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Bonn Travel Guide, Germany

Bonn Travel Guide – National City Function

This Bonn travel guide will give you all the basic information you need to know upon visiting this strategically important city in West Germany. Bonn is the 19th largest city in the country and it is located in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia, on the river Rhine. The fourth largest city in Germany, Cologne, is just 20 kilometers north from Bonn and the whole area is very important for the country’s administration and economy. Bonn was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government after Germany united, until 1999. Although many administrative functions later moved to Berlin, Bonn still retained approximately half its government jobs and therefore still has the title Bundesstadt (Federal City).

Bonn Travel Guide – International City Function

With its population of 315.000, Bonn has established itself as an international focal point for organizations concerned with sustainable development and environmental issues. It is known in most Bonn travel guides as home to sixteen United Nations institutions, among which the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). The city becomes more and more important on an international level, as the high quality German infrastructure allows it and there is a strong political foundation in the city. At the same time there is a growing number of conventions and international conferences taking place in Bonn, with newer and larger centers being built on a constant basis. Bonn is also known for being home to the headquarters of the largest telecommunication and logistics businesses in Germany.

Bonn Travel Guide – Transport and Education

Bonn is linked to the rest of Germany by three autobahns and has very good railway connections with high speed local transportation. It has an international airport (Cologne Bonn Airport) and a light rail that connects it to Cologne. It is home to the University of Bonn, one of the largest Universities in Germany and to the research institute Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, which is the largest funding organization in Europe that develops research programs for both science and humanities. There are also los of private schools of great prestige in Bonn, among which Aloisiuskolleg, a Jesuit private school, Amos-Comenius-Gymnasium, a Protestant private school, alongside with six Catholic private learning institutions.