It was so far a very memorable trip we had in Germany's former capital. Together with a friend named Nonna, that visit to Beethoven's Birthplace in Bonn in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany was full of excitements. I guess someone is thinking of somebody in Bonn all the time. I believed she wishes to go back again in this city to see somebody. I wish I can make more sharing about this.

Anyway, you do love classic music? If yes, you might have an idea who Ludwig van Beethoven is? He is a German composer and pianist who was born in Bonn. He remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time. I also have some CD's of him.

Aside from sigthseeing, we also did some shopping in Bonn. I did not look for equestrian helmets but instead I found a purple umbrella in one of the stores in Bonn. Since I love this color and also found out that the umbrella is quite durable, I immediately bought it. In fact until now, I am still using this umbrella and always have it with me everytime I travel.

Here are some images I took during our visit in Bonn last August 20, 2010.

To give you some insights about Bonn, it is the 19th largest city in Germany. It is located in the state of North-Rhine Westphalia. It was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990. Since the German Unification, many national government institutions were moved from Bonn to Berlin.

Bonn is also the birthplace of Ludwig van Beethoven (born 1770), a famous musician and composer.

Back to The Bonn Minster, called as Das Bonner Münster in German, it is considered to be one of the oldest churches in Germany. It is a Roman Catholic Church built between 11th and 13th centuries. It is also called the Minster of St. Martin.

Below are some images I took during our visit last August 2010.

The Bonn Minster is now a Papal Basilica. It has a Romanesque architecture. It is 81.4 meters high and has five spires.

Originally the Minster was the collegiate church of Ss. Cassius & Florentius, who were Roman legionnaires of the legendary all-Christian Theban Legion. The legion's garrison, according to legend, was in the Egytian town of Thebes. Roman Emperor Maximianus Herculius ordered the legion to march to Gaul and assist in quelling rebels from Burgundy. At some point during their march the legion refused to follow the emperor's orders to either kill fellow Christians or to worship Maximianus Herculius as a god. As a result, a large number of legionaries were martyred in Agaunum, now named Saint Maurice-en-Valais after Saint Maurice. According to legend Saints Cassius and Florentius, who were under the command of Saint Gereon, were beheaded at the present location of the Bonn Minster for their religious beliefs.
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Ludwig van Beethoven, a fanous composer was born in Bonn, Germany. His birthhouse located in Bonngasse 20 is now a musical museum dedicated to him. This is where you see the biggest collection of his materials.

I might not see him live but I was able to visit the place where he started history especially on music composition. I have some CD's of his compositions. Here are some snapshots I took during our visit last August 2010.


In November 1767 - shortly after their wedding - the electoral court singer Johann van Beethoven and Maria Magdalena, née Keverich, took up residence in the garden wing of the house at Bonngasse 20 ("20 Bonn Lane"). On the ground floor there was a utility room equipped with a cellar, and a kitchen. On the first floor the family lived in two smaller and one slightly larger room. During the night from the 16th to 17th December, in one of the tiny attic rooms their son Ludwig came into the world. His baptism took place at the baptismal font of Bonn's Remigiuskirche (Remigius Church). In the following years, Beethoven's family moved several times, but only the house of his birth has remained preserved to this day.
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In his rooms and the rooms of his neighboring house "Im Mohren" - Bonngasse 18 - is the world's largest collection of Beethoven material.

The University of Bonn (German: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, Germany. Founded in its present form in 1818, as the linear succesor of earlier academic institutions, the University of Bonn is today one of the leading universities in Germany. The University of Bonn offers a large number of undergraduate and graduate programs in a range of subjects. Its library holds more than two million volumes. The University of Bonn has 525 professors and 27,800 students. Among its notable alumni and faculty are seven Nobel Laureates, two Fields Medalists, twelve Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize winners, Pope Benedict XVI, Joseph Goebbels, Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche and Joseph Schumpeter.


The University of Bonn has 27,800 students, and 3,800 of these are international students. Each year about 3,000 undergraduate students graduate. The university also confers about 800 Ph.D.s and about 60 habilitations. More than 90 programs in all fields are offered. Strong fields as identified by the university are mathematics, physics, economics, neuroscience, medical genetics, chemical biology, Asian and Oriental studies and Philosophy and Ethics. The university has a standing faculty of more than 500 professors, an academic staff of 2,100 and a support staff of 1,500. The annual budget was more than 300 million Euros in 2006. more infos here

There is an unforgettable experience we had during our visit in Bonn, a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is always a nice experience when we met some people along the way when we travel who are always helpful, nice, polite and very friendly. I stole somebody's image in facebook. This was the image I took of my friend and this cool guy we met in Bonn.


Please also find below the comment that my friend made about this guy.

"this would be the longest caption i've ever written on a photo!! Chaoyu, the owner's brother..we cannot stop talking about this guy. i dont meet a lot of people that i like right away but it's hard to ignore this guy's personality.. he was just very cool, polite, nice, friendly, helpful, gentleman, smart, he spoke German, English, and Chinese, on top of the fact that he is very attractive!! he's got BREEDING!!...when he reads this, we shall get another set of free cocktail and a free pass to the Nan King buffet lol!"


Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999. Starting in 1998, many national government institutions were moved from Bonn to Berlin. Both houses of the German national parliament, the Bundestag and the Bundesrat, were moved along with the Chancellery and the residence of the President of Germany.

Bonn remains a centre of politics and administration, however. Roughly half of all government jobs were retained as many government departments remained in Bonn and numerous sub-ministerial level government agencies relocated to the former capital from Berlin and other parts of Germany. In recognition of this, the former capital now holds the title of Federal City ("Bundesstadt"). read more here

I finally had the chance to visit Bonn, the 19th largest city in Germany located in North North Rhine-Westphalia. There was a story why we ended up staying here for an overnight during our Europe tour. I want to introduce first the Minster of Bonn named after St. Martin. It is considered to be one of Germany's oldest churches built between the 11th and 13th centuries. Here is an image I took during our visit last August 20, 2010.

Originally the Minster was the collegiate church of Ss. Cassius & Florentius, who were Roman legionnaires of the legendary all-Christian Theban Legion. The legion's garrison, according to legend, was in the Egytian town of Thebes. Roman Emperor Maximianus Herculius ordered the legion to march to Gaul and assist in quelling rebels from Burgundy. At some point during their march the legion refused to follow the emperor's orders to either kill fellow Christians or to worship Maximianus Herculius as a god. As a result, a large number of legionaries were martyred in Agaunum, now named Saint Maurice-en-Valais after Saint Maurice. According to legend Saints Cassius and Florentius, who were under the command of Saint Gereon, were beheaded at the present location of the Bonn Minster for their religious beliefs. more here