BONN. A city in the Rhine Province, l'rus sia, and capital of the Circle of Bonn. advanta geously situated on the left bank of the Rhine, about 15 miles southeast of Cologne. The pleas ant villas with their gardens on the river, the fine promenades, fhe picturesque church-towers, and the graceful bridge across the Rhine (com pleted in 1898), all combine to make Bonn an unusually attractive place. The surroundings also are pleasing and interesting. Of its churches, five Catholic and two Evangelical, the imposing INIfinster is the most important, a notable ex ample of the late Romanesque style. It is a cruciform building with two choirs, four small towers, and a great octagonal tower. The church dates from the Eleventh Century, and has re cently been carefully restored. The interior is without special interest. The neighboring an cient cloisters, with pillars possessing beautiful capitals, are worthy of notice. Among the see ular buildings should he mentioned the Rathaus, with its lofty flight of steps, completed in 1782; the famous House, where the com poser was born in 1770, and now containing the Beethoven Museum; and the buildings of the university for which Bonn is celebrated. The last-named buildings. originally the Eleetoral Palace, occupy the smith side of the old town. The central portion, with its four towers, was completed in 1723. The lecture-room and the library are adorned with hosts of Niebuhr, Arndt, A. W. von Schlegel, and many others of Bonn's celebrated professors. The aula, or hall, is embellished with interesting frescoes by Cor nelius and his pupils.
The Provincial 1\ fusemn, near the modern rail way station, is a handsome building of red sand stone in the Italian Renaissance style. It. was erected in 1s80-03. It eontains a large collec tion of Roman and mediwval stone monuments and prehistorie antilmities. At the Academie Museum of Art there is a noble collection of casts; among the ancient Greek works are ma ble Hernia., bearing heads of Sophodes, Euripi des, Aristophanes, and Menander. In the Pop pelsdorfer Sehloss are the natural history col leetions of the University. The Observatory is situated near the Poppelsdorfer Alh'le—a beauti ful avenue shaded with horse-chestnuts. Bonn possesses several interesting monuments. among them the statue of Beethoven, executed by Ha nel; a fountain column, in honor I if .Maximil ian Frederick; and a bronze inonument to Arndt, who died here in 1860. Front an old bastion on
the edge of the Rhine, known as the Alte Zoll, there is a beautiful view of the river. In the cemetery are the graves of Niebuhr, Sehumann, and Arndt. Bonn has long been a favorite resi dence of English and other visitors.
Bonn is governed by an Over-Burgomaster with three salaried assistants, and by thirty council men. It has water-works, a municipal gas plant, and a volunteer fire department. The city in recent years has become very prosperous com mercially. Besides having an active trade, it manufactures machinery, earthenware, chemicals, jute, pianos and organs, porcelain-wares. arti ficial flowers, faIenee, cement, and many other articles. \Vessel's porcelain and stoneware fac tory employs a thousand men. It. dates from 1755. The city is well provided with railway and rivet- communications, and with all the mod ern conveniences connected with manufacturing and commerce. In the village of Bend, on the other side of the Rhine, are several important spinning and weaving mills. Bonn is the seat of a superior mining court, of a natural history union and agricultural union of Rhenish Prus sia, and many other educational and industrial organizations.
In 1000 Bonn bad 50,737 inhabitants. Well equipped with schools for elementary education, Bonn offers superior educational advantages. The university (q.v.), with its numerous labora tories and institutes, provides all the facilities of :t modern seat of higher learning. Its several charitable organizations include two orphan homes, two hospitals, and two private insane asylums.
Bonn, the Bonita or Cast•a Bonnensia of the Romans, is frequently mentioned by Tacitus, and was one of the first Roman fortresses on the Rhine. Investigations show that the Castrinn here was very extensive. The town was destroyed by the Normans in the Ninth Century. Having been rebuilt, it acquired s(une importance \\glen, in 1267, the Archbishop of Cologne transferred his residence and seat of government hither. Two German kings were crowned in its :Minster in the Fourteenth Century. Bonn suffered from its Protestant tendencies, mid was repeatedly besieged by the Catholics. In 1794 the French marched into the town. They closed its uni versity in 1797. and under their rule Boun's population decreased. It began to revive ai soon as the city was recovered by Prussia in IS] 4.