Why was Bonn the Capital of West Germany? (Short Animated Documentary)

West Germany was a nation of over 50 million people and was home to many of Europe's largest cities. However, its Capital wasn't one of its major hubs like Munich, Frankfurt or Cologne but instead was the small town of Bonn. So why was this town chosen as the capital of one of Europe's most important country? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.
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[@Longshanks1690]

It’s really strange when you consider how much of history is made up of coincidence, half-measures and “eh, we’ll sort it out later,” and how much those can be just as important in shaping events as the dynamic and deliberate decisions people take.

[@F22onblockland]

There's nothing more permanent than a temporary solution

[@henriquemachado9941]

@@F22onblockland As a brazilian who *lives in a "gambiarra" only world... Tell me about it. *My computer has duct tape holding the top corner for about an year now for crying out loud!* _I just noticed my mistake on spelling there... Fixed it._

[@Syncronoise]

@@F22onblockland 🔥🔥📝🔥🔥

[@Feezec]

all of history can be summarized as "it seemed like a good idea at the time"

[@MetDaan2912]

Not that strange, if you think about it, that’s just how politics works

[@Longshanks1690]

“Not stationing troops is cheaper than stationing troops.” More top tier political and economic advice brought to you by History Matters.

[@timmccarthy9917]

Next episode, "shipping goods to the far off island was difficult because as it turns out, water is wet"

[@Euryptus]

As a citizen of the UK, I'll happily concede that lots of very sketchy decisions were taken at the time based purely on saving money. (Not saying that this decision about Bonn was one of them, but you get my drift). Bear in mind that it took until the end of 2006 for the UK to pay off its debt from WW2. Turns out fighting Nazis is really expensive, folks.

[@balecalduin1993]

In a town. Don't forget to specify that it's in a town

[@b.ballooon9225]

@@Euryptus Well we appreciate you payin it back. Honestly most nations wouldn't have paid it back, Soviets only paid back like 700 mil out of the 12 billion we lended them, technically we gave them more than just 12 billion but not all of it was meant to be given back. Pretty impressive you guys paid back the full amount of like 31.4 billion. Crazy that's all in 40s money, it's much larger amounts in today money. Honestly, I hope Ukraine doesn't stress themselves too much over anything we've lended them, I want them to focus on recovery after the war not paying us back.

[@bigblue6917]

@@timmccarthy9917 Water is wet. That explains a lot. (Note to self. come in out of the rain. It's wet).

[@HannoversSoap]

As a German believe me the town of Bonn being only 20 minutes away from Adenauer's house is the main reason. He half jokingly said if he could have the capital in his 2000 souls home village he would go for it.

[@ravanpee1325]

Yes, that's the main reason. He said it himself

[@t.wcharles2171]

He also once remarked after crossing the Elbe 'we've entered Asia' so he was a West German politician before West Germany

[@gildor8866]

@@t.wcharles2171 I believe that was the Elbe, not the Rhine.

[@t.wcharles2171]

@@gildor8866 Oops

[@lawrencedoliveiro9104]

Adenauer was the architect of the MMP electoral system put in place after the war, wasn’t he? The system that was designed so a dictator could never take power there again. A system that has worked so well, we in NZ copied it. Every time somebody from the US makes snide remarks about Germany, I suggest that maybe the US should give that system a try.

[@mitchjervis8453]

Fun fact: Half the German ministries remained with their primary office in Bonn, while half moved to Berlin and each ministry is required to have a secondary office in the other of the 2 cities it does not have it's primary office in.

[@seanm241]

so they still use Bonn as a backup capital? Or is it more like having two capitals with differing administrative capabilities?

[@somewhereelse1235]

@@seanm241 Functionally, Germany has 2 capitals. Practically, Germany has 1 capital and 1 "just in case" capital.

[@keksentdecker]

@@seanm241mostly different administrative capacities, but since ministries and federal agencies have to work together sometimes and they generally need a lot of staff they just kinda build second locations in Berlin or moved their primary location

[@timowagner1329]

I have been told by staffers of the Ministry of Finance that their Bonn location is practically unstaffed compared to thousands of employees in Berlin. I dont remember the exact number though...

[@piotrsliwinski7412]

@@seanm241 Bonn has an official title of Bundesstadt which means a federal city.

[@johnpoole3871]

I had no idea we were so close to having Bonn as the permanent capital of united Germany. Crazy.

[@luckyluciano1584]

TBH that vote would've been repeated ever 5 years due to Berlin having a much of everything, and Bonn having much nothing to its name

[@ExplosiveLandmine]

@@luckyluciano1584 Which is good, since Berlin also had the attachment of the old prussian, nazi german days to its name. Bonn would've been a symbol for a fresh start for the german state.

[@TookLuke]

​@@ExplosiveLandmineIt would also make this "federal feel" as Berlin in importance would be same as Munich or Hamburg, if Bonn was still the capital. Germany would feel more decentralised.

[@adalwinschildmacher8509]

​@@ExplosiveLandmineNo way. Even now for plenty Eastern Germans it didn't feel like a "reunification", but rather just being an "acceding territory" to the Bonn Republic. There is no new commonly created constitution, Eastern Germany simply joined the Bonn constitution which officially was supposed to be only provisonal until unification. After a time of joy due to reunification, Eastern Germany felt rather like a sheer addition to the Bonn Republic than an equal part of the new country. Keeping Bonn as the capital would have emphasised that consideration outrageously.

[@Oropher420]

That would've been so cursed to look at on the map, that's like if Russia chose to make Vladivostok their capital.

[@namenamename390]

Although Bonn hasn't been the capital city for over 30 years, you can still tell if you're there. Stuff like the huge museums are an obvious tell, but you get this "capital city" feeling from the huge streets and other overproportioned infrastructure projects. Especially south of the city center, there is a lot of stuff from the 1960s (when we had money to spend on upgrading infrastrucure again) that seems out of place in a city that isn't even that big.

