Bad Godesberg ( ksh, Bad Jodesbersch) is a borough (''
Stadtbezirk
A ''Stadtbezirk'' (also called ''Ortsbezirk'' in Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate) is an administrative division in Germany, which is part of a larger city. It is translated as "borough". In Germany, ''Stadtbezirke'' usually only exist in a metropo ...
'') of
Bonn
The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...
, southern
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhab ...
, Germany. From 1949 to 1999, while Bonn was the capital of
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
, most foreign
embassies
A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...
were in Bad Godesberg. Some buildings are still used as branch offices or
consulates
A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of diplomatic mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth count ...
.
Geography

Bad Godesberg is located along the hills and cliffs of the west bank of the
Rhine
The Rhine ; french: Rhin ; nl, Rijn ; wa, Rén ; li, Rien; rm, label=Sursilvan, Rein, rm, label=Sutsilvan and Surmiran, Ragn, rm, label=Rumantsch Grischun, Vallader and Puter, Rain; it, Reno ; gsw, Rhi(n), including in Alsatian dialect, Al ...
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 300px, Godesburg castle in Germany.
The Godesburg is a castle in Bad Godesberg, a formerly independent part of Bonn, Germany.
Built in the early 13th century on the Godesberg, a hill of volcanic origin, it was largely destroyed following a sie ...
, a castle
destroyed in 1583 during the
Cologne War
The Cologne War (german: Kölner Krieg, Kölnischer Krieg, Truchsessischer Krieg; 1583–88) was a conflict between Protestant and Catholic factions that devastated the Electorate of Cologne, a historical ecclesiastical principality of the Holy ...
.
History
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
Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90% of a ...
cone where the
Ubii
350px, The Ubii around AD 30
The Ubii were a Germanic tribe first encountered dwelling on the east bank of the Rhine in the time of Julius Caesar, who formed an alliance with them in 55 BC in order to launch attacks across the river. They wer ...
, a
Germanic tribe, worshipped the god
Wotan.
* 1210 - On 15 October,
Archbishop of Cologne
The Archbishop of Cologne is an archbishop governing the Archdiocese of Cologne of the Catholic Church in western North Rhine-Westphalia and is also a historical state in the Rhine holding the birthplace of Beethoven and northern Rhineland-Pala ...
Dietrich I lays the foundation stone of the
Godesburg 300px, Godesburg castle in Germany.
The Godesburg is a castle in Bad Godesberg, a formerly independent part of Bonn, Germany.
Built in the early 13th century on the Godesberg, a hill of volcanic origin, it was largely destroyed following a sie ...
fortress on the Godesberg mountain.
* 1583 - On 17 December, the
Godesburg was destroyed by
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...
n troops after Archbishop
Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg converted to
Protestantism
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
(see
Cologne War
The Cologne War (german: Kölner Krieg, Kölnischer Krieg, Truchsessischer Krieg; 1583–88) was a conflict between Protestant and Catholic factions that devastated the Electorate of Cologne, a historical ecclesiastical principality of the Holy ...
).
* 1792 - Godesberg becomes a spa resort, with the opening of the
Redoute, which later saw receptions of the
President of Germany
The president of Germany, officially the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: link=no, Bundespräsident der Bundesrepublik Deutschland),The official title within Germany is ', with ' being added in international corres ...
.
* 1925 - Godesberg is allowed to call itself "Bad" Godesberg, identifying it as a
spa
A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneothe ...
.
* 1935 - Bad Godesberg attains the status of a town.
* 1938 -
Neville Chamberlain
Arthur Neville Chamberlain (; 18 March 18699 November 1940) was a British politician of the Conservative Party who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. He is best known for his foreign policy of appeasem ...
meets with
Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...
over the
Sudetenland
The Sudetenland ( , ; Czech and sk, Sudety) is the historical German name for the northern, southern, and western areas of former Czechoslovakia which were inhabited primarily by Sudeten Germans. These German speakers had predominated in the ...
crisis at the Rheinhotel Dreesen in Bad Godesberg. Hitler's demands concerning
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
expressed in
Godesberg Memorandum.
* 1944–1945 - Bad Godesberg was the location of a Nazi-operated
forced labour camp.
* 1945 - Bad Godesberg was the first major German urban district to be transferred to
Allied forces control without a battle.
* 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
Bonn-Bad Godesberg station is on the Left Rhine line (german: Linke Rheinstrecke) in the Bonn district of Bad Godesberg in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
It is a four-track through station, which does not have a “home” platform ...
is on the
Left Rhine line and the line 16 and 63 of the
Bonn Stadtbahn.
