Bad Godesberg
Bad Godesberg (Kölsch: Bad Jodesbersch) is a municipal district of Bonn, southern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. From 1949 to 1999, while Bonn was the capital of West Germany and later Germany, most foreign embassies were in Bad Godesberg. Some buildings are still used as branch offices or consulates.
Bad Godesberg | |
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Stadtbezirk of Bonn | |
Godesburg ruins | |
Coat of arms | |
Bad Godesberg within Bonn | |
Bad Godesberg Bad Godesberg | |
Coordinates: 50°41′0″N 07°9′0″E | |
Country | Germany |
State | North Rhine-Westphalia |
Admin. region | Cologne |
District | Bonn urban district |
Town | Bonn |
Government | |
• Bezirksvorsteherin | Simone Stein-Lücke (CDU) |
Area | |
• Total | 31.97 km2 (12.34 sq mi) |
Elevation | 46 m (151 ft) |
Population (2004-01-01) | |
• Total | 70,525 |
• Density | 2,200/km2 (5,700/sq mi) |
Time zone | CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) |
Postal codes | 53173-53179 |
Dialling codes | 0228 |
Vehicle registration | BN |
Website | Website |
Geography
Bad Godesberg is located along the hills and cliffs of the west bank of the Rhine river, in west central Germany. Godesberg is also the name of the steep hill, of volcanic origin, on the top of which are the ruins of the Godesburg, a castle destroyed in 1583 during the Cologne War.
History
The following events occurred, per year:
- 722 - First official record of the town, which was named after a nearby mountain, the Woudenesberg (later Godesberg), a basalt cone where the Ubii, a Germanic tribe, worshipped the god Wotan.[1]
- 1210 - On 15 October, Archbishop of Cologne Dietrich I lays the foundation stone of the Godesburg fortress on the Godesberg mountain.
- 1583 - On 17 December, the Godesburg was destroyed by Bavarian troops after Archbishop Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg converted to Protestantism (see Cologne War).
- 1792 - Godesberg becomes a spa resort, with the opening of the Redoute, which later saw receptions of the President of Germany.
- 1925 - Godesberg is allowed to call itself "Bad" Godesberg, identifying it as a spa.
- 1935 - Bad Godesberg attains the status of a town.
- 1938 - Neville Chamberlain meets with Hitler over the Sudetenland crisis at the Rheinhotel Dreesen in Bad Godesberg. Hitler's demands concerning Czechoslovakia expressed in Godesberg Memorandum.
- 1945 - Bad Godesberg was the first major German urban district to be transferred to Allied forces control without a battle.
- 1959 - The Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) decided on a new party program, the Godesberg Program.
- 1969 - Godesberg was incorporated into the city of Bonn. Since that time, it has been referred to as the "posh part of Bonn".
Infrastructure
Bonn-Bad Godesberg station is on the Left Rhine line and the line 16 and 63 of the Bonn Stadtbahn.
Twin towns - sister cities
Bad Godesberg is twinned with:[2]
Saint-Cloud, France, since 1957 Frascati, Italy, since 1960 Windsor and Maidenhead, England, United Kingdom, since 1960 Kortrijk, Belgium, since 1964 Yalova, Turkey, since 1969
Education
Secondary schools
- Nicolaus-Cusanus-Gymnasium (NCG)
- Aloisiuskolleg (AKO), partnerschool of the CFG
- Amos-Comenius-Gymnasium Bonn (AMOS/ACG) (DE)
- Clara-Fey-Gymnasium (CFG), partnerschool of the AKO
- Konrad-Adenauer-Gymnasium (KAG) (DE)
- Pädagogium Godesberg - Otto-Kühne-Schule (PÄDA)
International schools
- Bonn International School (BIS)
- Independent Bonn International School (IBIS)
- King Fahd Academy (closed)[3]
Notable residents
- Klaus Barbie (1913–1991), SS and Gestapo functionary during the Nazi era.
Trivia
- John le Carré's novel The Little Drummer Girl begins with the bombing of the house of the Israeli labour attaché in Bad Godesberg.
References
- Stiehl, Eckart (1997). Die Stadt Bonn und ihr Umland: ein geographischer Exkursionsführer. Ferd. Dümmlers Verlag. ISBN 978-3-427-71661-7.
- "Städtepartnerschaften. Städtefreundschaften". bonn.de (in German). Bochum. Retrieved 2019-11-25.
- "Authorities To Close Muslim School in Bonn." Deutsche Welle. 11 November 2003. Retrieved on 24 July 2016.
External links
- Official website (in German)
- Bad Godesberg section of Bonn city website (in English)
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bad Godesberg. |