[@thorstenfinke2751]

indeed. When comparing Bonn to Münster (both beeing roundabout equal in population) it becomes very obvisous. Bonn feels like a proper Metropolis and well Münster is an oversized westphalian villiage.

[@namenamename390]

@@thorstenfinke2751 That being said, Münster seems a lot less car centric than Bonn, which I'd see as a positive thing. Bonn at least has a decent Stadtbahn system, but all the 1960s urban planning really makes you feel unwelcome outside of a car. Whereas Münster is often described as Germany's cycling city. Although I haven't been to Münster yet, so I don't actually know what it feels like to walk around there.

[@mackenziebeeney3764]

Similarly, you can tell Berlin is a “new capital” just looking at development levels in former east Germany.

[@TonyErgonie]

Bonn HBF was very run down the last time I was there in 2019, strange for what was once the capital.

[@adampage73]

Agree, went last year and did feel like it had an excess of grandeur for it's size. Would recommend anyone to go though; people swimming in the Rhine, big castles in the neighbourhood, Beethoven and the national museum (in old Parliament) is pretty fun.

[@markphilipp224]

As a german I think Bonn remaining the capitol after reunification would have been a terrible decision. Berlin was the only city that would truly symbolize unity between west and east.

[@genosseunge7089]

in my opinion frankfurt would be a great capital. No nazi, communist or monarchist history and it was the place where the first german democratic parlament was based in 1848

[@Markus-wr3ur]

​@@genosseunge7089 good points, but with a capital in the west, the unification😢 would have been even more complicated.

[@alexanderzippel8809]

@@genosseunge7089 Imagine the Pauls Kirche as the national symbol of germany. Would have been cool. But then it would have been very unlikely that they would change back to Berlin

[@HelmHammerhand1709]

@@genosseunge7089 then they would Need to rebuild the Palace of Thurn and Taxis completely. And Not the awful skyscrapers which make it Look like an american City. In Addition most of us Germans are Not really fans of Frankfurt. And it it would be an awful reunion when the Capital is in the West. And the monarchsim was one of the greatest Time in German History stabilility, many nobel prices, achievievement of Unity and Many important reforms like health insurance for example.

[@piotrsliwinski7412]

As far as I know, it was obvious to anyone that Berlin will be an official capital of the reunified Germany. The only question was whether this would also mean the actual transfer of the government. Some preferred the Dutch option (Amsterdam being the official capital, but the Hague being the actual seat of the government) with Berlin having its official title, but Germany being actually governed from Bonn.

[@JohnnyRose775]

I love the idea that Bonn was chosen partly because it made for a short commute for Ardenauer.

[@githreepi5811]

That's literally what my German grandparents tell me when we talk about West Germany😂

[@tentathesane8032]

me if I was a world leader

[@user-vz1zc3fn7o]

It's what my history teacher told me lol.

[@XramDivad]

according to Germans its the main reason

[@MagiconIce]

@@XramDivad As a German I sure believe the other arguments presented in the video to be historically accurate too, but people tend to idolize Historic Figures and forget, that at the end of the day these were Humans out of Flesh and Blood with common needs too and who doesn't want a short commute? Adenauer's Commute was famous, when he entered his government limousine at his home and got driven into office, also utilizing the Rhine Ferry, nearly like a normal commuter, for PR reasons he liked to appear as a humble politician, he kept living in his house etc. But he had darker sides too, e.g. the 2nd public german television channel was founded by his government because he believed the first, the ARD, to be too left-leaning. And by the early 60's, when the Wall was founded, he seemed to be out of touch, that is how he lost prestige and power. Nothing lasts forever.

[@jonas1015119]

Bonn is basically down the river from Cologne, where Adenauer was mayor during the Weimar republic. As a Rhinelander, Adenauer also considered everything east of the Rhine to be basically Prussia.

[@pashauzan]

@@Deutsches-Kaiserreich-V2 pfp checks out

[@bananenmusli2769]

And everything east of the Elbe was Asia for him. He didn't really like Eastern Germany because he was Catholic and most people in Eastern Germany were protestant at that time. That's why he integrated West Germany into the western alliances, such as NATO, because he wasn't interested in reuniting with protestant East Germany

[@felixbabuf5726]

@@Deutsches-Kaiserreich-V2 POV: You haven't left your house in months

[@AML2000]

Interestingly enough, Adenauer was the president of the Prussian State Council up until 1933. The Rhineland was annexed by Prussia after the Napoleonic wars as its Rhine Province.

[@hammer3721]

@@Deutsches-Kaiserreich-V2 Yeah, ignore these trolls. They are triggered that Imperial Germany was one of the most advanced nations in the world right before it fell. They are probably the same people that believe the British were the good guys during the world wars, when they have made clear that they always declared war on Germany just because they feared German economy.

[@Spongebrain97]

Bonn being small for a capital reminds of how for some reason many US state capitals are also small, even within the state themselves. Like Annapolis Maryland, Pierre South Dakota, and Montpelier Vermont

[@mjjoe76]

I think the main reason for that is government wasn’t always the economic driver it is today. So bigger cities didn’t have the incentive to push to be the seat of government.

[@Spongebrain97]

​@mjjoe76 yeah probably. I also think it could've been something where when settlers first entered the region, they did create the first city to be the capital and it wasn't until decades later where more cities emerged and eventually overtook the old capital in population. Such as for Santa Fe and Albuquerque in New Mexico

[@mastercrazyyyd7699]

take into account the fact that barely anyone lives in South Dakota and Vermont, at least with some states it is a larger city like in Tennessee, Indiana, California, Hawaii, Texas, Georgia, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Arkansas for example.

[@benabaxter]

​@@mastercrazyyyd7699Sacramento seems like a larger city but it certainly isn't the state's largest municipal area.

[@peoplesrepublicofliberland5606]

Most Big states are like that, NY, FL, Texas, California etc...

