DISCOVER BONN

Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located about 20 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government until 1999.

Images of Bonn Marketplatz. Photo by Mathias Bigge

Starting in 1998, many national government institutions were moved from Bonn to Berlin. Both houses of the German national parliament, the Bundestag as well as the Bundesrat, were moved along with the Chancellery and the residence of German head of state, the Bundespräsident.

Bonn is the seat of some of Germany's largest corporate players, chiefly in the areas of telecommunications and logistics. Simultaneously, Bonn is establishing itself as an important national and international centre of meetings, conventions and conferences, many of which are directly related to the work of the United Nations. A new conference centre capable of hosting thousands of participants is currently under construction in the immediate vicinity of the UN Campus.

From 1597 to 1794 it was the residence of the Archbishops and Prince-electors of Cologne, and is the birthplace of Ludwig van Beethoven (born 1770), widely considered to be one of the world's greatest composers.

LANDMARKS OF BONN

Beethoven's birth place is located at Bonngasse. Next to the market place is the Old Town Hall, built in 1737 in Rococo style, under the rule of Clemens August of Bavaria. It's used for receptions of guests of the town, and as a bureau for the mayor. Nearby is the Kurfürstliches Schloss, built as a residence for the prince-elector and now the main building of the University of Bonn.

The Poppelsdorfer Allee, an alley flanked by chestnut trees, connects the Kurfürstliches Schloss with the Poppelsdorfer Schloss, a palace that was built as a resort to prince-electors in the first half of the 18th century. This axis is interrupted by a railway line and Bonn Central Station, a building erected in 1883/84.

The three highest buildings in the city are the radio mast of WDR in Bonn-Venusberg (180 m), the headquarters of the Deutsche Post called Post Tower (162.5 m) and the former building for the German members of parliament Langer Eugen (114.7 m) now the new location of the UN-Campus.

CHURCHES

Bonn Minster
Doppelkirche (Double Church) Schwarzrheindorf built in 1151
Old Cemetery Bonn, one of the best known ones in Germany

CASTLES AND RESIDENCES

Godesburg fortress ruins

MODERN BUILDINGS

Bundesviertel (federal quarter) with lots of government structures including
Post Tower, the tallest building in the state North Rhine-Westphalia, housing the headquarters of the Deutsche Post AG
Deutsche Telekom headquarters
T-Mobile headquarters
Maritim Bonn, 5 star hotel and convention centre
Schürmann-Bau, headquarters of Deutsche Welle
Langer Eugen, since 2006 the centre of the United Nations Campus, formerly housing the offices of the members of the German parliament

MUSEUMS

Museum Mile with
- Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany) showing the Guggenheim Collection in 2006-2007
- Kunstmuseum Bonn (Bonn Museum of Modern Art)
- Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Museum of the History of the Federal Republic of Germany)
- Museum Koenig where the Parlamentarischer Rat first met
Beethoven House, birthplace of Ludwig van Beethoven
Ägyptisches Museum (Egyptian Museum)
Akademisches Kunstmuseum (Academic Museum of Art)
Arithmeum, research institute for discrete mathematics including a museum
Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn (Rhinish Regional Museum Bonn)

NATURE

Botanischer Garten (Botanical Garden), where Titan arum reached a world record
Rheinaue (Bonn), a leisure park on the banks of the Rhine
Rhine promenade and the Alter Zoll (Old Toll Station)
In the very south of the city on the border to Wachtberg and Rhineland-Palatinate is the extinct volcano Rodderberg

NIGHTLIFE IN BONN

Since Bonn is a popular University town it has an unusual vivid nightlife compared to other cities of the same size. There are many bars and pubs all over the city, including several Irish pubs. Most of them are located around the town's center near the university. Bonn also holds a large number of recommendable restaurants which serve national specialities from all over the world. Furthermore Bonn has one opera, 12 theatres and 6 cinemas.

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia

See Also for Germany