Politics
List of twin cities/sister cities

Bad Godesberg is
twinned
Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to:
* In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so;
* Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning
* Twinning inst ...
with:
*
Saint-Cloud
Saint-Cloud () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France, from the centre of Paris. Like other communes of Hauts-de-Seine such as Marnes-la-Coquette, Neuilly-sur-Seine and Vaucresson, Saint-Cloud is one of France's wealthiest to ...
, France (1957)
*
Frascati
Frascati () is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital in the Lazio region of central Italy. It is located south-east of Rome, on the Alban Hills close to the ancient city of Tusculum. Frascati is closely associated wit ...
, Italy (1960)
*
Windsor and Maidenhead, England, United Kingdom (1960)
*
Kortrijk
Kortrijk ( , ; vls, Kortryk or ''Kortrik''; french: Courtrai ; la, Cortoriacum), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders.
It is the capital and larges ...
, Belgium (1964)
Friendly cities
Bad Godesberg has friendly relations with:
[
* Steglitz-Zehlendorf (Berlin), Germany (1962)
* ]Yalova
Yalova is a market-gardening town located in northwestern Turkey on the eastern coast of the Sea of Marmara. The town has a population of 156,838, while the population of the surrounding Yalova Province is 291,001 . A largely modern town, it i ...
, Turkey (1969)
Culture and Attractions
Public facilities
*Schauspielhaus Bad Godesberg
The Schauspielhaus Bad Godesberg (formerly "Kammerspiele Bad Godesberg") is the largest theatre in the city of Bonn and the first new theatre building in the Federal Republic of Germany in the post-war period.Felix Gutschmidt: Godesberger Kammer ...
(Theater Bad Godesberg), the biggest theater of Bonn’s city stages
*Kleines Theater im Park (Small Park Theater), venue for theater, boulevard theater, and musicals with few actors
*Haus an der Redoute (House at the Redoute), previously an electoral theater, is nowadays a facility for changing/rotating art galleries
*Piccolo Puppenspiele (Piccolo’s Puppet Show), puppet theater that also travels
*Small Beethoven hall as the headquarters of the Heimatbühne Muffendorf (Home stage of Muffendorf)
Bad Godesberg in Literature
A whole series of literary works take place in Bad Godesberg. The protagonist of Juli Zeh
Juli Zeh (, Julia Barbara Finck, née Zeh; born 30 June 1974 in Bonn) is a German writer and former judge.
Biography
Her first book was ''Adler und Engel'' (translated into English as ''Eagles and Angels'' by Christine Slenczka), which won the ...
’s novel “Spieltrieb” (Gaming instinct) are students at the school Päda. Occurring locations in the novel are the school and the villa district.
Heinrich Böll
Heinrich Theodor Böll (; 21 December 1917 – 16 July 1985) was a German writer. Considered one of Germany's foremost post-World War II writers, Böll is a recipient of the Georg Büchner Prize (1967) and the Nobel Prize for Literature (1972). ...
’s novel “Frauen vor Flußlandschaft” is set in the villa district between Bonn and Bad Godesberg.
On October 30 the documentary piece “Zwei Welten” (“Two worlds”) by Ingrid Müller-Münch had its premiere as a chamber play. The author explains that it shows Bad Godesberg in the change of time. It is a city where the worlds of “rich German people” and Migrants collide. Nine actors perform excerpts from a protocol of mostly young inhabitants of Bad Godesberg, that Müller Münch took record of. In the pre-report of the piece, the Frankfurter Rundschau
The ''Frankfurter Rundschau'' (FR) is a German daily newspaper, based in Frankfurt am Main. It is published every day but Sunday as a city, two regional and one nationwide issues and offers an online edition (see link below) as well as an e-p ...
called it a “Bad-Godesberg-Phänomen” (Bad Godesberg phenomenon). According to Müller-Münch, these two worlds were closer in Bad Godesberg than they were anywhere else.
Recurring events
* Rhein in Flammen on the first Saturday of May: Large Firewokrs and a Ship tour from the Linz am Rhein along Erpel
Erpel is a municipality in the district of Neuwied, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
References
Neuwied (district)
{{Neuwied-geo-stub ...
, Unkel
Unkel is a town in the district of Neuwied, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Rhine, near Remagen, about 20 km southeast of Bonn.
Unkel is the seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipali ...