[@bikkiikun]

If memory serves me right, Bonn was not the Capital but simply the "seat of the (federal) government", thus avoiding it looking permanent. Also, fun fact, West Germany's "Grundgesetz" (= Basic Law) was deliberately named thus, again avoiding the seeming permanence of the term "Verfassung" (= Constitution). And additional fun fact, it was written such, that it was to be replaced by a constitution, that's named as such, upon re-unification. Third fun fact: the re-unification was de-jure not a re-unification... instead East-Germany joined West-Germany and thus entered the scope of the Grundgesetz without triggering its replacement.

[@DeutschlandMapping]

Technically there was neither a German reunification nor a German unification. German reunification was (as you already said) the Eastern states joining the Federal Republic of Germany according to international law. Back in 1871 something similiar happened. The Souther states joined the North German Confederation which was then renamed "German Reich". According to international law Germany as a country was formed in 1867 as the North German Confederation.

[@JGGNGHS]

And as with Bonn staying the seat of government of West Germany. Just because noone could be bothered to put in the time and effort 😅

[@MagiconIce]

Not entirely correct, it still is a reunification and there is no automatic trigger to replace the Grundgesetz. There is an article in it, that upon reunification the German People aka first and foremost the politicians starting such a movement, COULD decide to replace the Grundgesetz with a new Consitution. But the Grundgesetz was written with a perspective like that Reunification maybe could happen in 5 or 10 years. Instead it took 40 years for the Wall to fall and 41 years for reunification to take place, it was an established, overall very well working political system founded on it and politicans saw no need to activate that article to replace it. Why change a well running system? Just keep it running. The article is still there, if ever we see the need to replace the Grundgesetz entirely, but I don't see a need arising for it. If something in it turns out to be needing an update or needing an addition, a 2/3 majority will deal with it, you would only need it if you would want to abolish or change the first 10, unchangeable articles which are meant to be in effect for eternity.

[@bikkiikun]

@@MagiconIce : Thanks for the clarfication... Though, if we're nitpicky... 1) The Wall didn't need 40 years to fall. Tthe founding of the separate republics (in '49) had a 12 year head-start to the wall ('61). Unless of course you mean the overland border (not including Berlin). And 2) as far as I remember it's the first 20 Articles that fall under the Eternity-clause.

[@Uthedudeful]

It's a shame how the East Germans never had much of a say on the new Germany they were joining. There should have been a more marked attempt at real negotiations over the future of the country, instead of the total economic and social collapse which ended up happening in the East.

[@HelpfulJulian]

My grandpa who was born in Frankfurt always tells me the story of how Frankfurt tried to become the capital after the war by already using tax money to build a new parliament. This way they tried to argue that the government shouldn't let this already paid tax money go to waste. Obviously this did not work out for Frankfurt and nowadays the Hessian state media uses the building as its headquarters.

[@mariepierrenarr7784]

Small, but important correction the hessian broadcast (Hessischer Rundfunk), is publicly owned and not state owned. Every Hessian resident pays into it, but not through taxes. The only german broadcast that is funded directly through the German state is "Deutsche Welle" (DW). Edit: while I do agree, that the German public broadcasting system has HUGE problems, like insufficient democratic oversight, false balancing, crusty programming structures and consequently often lackluster entertainment. I find it essential, for it economic indepence. The political indepence needs to be improved in my eyes, by overhauling the oversight commitees fundamentally and to get politicians and church leaders out, but the broadcasting output, is in no way beholden to political will. So no, it is therefore absolutely not state media.

[@Kai555100]

It is funny that they belived that if they were the capital of germany they would also become the capital of Hessen, in the end they became neither

[@BeingFireRetardant]

​@@Kai555100 They gave the world frankfurters, and that is sufficient...

[@baltulielkungsgunarsmiezis9714]

@@mariepierrenarr7784 How terrible.

[@SNWWRNNG]

I would prefer Frankfurt as the capital, to be honest. It's pretty central, and where the first democratic German parliament met - Berlin was the capital of Prussia, the state which spread its militarism and other questionable virtues through all of Germany after taking it over.

[@IhavenohopeinHumanity]

I always was confused why Bonn was the capital of Germany, and not Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Munich, Frankfurt, etc. I was so confused, so this video was very useful. Thanks!

[@SilverFang2789]

Wars of such magnitude tend to take a toll on nation's major cities.

[@corey2232]

I'm glad you told us you were confused twice. Otherwise, how would we know you were confused? I'm glad you told us you were confused twice.

[@namensklauer]

i like when Düssel(a small river)dorf(village) gets turned into Dussel(dimwit)dorf(village), though it becomes less funny when its pronounced

[@DeSlagen8]

I was loooing into staying in Bonn until I realised not much goes on there

[@cloakedhornets6515]

​@@corey2232 I'm glad you told us that you were glad they told you about how they were confused twice, twice. Otherwise, how would we know you were glad? I'm glad you told us that you were glad they told you about how they were confused twice, twice.

[@spinmaster1866]

By the way: Bonn still has the special title of „Bundestadt“ or “federal city“ and also many ministries like the ministry of defense kept parts of there infrastructure in Bonn even though it’s not the capital anymore !

[@hawkeyeten2450]

I've heard that during reunification of Germany that the reason some wanted to keep the capital in Bonn permanently was because they felt Berlin was too militaristic in history and not a good image for a new Germany in the years ahead. In the end though, tradition, pragmatism and TBH common sense won out, and Berlin once again became the capital.

[@fuckinantipope5511]

Bonn is also kinda the emergency capital. If germany is ever attacked and Berlin overrun/destroyed, Bonn can quickly be used again as germanys capital

[@TheLenmae]

@@hawkeyeten2450 The pragmatic choice definitely would have been to keep the government here in Bonn, both the move and the split between to government seats (according to the Bonn-Berlin treaty, a lot of ministries keep their main seat in Bonn). However, it would have run counter to the original argument for Bonn, that it was a temporary solution. Moving the capital to Berlin was a move to signal reünification was reünification rather than an annexation. In fact, the draft for the move put to a vote was named "Vollendung der Einheit Deutschlands", "completion of the unity of Germany"

[@shrouddreamer]

​@@TheLenmae I absolutely love your use of tremas!

