The provisional federal capital

On 5 July 1948 Bonn city elders were asked whether they could accommodate the preparatory constitutional council. They didn’t hesitate to say yes and the inaugural meeting of the Parliamentary Council was held in the Museum Koenig, a museum of natural history, on 1 September. On November 3 1949 the Deutscher Bundestag (German Parliament) confirmed the vote of the Parliamentary Council to make Bonn the temporary Federal Capital. For five decades the city proved itself to be an excellent host whilst Germany developed to become one of the leading economic powers of the world. The Unification Treaty of 1990 however made Berlin the capital and the Bundestag decided to move to the Spree in 1991. Parliament and parts of the government took up their activities in Berlin in 1999.

Data and facts:

1949:
Bonn was selected as the provisional federal capital.

1969:
The city of Bonn, Bad Godesberg, Beuel as well as parts of the administrative districts of Duisdorf and the Siegkreis (Sieg district) were merged to form the new city of Bonn

1970:
Financial agreement between the Federal Government, the federal state and the city council (“Bund, Land und Stadt”) concerning the extension of Bonn as the federal capital

1989:
Celebration of the double anniversary of 2000 years of the existence of Bonn and its 40th anniversary as the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany

1990:
Berlin is made the federal capital in the Unification Treaty.

1991:
The Bundestag decides to move to Berlin.

1994:
The Berlin-Bonn act stipulates a "fair division of labour" between the federal city of Bonn and the federal capital of Berlin; the compensation agreement secured Bonn the overall sum of DM 2.8 billion for the process of structural change

1996:
Bonn becomes a UNO city

1999:
Start of the transfer of the Bundestag and parts of the federal government from Bonn to Berlin and federal authorities from Berlin and Frankfurt to Bonn