Two days in pleasant Bonn
In autumn 1998, I lived and worked in Bonn during the last days that this quiet city on the Rhine was still the seat of government. People and businesses where insecure of the future for this city since so many ministries and associated services were moving to a reunited Berlin.
Yesterday, I passed a small segment of the Berlin wall that changed the world when it was built and even more profoundly when it “fell” in 1989. Like millions of others, I have a much smaller piece of the wall in a box at home. I keep it there; perhaps someday an artist will collect all these pieces to make the world’s biggest jigsaw puzzle and recreate the wall.
Bonn survived the changes of twenty years ago and, somewhat to my surprise, looks more lively today than in 1998. The sunny weather may have helped in my appreciation, but it now looks like a much more pleasant city than I remember it. Especially the many terraces, in combination with more normalized opening hours for the shops, may have contributed to this atmosphere.
Not all officials left in the late 1990s, the German federal government maintains a substantial presence in Bonn. Roughly a third of all ministerial jobs are located in Bonn. It makes the city a second, unofficial, capital the country. Bonn is also the secondary seat of the President, the Chancellor, and the primary seat of six federal government ministries.
There are also 20 United Nations institutions, including the headquarters for Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention Climate Change (UNFCCC).
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The journey continues, right now I am here:
Perhaps you would like to buy me a coffee for when I'm walking? There will be a lot of walking this summer, in many countries.
I love the blue "Leave no Trace" map marker. A moment in time it is.
Beam me up (Or down) Scotty (-:
That picture with the Rhine and the Siebengebirge in the background, just stunning. Love the colors and the light. And I'm very fond of the Rhine as well. Planning to hike to the source this summer.
Your pictures make me want to go explore Bonn and hike in those hills. I have to admit that I don't know Germany at all. Never really spent much time there, not even in the border area. Could be time to start exploring.
I had no idea that a third of ministerial jobs were still located in Bonn. I just assumed they all moved to Berlin. Learned something. Thank you! And safe travels. Gute Reise. Bon voyage.