[@lol-xs9wz]

I would support making Bonn a federal city state like Berlin.

[@radiofreedom7840]

Another point: Most of the city of Bonn (and also the parliament building) are located to the west of the Rhine river, which was considered to be a significant defensive line against a possible russian invasion. For the same reason a lot of military installations such as air fields and storage bunkers were built west of the Rhine river.

[@Yora21]

Though I think when the Soviets are at the Rhine, the continued functioning of the German parliament is no longer of any relevance.

[@thiloreichelt4199]

The idea that a Russian invasion might be finally stopped at the Rhine was a widespread thought during the 70s and early 80s. (Maybe also earlier, but I would not have noticed as a kid) Interestingly, the East German invasion plans, which were uncovered after the wall fell, assumed the East German Army would not have any useful strength left when it reached the Rhine. That was the point when fresh Russian troops were supposed to take over.

[@ianadlyiskandardzakurnain3910]

@@thiloreichelt4199 Fuck me that's grim (though I shouldn't be surprised). Glad East Germans get to reunite with their Western counterparts and away from Soviet/Russian whims.

[@Seriona1]

@@Yora21 You always need a government in exile for claims after liberation.

[@scorpixel1866]

@@thiloreichelt4199 Also the fact that France spent the entire cold war screeching "I swear to God Russia if you even try to drink water from the Rhine your two most populated cities are going to be Vladivostok followed by Santa's workshop"

[@matthewshipley739]

Since we're doing videos based on capital cities, maybe the next one should be about other weird arrangements for capital cities, like South Africa having 3, or Switzerland only having a 'de facto' capital with no official capital.

[@LarryLoudini]

South Africa is a compromise between the four colonies that came together to create the Union of South Africa, with each colony’s capital city becoming a tri-capital (except for Natal, which I think received money to drop Durban as a quad-capital). So it could’ve had four!!!

[@tomquirk9411]

Another good topic would be how and why Australia and Brazil changed their capital cities from their most populated and famous cities in the early 20th century to new cities built further inland. At least in the case of Australia, it was a compromise as both Melbourne and Sydney wanted to be capital, so they made Canberra, which is roughly halfway between them, the capital instead. I don’t know too much about the Brasilia situation, but I feel like the backstory is probably similar.

[@joshuakevinserdan9331]

@@tomquirk9411 Nope. Brasilia is like the same situation with Indonesia. They wanted a new capital because they think it would be better, and away from people(protests and such).

[@passantNL]

Don't forget the Netherlands. Amsterdam is the capital but all government institutions are in The Hague. So basically The Hague is the "de facto" capital and Amsterdam is the official capital.

[@joaocardoso6697]

@@joshuakevinserdan9331 It was also in the constitution that eventually the capital would be moved away from Rio De Janiero towards a more centralized location.

[@theplasmawolf]

"Schumacher soon found himself a little bid dead", you never disappoint with descriptions of someone's death.

[@Hand-in-Shot_Productions]

Indeed! Even in that regard, he's quite funny!

[@nigelkirk3103]

"Suffered from a case of death" is one of my faves.

[@dyingearth]

With the capital moving to Berlin, they have to figure out what to do with the 4 airports in that city. They finally decided to build a new airport (Berlin Brandenburg) whose journey from the decision (1997) to airport actually opening (2022) was legendary in its incompetence.

[@Jaseford]

And correct me if I’m wrong, but my understanding is that the completed airport is terrible. Lack of space, maintenance issues, etc.

[@spongebubatz]

It opened in 2020 and now is the only airport serving Berlin, but yeah, what a disaster it was

[@nendwr]

Should have kept Tempelhof. It was their equivalent of London City Airport.

[@DerIrre1]

@@Jaseford And technically speaking, it´s STILL NOT COMPLETE - right now, it´s still done enough to count as "somewhat operational"

[@LoFiAxolotl]

@@Jaseford you're wrong.... it's not complete yet! Though... other than all the infrastructure nightmares... it's also in its current state basically a labyrinth with many people not finding the exit after arriving (no joke some people have been stuck in the airport for 8+ hours searching for the exit)

[@stuartbest95]

Sitting here in Bonn where I work at the United Nations - once the Federal Ministries moved out, the UN moved in, and it's fascinating to go to work in offices and buildings with such a rich history!

[@simonmeyer2030]

Another reason why Frankfurt was such a strong opponent in the capital question was its history. In 1848 the first German parliament was in Frankfurts Pauls Church. There is a superstition that Bonn won the contest on which city would become capital, only because Adenauer lived in nearby Rhöndorf....

[@user-co7fo]

Yes, I was missing that important Part of Info in the veejo. I was quite surprised by that.

[@Mishima505]

That’s why the state capital of Hessen is Wiesbaden not Frankfurt, as Frankfurt was intended to become the federal capital and having both federal and state government in the same city would have meant Frankfurt becoming a city of just civil servants…

[@LoFiAxolotl]

Also because Frankfurt pretty ugly.... i mean Berlin is ugly but has charm.... Frankfurt is just ugly

[@matteoclementi]

West Germany always fascinated me.

[@dsxa918]

Germany has fascinated me. The culture was pushed into the country, in my opinion and this is the basis of the problems that led to their roles in the 20th century. I feel that the German people were used to establish a military industrial complex that mere imperialism didn't demand.

[@Josh_0579]

I live there. Really not that fascinating

[@jasonfleischer3622]

@@Josh_0579me when I went Saarbrücken considered its capital of one the most fought over areas in all of Europe.

[@matteoclementi]

@@Josh_0579 Maybe I spelt it wrongly, I meant the history of the Germany during the time it was split and especially the western side.

[@cabercariboustudios196]

kentler experiment

[@TheThing274]

As a native Rhinelander who is studying in Bonn, I appreciate this very detailed explanation as well as the exposure! Bonn is beautiful, you should check it out if you have the chance :) much love to the channel

[@ravanpee1325]

Bonn is a shithole nowadays....criminal, immigrant clans fight all the time over the reign of the city

[@seiler3485]

Greeting from Bonn-Beuel!

