Bad Godesberg () is a borough () of Bonn, southern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. From 1949 to 1999, while Bonn was the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany, most foreign embassies were in Bad Godesberg. Some buildings are still used as branch offices or consulates.

Geography

thumb|Aerial view of Mehlem, Bad Godesberg

Bad Godesberg is located along the hills and cliffs of the west bank of the Rhine river, in west central Germany. Godesberg is also the name of the steep hill, of volcanic origin, on the top of which are the ruins of the Godesburg, a castle destroyed in 1583 during the Cologne War.

History

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The following events occurred, per year:

  • 722 - First official record of the town, which was named after a nearby mountain, the Woudenesberg (later Godesberg), a basalt cone where the Ubii, a Germanic tribe, worshipped the god Wotan.
  • 1210 - On 15 October, Archbishop of Cologne Dietrich I lays the foundation stone of the Godesburg fortress on the Godesberg mountain.
  • 1583 - On 17 December, the Godesburg was destroyed by Bavarian troops after Archbishop Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg converted to Protestantism (see Cologne War).
  • 1792 - Godesberg becomes a spa resort, with the opening of the Redoute, which later saw receptions of the President of Germany.
  • 1822 – Godesberg becomes part of the Rhine Province of Prussia
  • 1925 - Godesberg is allowed to call itself "Bad" Godesberg, identifying it as a spa.
  • 1935 - Bad Godesberg attains the status of a town.
  • 1938 - Neville Chamberlain meets with Hitler over the Sudetenland crisis at the Rheinhotel Dreesen in Bad Godesberg. Hitler's demands concerning Czechoslovakia expressed in Godesberg Memorandum.
  • 1944–1945 - Bad Godesberg was the location of a Nazi-operated forced labour camp.
  • 1945 - On March 8, Bad Godesberg was the first major German urban district to be transferred to Allied forces' control without a battle.
  • 1946 – with the disestablishment of Prussia, the town became part of the new Land of North Rhine-Westphalia
  • 1959 - The Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) decided on a new party program, the Godesberg Program.
  • 1969 - Godesberg was incorporated into the city of Bonn. Since that time, it has been referred to as the "posh part of Bonn".

Infrastructure

Bonn-Bad Godesberg station is on the Left Rhine line and the line 16 and 63 of the Bonn Stadtbahn.

Circa 2018 a new police station was being built on former Haribo property.

Politics

List of twin cities/sister cities

thumb|Church of Saint Severin

Bad Godesberg is twinned with:

  • Saint-Cloud, France (1957)
  • Frascati, Italy (1960)
  • Windsor and Maidenhead, England, United Kingdom (1960)
  • Kortrijk, Belgium (1964)

Friendly cities

Bad Godesberg has friendly relations with:

Notable residents

  • Paul Kemp (1896–1953), stage and film actor
  • Klaus Barbie (1913–1991), SS and Gestapo functionary during WW II, war criminal known as "the butcher of Lyon".
  • Michaela Endler (born 1945), former cross-country skier
  • Harald Weinberg (born 1957), politician (The Linke)
  • Johannes B. Kerner (born 1964), television host and journalist.
  • Margret Dieck (1941 – 1996) was born here and became a noted gerontologist

Trivia

  • John le Carré's novel The Little Drummer Girl begins with the bombing of the house of the Israeli labour attaché in Bad Godesberg.

References

  • Bad Godesberg section of Bonn city website
  • Visit Bad Godesberg