Bad Godesberg
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Just south of Bonn, the spa town of Bad Godesberg became the residential home
of the local diplomatic, press corps and international commercial communities.
Bad Godesberg was incorporated into Bonn in 1969.
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Kur Ort (Spa)
Tour Bad Godesberg
Click on "Stadtrundgang" at the very bottom of the page
here
(There is a link on the top left for the English version)
Bad Godesberg is where I lived in Germany.
My apartment windows overlooked the Rhein, just, one street away;
Here is the view from my windows!
How I loved the peel of the church bells,
which echoed off the cliffs in our direction!
They are one of my favorite memories.
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Just up the Rhein, across from where I lived, is the spa village of
Koenigswinter,
at the base of the mountain.
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Above Koenigswinter stands the
Petersburg Palace.
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It is now used as the Federal Government Guesthouse
and host to international Summit meetings and Conferences of world leaders.
Bill Clinton was there during his Presidency.
Bad Godesberg is also an ancient spa town,
noted for its radioactive mineral springs.
The grand hotel there is
The Hotel Dreesen *
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*Of historic note, Adolf Hitler and British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain
met at the Hotel Dreesen in 1938.
(see Munich Pact).
Tom and I were treated to a stay here in 1994,
during Maike and Stefan's wedding festivities... very nice!
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The lights of the Petersburg Palace, atop the mountain across the Rhein from here,
looked like the spaceship Enterprise floating in the night sky!
What a glorious sight... made even more thrilling by
the familiar sounds of the boats and barges and their water-churning wakes
on the River in the dark of night... just like home!
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How many nights I have walked along the
Rhein Promenade, taking in this view!
Plittersdorf
is a small village next to which the diplomatic housing stands.
The housing complex is named after the village.
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Click
image to enlarge.
Kennedyalle - entrance to what some called the "Golden Ghetto,"
where the diplomatic families lived.
The Art of Communicating
Not only was our
social life very international and multi-lingual, but,
dotted amongst us at home were also diplomatic families of other countries.
It was delightful to watch our small children play together, despite
the many
language differences... each one knew how to say "No!" in
many languages!
The children upstairs from us, for example, were sons of the acting
head of the
Egyptian Embassy, during the time in which there were temporarily
no official relations between Germany and Egypt, after the Six Day War.
Because I had studied German, French and Spanish,
I was selected as a regular and long-term, substitute teacher for the
nearby nursery school,
which our son Jon attended.
All of the teachers spoke at least English and German,
The 100 children came from 65 countries. Many came from multi-lingual
families...
a 4-year-old child might speak the languages of his French mother and
Spanish father
and then speak German in his local, German neighborhood
and English at nursery school!
It was inspiration to us all.
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Our apartment complex
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Our Navy friends, the Schaufflers, lived in the house on the left above,
between our complex and the village of Plittersdorf.
The house on the right above is one example of old homes to our north,
between our complex and Bad Godesberg.
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To zoom in and out on this map of "our" area,
go to Map Quest
here
Select Germany, key in Turmstrasse for the street and Bonn for city;
select the first option provided and then zoom in and out.
Also look for Niederholtdorf across the Rhein,
just north of which is Hoholz, which our German family call home.
Following are some views of the nearby edge of the village of Plittersdorf.
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A nearby street to the Rhein and the ferry to Koenigswinter.
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Plittersdorfer Strasse
I could walk to the local bakery, my hair dresser and other shops here.
Further south in Mehlem was the
US Embassy, now a Consulate.
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Photos of the Embassy are no longer allowed,
but, someone got this one anyway!
The region extending in all directions from Bonn is quite beautiful!
From the Eifel mountains on the west to the Siebengebirge on the Rhein,
and up and down the Rhein in either direction...
Following are glorious, professional photo albums
very worth a look:
The Eifel, inland from Bonn
Click here
The Middle Rhein I
Click here
The Middle Rhein II
Click here
The Lower Rhein (toward Holland)
Click here
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