[@ljr6490]

@@seiler3485 Schääl Sick

[@TheThing274]

@@seiler3485 Grüße zurück! :D

[@c.-n.n.5771]

All of the above were valid reasons. However, the decisive factor why Adenauer chose Bonn was because he insisted on having the capital on the west bank of the Rhein, as the French government was still pushing claims on the Rheinland. With this move Adenauer manifested the German territory west of the Rhein and left no future prospects to France in the region.

[@bingchilling4717]

Bonn is on the west on the Rhine but I get your point

[@c.-n.n.5771]

**yes, the west side. My bad**

[@Jimorian]

@@c.-n.n.5771 You can edit your original post, you know :)

[@lawrencedoliveiro9104]

Random joke: “Hi, I’m a tourist. My name is James. Can you tell me the way to Bunn?” “The name is Bonn, James. Bonn!” (Sorry, best I could do...)

[@MagiconIce]

I don't think that this is true unless I see a source, since the territorial question was already settled by 1949, the old East German Territories east of the Oder-Neisse-Line where gone, Northern Schleswig was gone, Eupen-Malmedy was gone, the Allies were basically satisfied at that point with territorial changes. The only question left open was the one of the Saarland, until it voted to reunify with Germany in the 1950's. The French would've liked it to join France, but that didn't happen in the vote, but to this day Saarland keeps strong connections to France, so I think it worked out for the two just fine.

[@elitefencer777]

For everyone else wondering: Yes, the one-legged man in the animation is a specific person; the briefly-mentioned Kurt Schumacher. By 1949, he'd lost an arm in the first World War, spent a decade in and out of Nazi camps, lost a leg in the years after the war ended, found himself opposing de-Nazification (as proposed, not in principle) and forced the Allied Powers to assent to a stronger federal government in West Germany, partly to reduce the power of (formerly) pro-Nazi industrialists and local officials, leftover due to their lack of formal involvement in the Nazi Party.

[@andriinaum1411]

2:41 Imagine living in a world where Germany still has its capital in Bonn. I didn’t know that it almost happened

[@batcheethebug6197]

Berlin already became the capital of the reunified Germany in 1990, the vote in 1991 was about the question whether the parliament should move there (which was implemented in 1999).

[@FourEyedFrenchman]

This happens a lot with US states, where the largest and most populous city isn't the capital. Los Angeles isn't the capital of California, New York City isn't the capital of New York, Houston isn't the capital of Texas, and so on.

[@OptimusWombat]

@@batcheethebug6197 That's interesting, but how would that have worked? Does it means that the Executive branch would've been based in Berlin and the Legislative branch would be located in Bonn, or something along those lines?

[@batcheethebug6197]

@@OptimusWombat it would have meant that both parliament and government would have remained in bonn just like since 1949. You could compare it with the netherlands (den haag and amsterdam).

[@dabbasw31]

@@FourEyedFrenchman ...and Washington D.C is by far not the largest city in the US. ;)

[@alexschmidt443]

Fun Fact: There was already a parliament building under construction in Frankfurt when deciding for the new capital, since the congressmen were sure that the Capital would be Frankfurt. They were furious when they heared it's gonna be Bonn. Today the building is the headquarters of the German Radio Station "Hessischer Rundfunk" which basically means "Broadcast Hessen" or "Radio Hessen" (Hessen is a federal state in center germany).

[@sebe2255]

Maybe they didn’t pick it because it is ugly as sin

[@alexschmidt443]

​@@sebe2255 Let it out man.

[@kiterkun1606]

I just looked at their building. I'm so glad it didn't end up there xd Even if the Bundestag building is not the most beautiful (I thought it was nicer in the photos before the burning) it is much more attractive than the Hessischer Rundfunk building

[@alexschmidt443]

@@kiterkun1606 Yeh it looks ugly for a parliament building, but to be fair it was still under construction when Bonn became the capital.

[@catthatlooksatyoufunny7377]

"Bonn had a lot of unbombed" I can tell you have a lot of fun making these videos, that phrase is so nice to listen to for some reason

[@ebnertra0004]

What I've learned from history is that most decisions come about from either laziness or procrastination. I find this very relatable

[@mikaelb.2070]

Another important aspect was that Bonn was pretty far from the Soviet zone. The military aspect played a role, but the biggest obviously was the proximity to Adenauer's private home.

[@IDontGetIrony]

West Germany: Why can't I find a guy like this ugh - A small town - Has no foreign troops - Is not utterly destroyed - Not racist Bonn: hey West Germany: no Bonn: I'm literally the guy in the pic (1:46)

[@der.Schtefan]

We were always been told that Bonn was chosen EXACTLY because it was just a 20 minute drive for Adenauer. ;) In all fairness, it is literally next door to Cologne, without the problems associated with building in an existing large town (i.e. they had a lot of cheap space and housing) and yet all the train and airfield connections thanks to Cologne. This "temporary" nature of the government is a red thread through everything till this day, the constitution of Germany is not even called "constitution" because when they set it up they wanted to keep it "very good, but named "temporary" to indicate a soon unification". It is called "Base-Law".

[@makarovtheplat1805]

The "it was only 20 min drive for him" got me cracked up so hard. The most important reason obviously

[@demeter1793]

It's in the Metropolitan area Rhine-Ruhr, so it's not that weird of a choice. This also means that there is practically no difference between having the capital be Bonn or (one of the mentioned suggestions) Cologne. The city itself might be small, but the cities around it aren't, so the capital was actually not at all situated in a lowly populated area, as currently over 10 million people live in the metropolitan area.

[@ravanpee1325]

Adenauer as the former mayor of Cologne couldn't propose Cologne - because everyone would blame him for nepotism - so he chose the next city

[@thomaslenhard3088]

He lived in Rhöndorf... Which is a 20 min Bike Ride from Bonn away... THAT'S the reason!

