Panorama Nord

More information about the history

Viewpoint with tradition

The images of the Drachenfels have hardly changed up to the present day. They mainly depict the “beautiful, romantic” Siebengebirge. At the tourist hotspots, like the Drachenfels plateau, visitors also increasingly become the focus during the 20th century. An example of this is this photo of a tourist party on the Drachenfels some time after 1905. In those days, postcards could be stamped and sent directly on the hill.

Image: Postcard, Drachenfels plateau, 1905

Drachenfels singers

Image: Postcard, around 1900

At the end of the 19th century, the hustle and bustle attracted musicians to the Drachenfels. In the summer months, they played on the plateau and in winter they visited the guest houses. Even though there was never THE Drachenfels song, the phenomenon of the “Drachenfels singer” lasted almost 90 years. For many visitors, this ideal was the living incarnation of melodious Rhine romanticism. The first of them was said to be the former opera singer Johann Ludwig Erber, who gave performances with his guitar for two decades from the 1870s onwards.

Godesburg

Image: Postcard, Godesburg (date unknown)

For more than 800 years, the Godesburg has towered over the Bonn district of Godesberg, which gave it its name. The Franconians built it around 1210 as one of the first hill castles on the Rhine, presumably to enable them to keep an eye on their borders. In 1583, it was blown up by Bavarian troops as part of a religious dispute. Only the keep survived, from the top of which one has an unrivalled view across the Rhine Valley. The origins of the castle and the hill stretch even further back – the ground was formed by a volcano that became extinct in prehistoric times and which was later settled by the Romans. The hill was mentioned in the records as Woudensberg (= Odin’s hill) as early as 722.

Langer Eugen

Image: Commemorative stamp from Deutsche Post AG from 2004, 100th birthday of Egon Eiermann

As an interim solution, the architect Egon Eiermann planned a high-rise building for members of parliament in Bonn in 1965. It was named “Langer Eugen” [Tall Eugene] in reference to the small stature of the former President of the German Bundestag, Eugen Gerstenmaier, who was the driving force behind the construction. Until the relocation to Berlin, the high-rise was seen as the symbol of parliamentarianism. It was then used by national and international educational organisations. In 2003, the federal cabinet turned the building over to the United Nations. Since 2006, 11 UN organisations with approx. 1,000 employees have been based on the campus and in the building.

Practical information

Find out more about the history of souvenirs and the Drachenfels singers at the Siebengebirgsmuseum Königswinter:
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Visitors have free access to the Godesburg ruin. You can enjoy the view across the roofs of Bad Godesberg from the restaurant within the historical walls.
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A tour of the former government district in Bonn is time well-spent – even though the “Langer Eugen” is not open to visitors.
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