Successful structural change

Bonn retained important state functions as the federal city. More than 20 federal authorities including the Federal Cartel Office and the Federal Audit Office move to Bonn. Numerous national and international organisations establish themselves here. At the same time Bonn is extended to become a city of international cooperation, of science and research as well as future-oriented industries. In addition the city increasingly established itself as a venue for international dialogue and conferences of worldwide significance, the former Bundeshaus with its chambers becomes the core of the World Conference Center Bonn (WCCB).

The former house of deputies “Langer Eugen” is selected as the centre of the UN-Campus. 15 UN institutions as well as national and international organisations form a new centre for international cooperation. The Deutsche Welle’s move into the Schürmannbau makes the government district even more international. In 2000 the construction of the new group headquarters of the Deutsche Post World Net was commenced right next to it. The office building that was designed by the German-American star architect Helmut Jahn that is 162.5 metres in height has now become a prominent feature of the federal city. The UN organisations, federal ministries and federal authorities, approx. 150 NGOs, science institutions and the industry global players that are present also characterise the international location. Bonn has increasingly become a junction of a network where the protagonists devote themselves to the questions of humane development with a viable future.
The new buildings on the Museumsmeile (Museum Mile) have gone on to become real crowd pullers.  The Bundeskunsthalle (Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany), the Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (House of  the History of the German Republic), the Kunstmuseum Bonn (Art Museum Bonn), the Deutsches Museum Bonn (German Museum Bonn) and the Museum Koenig attract more than two million visitors each year. With its high quality range of cultural activities and diverse leisure time options Bonn has also subsequently achieved the recognition of the most important tour operators for holidays in Germany and has been included in the travel brochures – with a total circulation of more than 13 millions. The statistics record more than million overnight stays per year.

The process of structural change has been completed successfully ten years following the conclusion of the compensatory arrangement and five years after the government moved to Berlin. Bonn has more residents and jobs than in 1999. The President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Horst Köhler, described the process of structural change whereby the former federal capital became the German UN and federal city as a “success story” during his first official visit to Bonn on 3 December 2004. The President declared that the whole of Germany could take pleasure at what had been achieved and praised the excellent atmosphere in Bonn as “a mixture of down-to-earth middle classes, moderate self confidence and international flair.”