[@lukekim8834]

Frankfurt was actually an interesting case militarily as well. It was a concern amongst W German leaders that Frankfurt was located at the 'chokepoint' between East Germany and France. While it was entirely possible and likely that France would be aiding West Germany, there was a very real threat at the time that when a East German blitzkrieg happened invading the west, the obvious route was to cut West Germany in half (just for infrastructure purposes as well), and Frankfurt was going to be in the middle of that as it was the shortest route the Eastern block can effectively paralyse West Germany. Frankfurt being relatively closer to the demarcation line....further exacerbated this aspect.

[@stischer47]

Until recently, Austin (the capital of Texas) was known primarily for having the Capitol and the Univeristy of Texas. It was a sleepy college town. It was selected (previously a village known as Waterloo) because the largest city in Texas at the time (Galveston) was too far from the rest of Texas and San Antonio (the second largest) was too close to Mexico (too many invasions). So Austin was more centrally located (but really on the edge of settled land).

[@tentathesane8032]

waiit where did Dallas come from then?

[@piratapequeno]

@@tentathesane8032 cocaine and oil

[@piratapequeno]

It's also because Austin isn't Houston. Sam Houston was Mirabeau Lamar's (the second President of Texas) main political rival, so when he took over the presidency from Sam Houston, there was no way in hell he was keeping the capital in a city named after him. Waterloo was chosen because it was relatively central, on an important river, far from Houston/Galveston, and in a naturally pretty area on the edge of the Hill Country (not a joke, that was a cited factor). When Houston got elected president again and sent a group from Houston to Austin/Waterloo to seize government documents as a prelude of moving the capital back, there might have been an itsy-bitsy little street war between the Houston's men and the citizens of Austin. If you've ever been to downtown Austin and wondered why there's a giant statue of a woman in an apron screaming and firing a cannon, now you know.

[@brookeking8559]

@@piratapequenoto make it easy to find: The statue is on the west side of Congress Avenue. I’m not sure which block. I’d have to search on line or walk over there. There’s a thunderstorm right now so I’m not walking, and anyone can run the search. I think it’s the 600 block. It’s around midway between the grounds of the capitol and Town Lake, an easy and short walk in either direction from the statue.

[@zimriel]

Galveston also had a small hurricane problem

[@nonameuserua]

1:21 “found himself a little bit dead” This always makes me laugh like the first time 😅 dry British humour at its best

[@Losangelesharvey]

except that he is not British

[@nonameuserua]

@@Losangelesharvey yes, he’s a Brit from the UK

[@jipjonnie9088]

2:28 You missed the chance to write 'Bonnus' instead of bonus🤣 Such a shame

[@InvertedGigachad]

In Germany we always leave all these reasons out and say "Yeah because Adenauer didn't want to commute much"

[@HeisenbergFam]

2:45 its crazy how 18 vote difference can change so much in your country

[@NicolaW72]

Yes. The voting on this topic was one of the most exciting sessions in the German Parliamentary History because the result of the voting was absolutely unclear until the very end.

[@jacko250]

3 video topics I’d love to see you cover: 1. Why didn’t Japan invade the Soviet Union from the east? 2. Had Hitler not committed suicide how would the allies decide what to do with him? 3. Why didn’t Italy have trials for crimes against humanity like the other axis members after the end of the Second World War?

[@jascrandom9855]

1-They did and got their asses handed to them. 2- Trial and execution. 3- That's a good question.

[@Sig509]

3 - Because (what a suprise for them) they've switched sides, and played a victim of both Nazis and Mussolini, so as a "victor" of the war, the allies left that to handle internally for them. Additionally allies needed a stable Italy, as the communism threat loomed, and wanted to avoid a civil war there (which happened in Greece), and you could avoid it only by not splitting the society further, paint yourself as a "victim" of the war (just look at Austria, nobody talks about them xD), and focus on further nation unification, because as you probalby know, united Italy happened just about 100 years ealier. That's not too long, especially when your concept of nationalism is associated with Mussolini and being allied with Germany. Even today there are significant differences between North and South of Italy, and I can totally imagine that the country could split after the war in case of revolution, as was formed by duches / kingdoms, that were separate for centuries before 1848, and the only thing that united them was mostly language, and culture.

[@giorgijioshvili9713]

@@jascrandom9855 1- they wanted to invade US and weaken there fleet 2- yea that's true 3-because Italy joined the allies at the end

[@Postoronniy]

1.) Defeats at Lake Hasan and Khalkhin-Gol made Japanese high command wary of engaging the Red Army on land, and the Japanese Navy was pulling the overall strategy towards the large naval campaign for control of the Pacific.

[@derrickthewhite1]

3 - I suspect that surrendering two years before everyone else and getting out of the Allied propaganda loop helped. As did keeping their own Jews basically safe during their active fighting, removing Mussolini from power internally, suffering some fairly nasty German retaliation and occupation after their surrender, and having fought a fairly clean (if only by comparison) war against the allies who conquered them (Greece and Yugoslavia's opinions didn't matter much here). So when the time for the war trials came, public fervor wasn't against them.

[@ejtattersall156]

In the 1980s, I had a French teacher in Florida high school who was from Bonn. When I asked her why Bonn became the capital, she looked at me like I was an idiot. Thanks for clearing this up after thirty-some years.

[@mastercrazyyyd7699]

Interesting to think that if the voting was just a little bit different, we could have lived in a world where the capital of modern day Germany is Bonn. I wonder if they ever considered having two capitals like other countries, with Berlin and Bonn both having historical significance as capitals at this point being able to simultaneously function as the capitals of a united Germany.

[@HDreamer]

It was considered, because fun fact: Moving a government is fucking expensive. Actually I am pretty sure that some stuff still is in Bonn.

[@mrkekskopf5904]

There is actually a lot of stuff still in Bonn

[@mastercrazyyyd7699]

@@HDreamer That's cool, I'm visiting the Ruhr area of Germany this summer and know Bonn is there. That'll make visiting way cooler!

