Bonn Minster

The federal city of Bonn (German pronunciation: [bɔn] (listen) Latin: Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About 24 km (15 mi) south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region, Germany's largest metropolitan area, with over 11 million inhabitants. It is a university city and the birthplace of Ludwig van Beethoven. It was the capital city of the Electorate of Cologne from 1597 to 1794 and of West Germany from 1949 to 1990. Founded in the 1st century BC as a Roman settlement in the province Germania Inferior, Bonn is one of Germany's oldest cities. From 1597 to 1794, Bonn was the capital of the Electorate of Cologne, and residence of the Archbishops and Prince-electors of Cologne. From 1949 to 1990, Bonn was the capital of West Germany, and Germany's present constitution, the Basic Law, was declared in the city in 1949. The era when Bonn served as the capital of West Germany is referred to by historians as the Bonn Republic. From 1990 to 1999, Bonn served as the seat of government – but no longer capital – of reunited Germany. Due to a political compromise (Berlin-Bonn Act) following the reunification, the German federal government maintains a substantial presence in Bonn. Roughly a third of all ministerial jobs are located in Bonn as of 2019, and the city is considered a second, unofficial, capital of the country. Bonn is the secondary seat of the President, the Chancellor, the Bundesrat and the primary seat of six federal government ministries and twenty federal authorities. The title of Federal City (German: Bundesstadt) reflects its important political status within Germany.The headquarters of Deutsche Post DHL and Deutsche Telekom, both DAX-listed corporations, are in Bonn. The city is home to the University of Bonn and a total of 20 United Nations institutions, the highest number in all of Germany. These institutions include the headquarters for Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Secretariat of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and the UN Volunteers programme.

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

The Beethoven Monument is a large bronze statue of Ludwig van Beethoven that stands on the Münsterplatz in Bonn, Beethoven's birthplace. It was unveiled on 12 August 1845, in honour of the 75th anniversary of the composer's birth.

Contra-Kreis-Theater is a theatre in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Euro Theater Central Bonn is a theatre in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

The Max Planck Institute for Mathematics (German: Max-Planck-Institut für Mathematik, MPIM) is a prestigious research institute located in Bonn, Germany. It is named in honor of the German physicist Max Planck and forms part of the Max Planck Society (Max-Planck-Gesellschaft), an association of 84 institutes engaging in fundamental research in the arts and the sciences. The MPIM is the only Max Planck institute specializing in pure mathematics. The Institute was founded by Friedrich Hirzebruch in 1980, having emerged from the collaborative research center "Theoretical Mathematics" (Sonderforschungsbereich "Theoretische Mathematik"). Hirzebruch shaped the institute as its director until his retirement in 1995. Currently, the institute is managed by a board of five directors consisting of Peter Teichner (managing director), Werner Ballmann, Gerd Faltings, Peter Scholze, and Don Zagier. Friedrich Hirzebruch was, and Yuri Manin and Günter Harder are, acting as emeriti.

The Altes Stadthaus is a former administration building in Bonn, built for the French occupation forces after World War I. It was designed by the Munich architect German Bestelmeyer in 1922. Construction was completed in 1924–25. The building most recently served as a public library and administration building. As of 2012, the Altes Stadthaus is being renovated and extended as a "House of Learning" (German: "Haus der Bildung"), which will accommodate the community college and the library.

The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (German: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is an elite public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the Rhein-Universität (English: Rhine University) on 18 October 1818 by Frederick William III, as the linear successor of the Kurkölnische Akademie Bonn (English: Academy of the Prince-elector of Cologne) which was founded in 1777. The University of Bonn offers many undergraduate and graduate programs in a range of subjects and has 544 professors. The University of Bonn is a member of the German U15 association of major research-intensive universities in Germany and has the title of "University of Excellence" under the German Universities Excellence Initiative; it is consistently ranked amongst the best German research universities in the world rankings. Bonn has 6 Clusters of Excellence, the most of any German university; the Hausdorff Center for Mathematics, the Matter and Light for Quantum Computing cluster, Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies, PhenoRob: Research for the Future of Crop Production, the Immune Sensory System cluster, and ECONtribute: Markets and Public Policy. The University and State Library Bonn (ULB Bonn) is the central university and archive library of the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn and North Rhine-Westphalia; it holds more than five million volumes. As of October 2020, among its notable alumni, faculty and researchers are 11 Nobel Laureates, 4 Fields Medalists, 12 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize winners as well as some of the most gifted minds in Natural science, e.g. August Kekulé, Heinrich Hertz and Justus von Liebig; Eminent mathematicians, such as Karl Weierstrass, Felix Klein, Friedrich Hirzebruch and Felix Hausdorff; Major philosophers, such as Friedrich Nietzsche, Karl Marx, and Jürgen Habermas; Famous German poets and writers, for example Heinrich Heine, Paul Heyse and Thomas Mann; Painters, like Max Ernst; Political theorists, for instance Carl Schmitt and Otto Kirchheimer; Statesmen, viz. Konrad Adenauer and Robert Schuman; famous economists, like Walter Eucken, Ferdinand Tönnies and Joseph Schumpeter; and furthermore Prince Albert, Pope Benedict XVI and Wilhelm II.

The Electoral Palace (German: Kurfürstliches Schloss) in Bonn is the former residential palace of the Prince-Electors of Cologne. Since 1818, it has been the University of Bonn's main building in the city center, home to the University administration and the faculty of humanities and theology. It was built by Enrico Zuccalli for the prince-elector Joseph Clemens of Bavaria from 1697 to 1705. The Hofgarten, a large park in front of the main building, is a popular place for students to meet, study and relax. The Hofgarten was repeatedly a place for political demonstrations, as for example the demonstration against the NATO Double-Track Decision on 22 October 1981, with about 250,000 participants.

Bonn Hauptbahnhof is a railway station located on the left bank of the Rhine along the Cologne–Mainz line. It is the principal station serving the city of Bonn. In addition to extensive rail service from Deutsche Bahn it acts as a hub for local bus, tram, and Stadtbahn services.

The Siege of Bonn took place from 3 to 12 November 1673 in Bonn, Germany, during the Franco-Dutch War. Having forced the armies of Louis XIV to retreat, the Dutch in 1673 went on the offensive. At Bonn, a garrison consisting of troops from France and the Electorate of Cologne was besieged by a force from the Dutch Republic (commanded by stadtholder William III), the Holy Roman Empire (commanded by Raimondo Montecuccoli), and Spain. The allied forces captured the garrison following a nine-day siege. In 1689 Bonn was again the site of a major siege.

The Alte Rathaus at Bonner Marktplatz was built between 1737 and 1738 in the Rococo style by the electoral court architect Michael Leveilly; however, it was not completely finished until around 1780. The four-storey building has seven window axes and a gambrel with dormers. It stands as a Baudenkmal under Cultural heritage management.Apart from its central location in the Bonn-Zentrum and its former function as the seat of the municipal administration, the town hall has also become famous for the gilded perron on the market square. In the course of history, this has repeatedly been the scene of important events, with famous personalities appearing there before the people of Bonn.