All the people of Bonn become equal – but “poor”

Even if Bonn was reduced to virtual insignificance under French rule – deprived as it was of its three most important economic factors, the Residenz (royal palace), the administrative authorities and the university, the fundamental political and social transition of this age still represented an important basis for the mental reorientation of Bonn.

Data and facts:

1794:
French troops occupy Bonn, which belongs to France until 1814.

1797:
The peace treaty of Campo Formino – the areas to the left of the Rhine become French.

1798:
The university is closed.

1802:
Secularisation of the clerical estate in the Rhineland.

1804:
The "Code Napoléon" is introduced.