Thesaurus

The German city of Bonn is located some fifteen miles south of Cologne on the Rhine river. Romans documented a river crossing here in the 1st century BCE, and occupied a fortress here from the 1st to the 5th century CE. It was a Frankish town from the 9th century, and from the 13th century was a prosperous town, the capital of the electorate and archbishopric of Cologne. It was occupied by the French from 1794, and then annexed to Prussia in 1815. In the 19th century it grew famous as a rich, fashionable cit y, remaining as such until World War II, when it was heavily damaged. From 1949 to 1990 it was the capital of West Germany and grew in size and importance, annexing several nearby towns in 1969. Efforts were made to preserve the residential look of the city and so only restricted light industry was allowed, Bonn is a cultural center, famed as the birthplace of the composer Ludwig van Beethoven. It has many musical institutions, including an orchestra, and hosts many national and international concerts, mainly in its modern concert hall, the Beethovenhalle. There are many private theaters and performance halls and a large municipal theater that hosts opera, drama, ballet, and musicals. There are two major museums. Its historic architecture includes a Romanesque basilica surmounted by five towers, and three old churches dating from the 10th, 11th, and 12th centuries respectively. There is also the former Electorate Palace, now the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn, founded 1786 and the Poppelsdorf Palace, which has botanical gardens. Generally the city is well provided with green open spaces and broad tree-lined streets. The estimated population for 2004 was 311,000.