Bonn - Germany's Hauptdorf

BonnI have been living in Bonn since 1995. Bonn is the capital of Germany (and will be until the government moves to Berlin in 2000 - although you wouldn't be able to tell if the helicopters weren't constantly flying over the region during state visits). Bonn is a very provincial city. "A small town in Germany" was author and spymaster John LeCarré's codename for Bonn. To Germans, it is better known as the "Hauptdorf" (capital village). "Berliners joke that Bonn is half the size of a Chicago cemetery and twice as dead", but I tend to disagree. With more than its share of museums, tons of parks and beer gardens along the Rhine, and a respectable university, Bonn is a worthwhile destination even without the political clout.

Until 1949, Bonn was a sleepy little university town, basking in its quiet 2000 year history. Suddenly it was shaken out of this quiet life and made the provisional capital, since the government at that time believed the country would soon again unite. It was chosen as the capital since Konrad Adenauer, the first chancellor, already owned a house in the suburbs. After the reunification in 1991, the government decided to move to Berlin. Many Germans citizens feel this wasn't a good decision, since the government really can't afford the move. There is an annual demonstration against the move here in Bonn. Many people are worried about what will happen to Bonn after the move, but the United Nations and many other international organizations and businesses have already relocated or are considering a move to Bonn.

City HallWithin sight of the Siebengebirge of the Nibelungen legend, Bonn has been a strategic city since Roman times. From the 13th through the 18th centuries, it was the capital of the electors of Cologne, princes of the Holy Roman Empire, who had the right to participate in the election of the emperor. However, the city is proudest of its intellectual and musical history. Beethoven was born here, Schumann lived here, and Karl Marx and Heinrich Heine studied in Bonn's university.

In the 1990s, Bonn is developing as a center of science, culture, education, research, and service companies. Bonn's latest achievement, called the "Museum Mile", consists of the Bundeskunst- und Ausstellungshalle (Federal Art and Exhibition Museum), the Kunstmuseum (Art Museum), Haus der Geschichte (House of History - one of the coolest museums I have ever seen. It chronicles the history of the Federal Republic from the end of World War II to the present day. Its entrance fee is free.), and Museum Alexander Koenig (a science museum that houses an amazing assortment of creatures that crawl, walk, fly, gallop, slither, and swim. You're watched here by more models of mounted mammals than you thought possible.).

One interesting tidbit of information is that the "Siebengebirge" do not add up. Contrary to common belief, Bonn's Siebengebirge does not get its name from the German word "sieben" (hence the common translation of "Seven mountains"). The name "Siebengebirge" was in fact derived from the early High German word "Sife", which means a valley with a marshy creek. The Siebengebirge actually consist of over 30 hills but only seven of them are well-known because they are the highest. One of these, the Drachenfels, has been a nature reserve since 1836.

street in Bonn where Beethoven's house isSome of my favorite Bonn links (most in German):

© Jill R. Sommer, June 1998.