Bonn

I

Introduction

Bonn, city in west central Germany on the River Rhine near Cologne, in North Rhine-Westphalia. The capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990, Bonn remained the seat of government after the country's unification in (1990), until Berlin was chosen as the national capital. Population 311,900 (2005 estimate).

II

Economy

A quiet, largely residential town centred around the University, the city became an important manufacturing centre after World War II. Products include metal goods, chemicals, processed food, and office equipment.

III

Places of Interest

Among points of interest in Bonn is the imposing Münster (cathedral), a notable example of the late Romanesque style, dating mostly from the 11th to the 13th century. Secular buildings include the Rathaus (city hall), completed in 1782; the house where Ludwig van Beethoven was born in 1770 and which is now a museum; and the buildings of the university. The Parliament Building (in German, Bundeshaus), built in the early 1950s, is near the river. Other points of interest are the Villa Hammerschmidt, residence of the federal president, and the Palais Schaumburg, headquarters of the federal chancellor.

IV

History

Bonn, the Castra Bonnensia of the Romans, founded in the 1st century ad in place of an earlier (1st century bc) Ubi settlement, was one of the first Roman fortresses on the Rhine. The town acquired some importance when, in the mid-13th century, the archbishop of Cologne transferred his residence and seat of government here and remained until the late 18th century. Charles IV was crowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in the Münster in 1346. Because of Bonn's Protestant sympathies, it was repeatedly besieged by the Catholics during the Reformation. The French occupied the city in 1794, during the revolutionary wars and in 1815 it passed to Prussia. Severely bombed during World War II, Bonn was occupied by American forces in 1945.

In 1948 and 1949 the constitution of the state of West Germany was drafted and Bonn was chosen as the capital of the new Federal Republic. This brought a large body of civil servants and foreign diplomats into the city, and numerous public and private organizations established offices in the capital as well. In 1969 Bonn was enlarged to absorb ten neighbouring towns and villages, including Bad Godesberg. An underground railway was opened in 1975. In 1991 the German parliament voted to move the seat of government from Bonn to Berlin over a 12-year period. The major phase of the move occurred in 1999, when the German parliament relocated to the renovated Reichstag in Berlin. Various government offices remain in Bonn, including 8 of the country's 18 ministries; the rest maintain offices there. In December 1993, the Rhine, swollen by record rainfall, flooded parts of Bonn, and river traffic was temporarily suspended between Bonn and Cologne.