, Remagen
Remagen ( ) is a town in Germany in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, in the district of Ahrweiler. It is about a one-hour drive from Cologne, just south of Bonn, the former West German capital. It is situated on the left (western) bank of ...
, Rheinbreitbach
Rheinbreitbach is a municipality in the district of Neuwied, in north of Rhineland-Palatinate, bordering North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. Administratively it belongs to the municipality (''Verbandsgemeinde'') of Unkel. The town is an offici ...
, Rhine island Nonnenwerth at Rolandswerth/Bad Honnef
Bad Honnef () is a spa town in Germany near Bonn in the Rhein-Sieg district, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located on the border of the neighbouring state Rhineland-Palatinate. To the north it lies on the slopes of the Drachenfels (“Dragon' ...
, Bad Godesberg, Königswinter to the Rheinaue in Bonn
The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...
*FeenCon
Over the course of each year, there are always many diverse events and festivals that are being organized by the Stadtmarketing Bad Godesberg e.V. (city marketing department of Bad Godesberg). Some of which are flea and antique markets, a French market, a kids’ rally (“Tag der Kleinen Bad Godesberger”/”Day of the small Bad Godesbergers”), a city party, a Christmas Market, and a street food festival.
The 23rd German Fire department day took place in Bad Godesberg from June 21 until June 25, 1961. The first CTIF Games took place in Bad Godesberg, since then the International Association of Fire and Rescue Services CTIF organizes the event every four years in different cities.
Rhenish traditions
Several Carnival
Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival ...
clubs have devoted themselves to the upkeep of Rhenish traditions, especially the Godesberger Stadtsoldatenkorps (city soldier corps), the Fidelen Burggrafen (merry burgraves) and the AKP (Allgemeine Karnevals Gesellschaft, General Carnival Society). The Coordination Committee of each Carnival Association is the FAGK (Festausschuss Godesberger Karneval, Festival Committee of Godesberger Carnival). In the carnival season, the clubs also organize a variety of meetings, and on the carnival Sunday a lavish parade. All clubs engage in youth work.
Education
Secondary schools
* Nicolaus-Cusanus-Gymnasium (NCG)
*Aloisiuskolleg
The Aloisiuskolleg is a co-educational, Jesuit ( Catholic), University-preparatory school in Bonn- Bad Godesberg, Germany, which includes boarders. It is named for Saint Aloysius Gonzaga. Highly ranked academically, it is considered one of the ...
(AKO), partnerschool of the CFG
* Amos-Comenius-Gymnasium Bonn (AMOS/ACG) ( DE)
* Clara-Fey-Gymnasium (CFG), partnerschool of the AKO
* Konrad-Adenauer-Gymnasium (KAG) ( DE)
* Pädagogium Godesberg - Otto-Kühne-Schule (PÄDA)
International schools
* Bonn International School
Bonn International School (BIS) is a private international school based in Bonn, Germany. It is a non-profit organization, and is managed by a board of trustees. Members of the board include BIS faculty, as well as parents of students studying at ...
(BIS)
* Independent Bonn International School (IBIS)
* King Fahd Academy (closed)[Authorities To Close Muslim School in Bonn]
" '' Deutsche Welle''. 11 November 2003. Retrieved on 24 July 2016.
Notable residents
* Paul Kemp (1896 - 1953), stage and film actor
*Klaus Barbie
Nikolaus "Klaus" Barbie (25 October 1913 – 25 September 1991) was a German operative of the SS and SD who worked in Vichy France during World War II. He became known as the "Butcher of Lyon" for having personally tortured prisoners—primar ...
(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.
Trivia
* John le Carré
David John Moore Cornwell (19 October 193112 December 2020), better known by his pen name John le Carré ( ), was a British and Irish author, best known for his espionage novels, many of which were successfully adapted for film or television. ...
's novel ''The Little Drummer Girl
''The Little Drummer Girl'' is a spy novel by British writer John le Carré, published in 1983. The story follows the manipulations of Martin Kurtz, an Israeli spymaster who intends to kill Khalil – a Palestinian terrorist who is bombing Jewis ...
'' begins with the bombing of the house of the Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i labour attaché
In diplomacy, an attaché is a person who is assigned ("to be attached") to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency. Although a loanword from French, in English the word is not modified accord ...
in Bad Godesberg.
References
External links
*
Bad Godesberg section of Bonn city website
{{Authority control
Urban districts and boroughs of Bonn
Spa towns in Germany
Former municipalities in North Rhine-Westphalia