Well, I went to go check out the Bonn Cathedral, which is a really cool, and massive Catholic Church. Sadly it is closed for renovations. I then continued on with my plans and took a long walk south east… well, relatively long walk down towards the big museum of Bonn, the “Haus der Geschichte Bonn”. (House of History of Bonn). It’s a huge museum that focuses mainly on Germany during its time of separation, with an exhibit starting with the rubble, ruins and aftermath of World War 2 talking you on a timeline walk through present day, or at least to early 2000’s. It was really definitely one of the best museums I’ve been to. It’s incredibly well done, with amazing exhibits, and it really shows you the life and times and experiences of people who lived in the West vs. in the East. It’s an entirely free museum, and the audio guide is incredible. I spent about 3 and a half hours listening to and reading everything I possibly could. There’s a few interactive displays, such as some of the original Bundestag Seats you can sit in, and ‘vote’ on initiatives in the Bundesrat. It’s certainly a very emotional museum especially at the end showing the celebration across the country that happened at the stroke of midnight when the 2 Germanys were reunited. There is a section on the terrorist group the Red Army Faction, believed to have dissolved in 1998. Though an armored truck robbery in just 2016 was done by 3 RAF members. Apparently there was also a section on the Stasi (East German Secret Police), but that appeared to have been removed and replaced by a post 2000 section showing a section on America after 9/11, and Germany’s involvement in the war in the Middle East. There’s just no way to describe how cool this museum was. As you walk through the years, (through the exhibits there are little voting booths with the year of an election on top, and a computer inside you can look at to see what the Bundesrat was voting on, and the results. This was definitely one of the major highlights of my trip so far.
Bonn Cathedral.
The Electoral Palace, where old lords elected their rulers. Now the Bonn University administration building.A weird building on the way to the museum.Trippy!Hammerschmidt Villa. Former official seat and former/current Bonn residence of the President of West Germany from 1950-1994. This is the best photo you can get, as unfortunately the Villa is not available for public visits.Palais Schaumburg, official residence of the Chancellor of Germany. And is still the residence of the chancellor, or in this case, ‘Kanzlerin’ today when staying in Bonn. It’s virtually right next door to the Hammerschmidt Villa on the way down the street to the museum. The Rhine River is right behind these buildings. The president of Germany is somewhat of a more of a ceremonial position, though he still has wide power dealing with political matters, and has power over foreign policy. The Chancellor is the one more like the US President, or a Prime Minister – the chief executive. Frank-Walter Steinmeier is the current President of Germany, while obviously Angela Merkel is the current Chancellor.Neat gate.A weird, weird sculpture of Konrad Adenauer, first chancellor of West Germany, and worked tirelessly for reunification.The back of his head.…I thought this sort of hand gesture was forbidden…?A jeep!British General Bernard Montgomery’s cap! I had to zoom in as there was sooo much glare it was the only way to get a good picture.A Candy Bomber. Or raisin bomber.American C-47 transport planes used to drop food, and supplies for West Germans, during the Russian blockade in the late 1940’s. They also dropped candy for children, hence the name. That little plane is literally covered in raisins.Actually tables used to work on and plan out German reunification.A big cool mural.A fearsome Russian T-38 tank, used during and after WW2. It had to be disassembled and brought into the museum piece by piece. Much of the back and underside of it is missing.A fun game where you have to match the coat of arms with its matching state.Communist stuff.The original chairs you sit down in. Each seat has a little desk with a screen that lets you vote when prompted on the TV. At the end of each voting period everyone’s votes are counted and displayed on the scren.
Soviet statue. This is the same statue I visited in my last trip from Treptower Park, with the Russian soldier standing on a broken swastika, while ohlding a sword and child.A Russian (left) and East German soldier (right with the goofy hat) standing shoulder to shoulder as propaganda.More of the museum.A neat uniform.An old VW.
A strange display of part of an actual old fashioned ice cream parlor from Hamburg started by an Italian immigrant and his family. There was a section on culture and free time and a movie theater you can go in that place old fashioned German movies.Overview of a small section of the museum with stained glass Comrade Lenin on the left side.
An original VW van the museum was desperate to get its hands on. Original paint from German hippies, it was moved to and driven all over California, then was acquired by the museum.A small display ramp that takes you up to a little rock, with a German space suit, I (could be wrong,) but I think worn by the first German in space.“A piece from the moon.” Taken by Apollo 12, and donated to Germany.Random papers from the RAF.German knickknacks from the 50’s and 60’s which focused on the women.A copy of the famous East German guard Conrad Schuhmann who jumped the then-barbedwire and brick wall as it was being built in 1961 to escape into West Germany. After the fall of the Berlin Wall he said, “Only since 9 November 1989 [the date of the fall] have I felt truly free.” Sadly he later took his own life following a state of depression in 1999.A hippie control machine. Water cannons on top.Trabbbiiii!!!One of these is the actual constitution signed by the chancellor formally and officially declaring the reunification of Germany.Or maybe both, nothing specifically said which one of these, it just said one. Or maybe there are two copies from both East and West signing.A random bot that went around and talked to people.Some weird soccer promotion. I won’t complain too much.A section on German soccer history.A section in another part of the Museum labelled “Deutschen Mythen seit 1945” German myths since 1945. I didn’t spend much time so I didn’t quite get the hang of the section, also especially considering since everything was in German in this section.German soldier’s uniform.A twisted section of steel from the former World Trade Center.Now that it’s September, it’s safe to say it’s basically Halloween, so I stopped at a store and picked up a nice little decoration to get me in the mood!Boo! No wait, that’s ghosts. What do pumpkins say?
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