foul that recalled Tony Schumacher's infamous jaw-rattling charge into Patrick Battiston at the 1982 World Cup.
Five minutes into the second half, the visitors went ahead on a goal from Almeida, who slammed the ball into the roof of the net with a shot from 18 meters.
Bremen was reduced to 10 men in the 58th when Baumann was sent off for pulling down van der Vaart to earn his second yellow card of the game.
Substitute Juan Pablo Sorin headed wide from close range to waste Hamburg's best chance to equalize.
Bremen also lost substitute Jurica Vranjes to a red card in the last minute of regulation time. Vranjes was sent off for pushing Thimothee Atouba in the face but Werder survived the three minutes of injury time.
In Munich, Bielefeld hit the crossbar but Bayern got the rebound and scored on the counterattack, with Luca Toni feeding Ribery in the 26th.
Ribery set up Bayern's second goal, providing the pass for Podolski, who scored into the far corner with his left foot.
Leverkusen also finished a man down when Stefan Kiessling was sent off for retaliating against Gojko Kacar.
But by then, Berlin already led by two goals, from Marko Pantelic and Sofian Chahed's penalty. Lukas Sinkewiewicz scored late for the short-handed home team, whose coach Michael Skibbe was jeered after the match by the fans demanding his ouster.
Nuremberg got first-half goals from Angelos Charisteas and Javier Pinola to move past Duisburg at the bottom of the standings. Nuremberg is now one point away from Bielefeld and safety.
Meanwhile, Borussia Moenchengladbach earned promotion back to Germany's first division by beating Wehen Wiesbaden 3-0.
A five-time German champion, Moenchengladbach was relegated for the second time at the end of last season. Under coach Jos Luhukay, the team cruised through the second-division season, taking the lead for good after nine games.
Wednesday's win gave Moenchengladbach 63 points and a seven-point lead over FC Cologne with two rounds remaining. Cologne beat Augsburg 3-1, and Hoffenheim beat Koblenz 3-1 to move into third place.
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