2000 years of Bonn

Bonn is more than 2000 years old. It was the second century BC that the Romans first set foot here and that the city as we know it today emerged from the obscurity of prehistory. This means that, since Roman times, Bonn has been part of the historical events that have taken place on this much travelled thoroughfare formed by the Rhine valley and it has also played a role in the history of the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation until the time o fits decline. 2000 years have seen Bonn evolve from a Roman camp into the “villa Basilica” built around the venerable Minster cathedral, then into the fortified town of archiepiscopal grace, the residence of the Electors and the romantic university town of the 19th century that basked in the glory and splendour of the foremost names of the German academic world. Finally, this 2000-year period also includes the fate and fortune of the city and of the Rhineland in the 20th century, Bonn’s destruction during the Second World War and its subsequent selection as the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany.