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BONN

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Originally appearing in Volume V04, Page 210 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BONN , a See also:

town of See also:Germany, in the Prussian See also:Rhine See also:province, on the See also:left See also:bank of the Rhine, 15 M. S. by E. from See also:Cologne, on the See also:main See also:line of railway to See also:Mainz, and at the junction of the lines to the See also:Eifel and (by See also:ferry) to the right bank of the Rhine. Pop. (1885) 35,989; (1905) 81,997. The See also:river is here crossed by a See also:fine See also:bridge (1896-1898), 1417 ft. in length, flanked by an See also:embankment 2 M. See also:long, above and parallel with which is the Coblenzer-strasse, with beautiful villas and See also:pretty gardens reaching down to the Rhine. The central See also:part of the town is composed of narrow streets, but the outskirts contain numerous fine buildings, and the See also:appearance of the town from the river is attractive. There are six See also:Roman See also:Catholic and two See also:Protestant churches, the most important of which is the See also:Munster (See also:minster), an imposing edifice of See also:grey See also:stone, in the Romanesque and Transition styles, surmounted by five towers, of which the central, rising to a height of 315 ft., is a landmark in the Rhine valley. The See also:church See also:dates from the 11 th, 12th and 13th centuries, was restored in 1875 and following years and in 1890-1894 was adorned with paintings. Among other churches are the Stiftskirche (monasterial church), rebuilt 1879-1884; the Jesuitenkirche (1693); the Minoritenkirche (1278-1318), the Herz Jesu-kirche (1862) and the Marienkirche (1892). There is also a See also:synagogue, and the university See also:chapel serves as an See also:English church. The town also possesses a town See also:hall situate on the See also:market square and dating from 1737, a fine See also:block of See also:law-See also:court buildings, several high-grade See also:schools and a See also:theatre. By far the finest of the buildings, however, is the famous university, which occupies the larger part of the See also:southern frontage of the town.

The See also:

present See also:establishment only dates from 1818, and owes its existence to See also:King See also:Frederick See also:William III. of See also:Prussia; but as See also:early as 1786 the See also:academy which had been founded about nine years before was raised by See also:Archbishop See also:Maximilian Frederick of Cologne to the See also:rank of a university, and continued to exercise its functions till 1794, when it was dissolved by the last elector. The See also:building now occupied by the university was originally the electoral See also:palace, constructed about 1717 out of the materials of the old fortifications. It was remodelled after the town came into Prussian See also:possession. There are five faculties in the university—a legal, a medical, and a209 philosophic, and one of Roman Catholic and another Protestant See also:theology. The library See also:numbers upwards of 230,000 volumes; and the antiquarian museum contains a valuable collection of Roman See also:relics discovered in the neighbourhood. Connected with the university are also physiological, pathological and chemical institutes, five clinical departments and a laboratory. An academy of See also:agriculture, with a natural See also:history museum and botanic See also:garden attached, is established in the palace of Clemensruhe at Poppelsdorf, which is reached by a fine See also:avenue about a mile long, bordered on both sides by a See also:double See also:row of See also:chestnut trees. A splendid See also:observatory, long under the See also:charge of See also:Friedrich Wilhelm See also:Argelander, stands on the See also:south See also:side of the road. The Roman Catholic archiepiscopal theological See also:college, beautifully situated on an See also:eminence overlooking the Rhine, dates from 1892. See also:Beethoven was See also:born in Bonn, and a statue was erected to him in the Mtinster-platz in 1845. B. G.

See also:

Niebuhr is buried in the See also:cemetery outside of the Sterntor, where a See also:monument was placed to his memory by Frederick William IV. Here are also the tombs of A. W. von See also:Schlegel, the diplomatist See also:Christian Karl von See also:Bunsen, See also:Robert See also:Schumann, Karl See also:Simrock, E. M. See also:Arndt and See also:Schiller's wife. The town is adorned with a See also:marble monument commemorating the See also:war of 1870-71, a handsome See also:fountain, and a statue of the Old Catholic See also:bishop See also:Reinkens. In 1889 a museum of Beethoven relics was opened in the See also:house in which the composer was born. There are further a municipal museum, arranged in a private house since 1882, an See also:academic See also:art museum (1884), with some classic originals, a creation of F. G. See also:Welcker, and the provincial museum, See also:standing near the railway station, which contains a collection of See also:medieval stone monuments and See also:works of art, besides a small picture See also:gallery. One of the most conspicuous features of Bonn, viewed from the river, is the See also:pilgrimage (monastic) church of Kreuzberg (1627), behind and above Poppelsdorf; it has a See also:flight of 28 steps, which pilgrims used to ascend on their knees. " Der alte Zoll," commanding a magnificent view of the See also:Siebengebirge, is the only remaining See also:bulwark of the old fortifications, the Sterntor having been removed in See also:order to open up better communication with the rapidly increasing western suburbs and the See also:terminus of the See also:light railway to Cologne.

But for its university Bonn would be a See also:

place of comparatively little importance, its See also:trade and See also:commerce being of moderate dimensions. Its See also:principal See also:industries are jute See also:spinning and See also:weaving, and the manufacture of See also:porcelain, flags, machinery and See also:beer, and it has some trade in See also:wine. There are considerable numbers of See also:foreign residents, notably English, attracted by the natural beauty of the place and by the educational facilities it affords. Bonn (Bonna or Castra Bonnensia), originally a town of the Ubii, became at an early See also:period the site of a Roman military See also:settlement, and as such is frequently mentioned by See also:Tacitus. It was the See also:scene, in A.D. 70, of a See also:battle in which the See also:Romans were defeated by See also:Claudius See also:Civilis, the valiant See also:leader of the Batavians. Greatly reduced by successive See also:barbarian inroads, it was restored about 359 by the See also:emperor See also:Julian. In the centuries that followed the break-up of the Roman See also:empire it again suffered much from barbarian attacks, and was finally devastated in 889 by bands of Norse raiders who had sailed up the Rhine. It was again fortified by Konrad von Hochstaden, archbishop of Cologne (1238-1261), whose successor, Engelbert von Falkenburg (d. 1274), driven out of his See also:cathedral See also:city by the towns-See also:people, established himself here (1265); from which See also:time until 1794 it remained the See also:residence of the See also:electors of Cologne. During the various See also:wars that devastated Germany in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, the town was frequently besieged and occupied by the several belligerents, but continued to belong to the electors till 1794, when the See also:French took possession of it. At the See also:peace of See also:Luneville they were formally recognized in their occupation; but in 1815 the town was made over by the See also:congress of See also:Vienna to Prussia.

The fortifications had been dismantled in 1717. See F. See also:

Ritter, Entstehung der drei altesten Stadte am Rhein: Koln, Bonn and Mainz (Bonn, 1851); H. von See also:Sybel, See also:Die Grilndung der Universitdt Bonn (1868) ; and Fiihrer von See also:Hesse (loth ed., 1901).

End of Article: BONN

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