Occupying troops at the Imperial Memorial

The British Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, visited the occupying troops in the summer of 1919. The English did not seem to mind the Imperial Memorial, unlike the Germans, who later removed it from its position in front of the university. A private citizen later had it re-erected in front of the hotel at the lower end of Kaisersplatz. A memorial stone to the victims of the Nazis was added in the 1980s.

While the British used the square for a small military parade, today it is mainly bicycles rather than guns that stand there.

View of Bonn Cathedral

The Bonn photographer Adolf Plesser took this arty view of the cathedral in 1908. The Münsterkaree modern extension enhances this simple beauty today.

Martin’s Fountain in winter during the war

This photo from the first winter of the war – 1939/40 – was taken in the street In der Sürst looking towards Gangolfstraße. The Martin’s Fountain can be seen, which stands in front of the west door of the cathedral. The sculptor Heinrich Göttschmann called the fountain, erected in 1902, “Martinitreiben” and it depicts children trying to catch geese for the festive feast on St Martin’s Day. Around 1942, the bronze figures were melted down for armaments and first re-cast in 1958 using the old plaster moulds.

Bonn Marktplatz 1929

This photo, taken by an unknown photographer in 1929 from the stairs in front of the town hall, shows there used to more market and fewer cafes. But that is not the only thing to catch the eye. The stunning and elaborately decorated lantern almost stole the show from the obelisk 90 years ago, as did the architecture of the Blömer department store opposite the Metropol Theatre. The market square also had a direct tram link in 1929.

Historic flood in Beuel

Floods in Beuel’s Rheinaustraße, which on 1 January 1921 was still called Rheinstraße, have become rare. On this day, an unknown photographer focussed his lens from the bridge between the Mehlemschem Haus and the previous “Rheinlust” building. Both Beuel institutions can still be easily recognised almost a hundred years later.

The old Sterntor before it was moved

Friedensplatz was still called “Viehmarkt” (cattle market) and was also lively when the Bonn photographer Carl Schaaf recorded it in 1896. He took advantage of one of the last opportunities to picture the old Sterntor in its old location before it was moved to the neighbouring Vivatsgasse. On the left of the picture, the hotel Zum Goldenen Hirsch can be seen, which operated until the 1980s.

View onto the Beuel Rhine Bridge

Somehow the gastronomy in the 1927 version seems more inviting. But that is probably only because the beer garden season at the Alter Zoll is yet to start. And perhaps a little because the beauty of the Beuel Rhine Bridge is now irretrievably lost.

Bottlerplatz without the fountain

Bottlerplatz without a fountain but with parked cars. That was the situation that the Cologne photographer Ruth Haldensleben captured in this view through the partly re-built Stern Gate in 1938. The old town house in the background dealt with the administration of the capital until well into the post-war period. The General Anzeiger has had its central branch in the city at the Stern Gate since 2004.