[@rwboa22]

One should ask what is left of South Africa, and that country's three capitals.

[@JeeVeeHaych]

I'd hope not, if it's anything like the EU Parliament moving house every month, it's going to cost a fortune.

[@John_Fugazzi]

I lived in Bonn for a time when it was the capital and it was a very charming and pleasant city. I think they chose well for a "temporary" capital. I didn't know all the details behind the choice, so thank you for filling me in.

[@stefanschleps8758]

This is the most entertaining and educational channel on history on KZbin. The near hidden signs sprinkled around the different scenes add a resplendent joy to these, our guiltfree pleasures. You Sir, are a King amongst men. A legend, a prince, a Marquess amongst the nobility of mirth and perennial and studious masses. You ah touched our funny bone! Touché!

[@harveya1a952]

It’s because James Bisonette lived there

[@Koala1203]

No, it's because Beethoven was born here.

[@sanchobanana3507]

I actually live in Bonn and asked myself that question far to often, thanks for finally clearing that up

[@kartoffelman111]

Ah... how many of your videos I've watched during my studies in dear little Bonn. This makes me all nostalgic for the good old times! It was a weird city to pick for spending 7 years in but it grew on me quite easily. It's got some 300.000 inhabitants now but feels like a cute, smallish town with lots of greenery and a wonderful city centre. Besides, the university is in a 19th cty palace with a large garden in front of it, certainly a pretty place. Overall a great and underrated place to visit when you're ever in Germany (and it's a 30-minute drive away from Cologne, always an argument).

[@sskuk1095]

“Not stationing troops is cheaper than stationing troops.” We came for the history, we stayed for the economics!

[@shubhanjalshukla3879]

OMG the new country outlines look so cool, makes them look so vibrant for a reason!

[@JA432123]

Again another answer to a question I didn’t realize I wanted to know… great work as always

[@jambudvipi]

1:35 That’s right, in university my geography professor told the class if Frankfurt would be chosen then if Germany ever reunited, it would be wayyy to difficult to decide between it and Berlin to be the capital

[@boneman137]

I love your animation style and humour, mixed with top-quality, fast-paced information. Would you ever consider doing videos on ancient history? Such as the Romans, Greeks, Persians etc? Either way, keep up the good work!

[@davidringmann3395]

The Lord Mayor of Frankfurt at the time actually even had recorded a speech to celebrate the capitalship. Plus Frankfurt was the birthplace of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Only one of Germany's most known poets. Furthermore Frankfurt was the de facto capital of the Holy Roman Empire (as the Kings/Emperors were elected in Frankfurt) and the German Confederation (as it was the seat of the Bundestag i.e. the meeting place of the representatives of the ruling houses in Germany).

[@thomaslenhard3088]

Bonn was the birthplace of Ludwig van Beethoven I guess a equally big figure of German History!

[@1lava759]

Being born in Bonn, I find it the weirdest thing how small the amount of germans is that actually know the City. If somebody asks me where I am from and I say "Bonn", they look at me as if i named a random town. Going "the former capital of germany" doesnt realy improve the situationen either

[@CaptainAhab117]

Thank you sir, for answering the questions we all thought about once or twice but never got around to actually looking in to.

[@ClickBeetleTV]

You are really good at finding interesting questions I would never have thought to ask

[@maniak1768]

Bonn is a lovely little city, definitely worth a visit. It surpassed a population of 300 k, has wonderful 19th century architecture and is very beautifully located next to the Rhine and a small mountain range to the south. It is very close to Cologne and connected by rail and metro-tram, I can recommend it to any person visiting Cologne. Bonn is much more cozy and has a great deal of tourist attractions, the old parliament, Beethoven's birthplace and the Drachenfelsen with a spectacular view on the city and beyond.

[@franciscagustin]

2:21 "what is a Bonn.?" 😂

[@OpeNinGCA]

Your videos are always packed with incredible details - it's one of the things I enjoy most about your content. However, in this recent video, I noticed that Saarland's depiction was inconsistent. While it doesn't necessarily cause confusion, maintaining geographical accuracy would perfect your already excellent work. Keep those details coming!

[@ForzaStiinta64]

My favourite episode so far. Keep them comming.

[@BlondLanfear]

Grew up in a tiny village near Bonn and went to Gymnasium (highschool) there while it was still the capital. It's a very cool town

[@LearnRunes]

I have a globe that shows Germany reunited but both Bonn & Berlin as its capitals because they hadn't decided which one it would be yet.

[@Shabanezloth]

Your humor is great man

[@nik65stgt60]

Excellent analysis!

[@timmccarthy9917]

Fun fact, Bonn is just loaded down with former embassies that they're still finding new uses for.

[@LoveStallion]

Too many leaders' initiatives have been stymied by the leaders being a little bit dead. A true tragedy.

[@playwars3037]

History matters, once again coming in with niche but neat historical facts in a well explained format. Thanks !

[@AI-hx3fx]

Always wanted to know about this! Thank you.

[@bensomething7395]

It's a good day when HM uploads.

[@Psychol-Snooper]

King Charles?

[@512TheWolf512]

It's amazing that Bonn was THAT close to being a permanent new capital of Germany

[@LoFiAxolotl]

fun fact.... the Vote was mostly ceremonious and it was already decided by the government that Berlin would become capitol but as an homage to Bonn they made it a close vote

[@edwinhuang9244]

@@LoFiAxolotl Source?

[@LoFiAxolotl]

just google it? i'm sure you can find some News reports from the ARD or 3sat or Arte about it... my source is i was alive at that time and it was a huge story about west and east getting closer together yadayada Kohl yadayada@@edwinhuang9244

[@prakashghumaliya2002]

Thank you for video sir

[@muhammadhabibieamiro3639]

Another amazing video

[@TheMasterTeddy]

The true reason why Bonn became the capital instead of Frankfurt (which was a candidate due to the 1848/1849 revolution and the Frankfurt Paulskirche as the all-German parliament at that time) was because it was believed that the German division was only temporary. It was certain that if Frankfurt became the new capital, the parliament would be left there even after reunification. However, Bonn was a city without prestige. The representatives would abandon Bonn and agree to the move to Berlin. This happened in a heated debate and a close vote in June 1991 in the Capital City Decision. If Frankfurt had been the capital of West Germany, it would still be the capital of an united Germany today. Adenauer planned with foresight. Other considerations, such as the strategically secure location behind the Rhine in the event of a third world war, also played a role. The proximity to Adenauer's residence was also a factor.

