Week 26th: Bonn

For those of you who are about my age or older, you may remember Bonn as being a rather important city: it was the capital of West Germany. In doing some reading before and after our trip we found some rather choice quotes regarding the city, mostly how it was an unassuming capital, and more of a sleepy one-horse-town rather than a bustling international city. This podcast has a good profile of the city, including the impression (or lack-thereof) it made on visiting diplomats.

From our perspective of living out in the boonies, it is certainly a city. We had our lunch, then walked through the downtown area, where we came across the Altes Rathaus (old town hall). As you can see in the picture, it is quite pretty, with the ornate stairways and gold trim.

Jason and the Altes Rathaus

From the downtown, we walked to the Museumsmeile (museum mile) and went to the Haus der Geschichte (literally: House of History). This museum covered the modern history of Germany, starting just after WWII, going through the rebuilding of the country, the separation into East and West and reunification. One interesting thing we learned was regarding the various zones Germany was split into after the war. As you may remember from high school history, Germany was split into four separate administrative zones, one for each of the allies (UK, France, US and USSR). 


We all know what happened with the USSR's section, but what I didn't know is that the Western allies were not equal in administration. For example, France refused to let there be any industrial base in its region. It removed all the factories and wanted to turn Germany into an agrarian country--one that could never attack it again. While this happened to some degree in the US and UK zones, there was a recognition, first in the US sector, then later in the UK, that to have a successful, modern economy and to reduce unemployment, you need industrial jobs, so the destruction of the factories stopped. Where we live is smack in the middle of the French zone, and there is still an amazing lack of industrial base.

The museum set up two parallel tracks for the two halves of Germany. It was very interesting to see what was happening in the West and compare it to what was happening in the East during the same time period. After we left the museum--unfortunately we only made it to about the mid-1950s as we arrived only 90 minutes before the museum's closing time--we reflected on the fact that in the US we learned very little about the history of East Germany. For example, we had no idea that there was a popular uprising in 1953 that necessitated the institution of martial law throughout the country. Of course, the West couldn't really do anything to help, as it would risk war with the USSR, but it would seem like such an occurrence would be good reinforcement that the commies are no-good-bastards and, therefore, a good thing to include in our high school history narrative with the clear anti-communist thread that, at least, my history teachers took.

So, it is a really good museum. We need to go back and see the rest, maybe some other rainy or cold day this winter. And, to anyone who visits, we'd be happy to bring you there. Plus, admission is free!

Bonn is looking back