[@corey2232]

Sounds like a pretty sweet little capital if I'm being honest. Adds to the history of a city that may have otherwise been unknown to most.

[@TainakaRicchan]

We bonner always tell the Story that Adenauer, which was from Bad Godesberg (now part of bonn) wanted to take the bike to work, and this is why he pushed for bonn as capital.

[@DonaldDucksRevenge]

I enjoyed this and every one of your videos. You are a master of short informative KZbin content.

[@PresAlexWhit]

Every History Matters video is like, "Well I never asked that question, but now I have to know."

[@albinoshamrock]

Right before they moved the capital back to Berlin they said "Bonn voyage"

[@derdude6214]

Thank you, I did enjoy this episode

[@odysseusrex5908]

That was very, very interesting, thank you.

[@Sig509]

I believe that moving capital to Berlin was inevitable. Yes, the vote was close, but it would move sonner or later to symbolize unified Germany. There was also a slight stratgic advantage to keep capital in Bonn, not further East, as in case of war with USSR or internal "troubles" it was further away from the Soviets, and also close to the allies, so the government could've escaped easier (not if nuked :P). You could also mention, that it is not like the federal power disappered from Bonn, there is still a large presence ofvarious institutions there.

[@TyphonJRT]

Also a lot harder for the Stasi to do any spying.

[@zeroyuki92]

I am surprised that I actually have never heard of Bonn before. Granted, I was born after reunification and I'm not European/Western, but I consider myself to be much more educated in general history and geography compared to average person. I'm also surprised that for some reason I never thought of 'what was the capital of West Germany?' as well but I would have thought that it's probably one of the major industrial cities rather than the relatively unknown small city. I'm happy to learn something new, though.

[@MrMayhemVI]

Great episode. I had forgotten about Bonn and I remember being curious about it at the time.

[@Yora21]

I think most of Germany has forgotten about Bonn as well by now.

[@boarbark]

love your videos! keep them coming!

[@savagedarksider2147]

I wish archduke Franz Ferdinand was never assassinated. How much the world would be different if he was able to become emperor.

[@HumbleAshe]

Bonn being the “capital city that’s smaller than other major or notable cities” reminds me a bit of Sacramento, California. Still a notable city in the state as the capital and with a decent-sized population, but it’s relatively more relaxed versus other bustling and/or more populated cities like SF or LA.

[@Yora21]

In America, they picked one town to be the state capital very early in the process of settlement. So they had not yet any idea which of the many small towns would actually grow into big cities and which ones would remain small towns.

[@felixbabuf5726]

I know you mean relaxed as in less swarming with special interests and such, but the idea of Sacramento being relaxed is the funniest joke I've heard all week.

[@OptimusWombat]

Canberra is another example. Even today, it's population is less than 500K (in comparison the populations of Sydney and Melbourne are both over 5 million). And like Washington D.C. it's not part of any other state.

[@HumbleAshe]

@@felixbabuf5726Yeah that’s how I framed it lol. Aside from the occasional anime con and a few shops/malls/restaurants the city feels out of the periphery at times. I hear more about big stuff going down in SF or other nearby cities than with Sac, and Sac (for me anyways) isn’t top of the mind if I want somewhere to go for a day drive.

[@Hayden2447]

@@OptimusWombat Tho Canberra was a planned city made because Sydney and Melbourne both wanted to be the capital. Example works but Canberra is interesting for that, it is intentionally NOT one of the two huge cities instead of it being at the time just as big as anywhere else like some American places

[@marscaleb]

I love how this show gives these questions a much more filled answer than you would get from most sources. Instead just "It was the least bombed city at the time" it goes into explaining the various times when they tried to move, additional motivations, and also shows many details that you don't get with just a quick answer.

[@oliversherman2414]

I love your channel keep up the great stuff

[@kriegh94]

As always, there isn't anything more permanent than a temporary solution.

[@bananenmusli2769]

Germany as we have it now is basically a temporary solution.

[@n.s.mcmahon6180]

It was because James Bisonette was in Bonn at the time, then visited Berlin after the reunification. Capitals just follow him.

[@ALiveCreeper]

I was wondering this last week lmao. Thanks

[@the2dudes1]

Very great explanation

[@Bergdampf]

Thats incredible, I was wondering this exact question this morning and was thinking a video would be made on it eventually.

[@waffle6376]

could you do why was yemen split?

[@eternalRBLX]

south was a british colony north was independent

[@bananenmusli2769]

@@eternalRBLX colonialism is the answer to everything

[@Echo2-2]

Well done!

[@fvo-steamguidesochmer8559]

I actually wondered why a few days ago. Good timing.

[@ThekingplaysmeYT]

Can’t we just appreciate how much effort he puts into his videos 😮😮😮😮😮

[@bingobongo1615]

This was really badly researched mate… Until the day of the vote everyone thought Frankfurt the historical capital of democratic Germany would win. Adenauer paid people with black money to vote for Bonn instead in a massive scandal that was even officially acknowledged by parliament but nothing was done. Adenauer was a psychopath who didnt want the "socialist“ city of Frankfurt to be the capital so he chose a small town 20km from his home instead…

[@Spirngie]

2:15 Pun... Intended???

[@ElectricoGamez]

Yes and no.

[@threaruscamuwundra7417]

I drove through Nordrhein Westfalen last week en passed most of its major cities. And I was wondering this question, so thanks for answering, as always

[@ericpraline]

Hurray! I‘ve wanted to know this for a loving time