Hotel Eden Am Hofgarten

Post office

by yumyum

The post office is located in a beautiful building called "Postamt" on Münsterplatz. There they sell also special stamps, have a cash maschine etc. Currently, stamps for postcards within Europe cost 0.65 Euro.

trip to Koblenz

by Lucky79

A good day trip from Cologne can be to travel south to Koblenz. This trip offers beautiful scenery along the Rhine River. Once you arrive in the town, head for the Deutsches Eck, or German Corner. This is where the Rhine and Mosel rivers meet, and the spot offers a sight of the water and surrounding hills. Also trek up to Ehrenbreitstein, a huge fortress on the hill overlooking Koblenz. This also holds a youth hostel and the Landesmuseum Koblenz.

On the river

by prleprle

I love rivers, lakes, seas... and found that Rhine is really "Romantic Rhine". Don't miss to get on the boat and... enjoy! Impressive fortresses, high rocks, steep vineyards and little villages on the river banks look like from a picture book.

Sunday Morning Bonn

by antistar

Walk around Bonn on a Sunday morning and you'll find it hard to believe that this was once the capital of Europe's economic powerhouse and one of the most influential countries in the world. It's hard to believe that during the Cold War spies would be operating 24/7 in Bonn, a capital at the Western front of one of history's great ideological clashes. When you walk around on a Sunday morning the only thing you can believe is that they could film a Zombie movie here.

Today Bonn is quietly and calmly provincial. But it wasn't that much different as a capital city. It was always a bit of a shock that Bonn was chosen in the first place. With the media capital of Cologne next door, and the economic and political pull of cities like Munich, it was hard for the locals to believe that they were chosen. It was harder still to believe when it was taken away after re-unification, but the city still retains some of the prestige of being a major world capital in the UN offices that still function here.

Bonn is a pleasant city and an ideal place to explore the region from. There's a lot nearby, including Cologne, but the city itself can hold your attention for several days at least. It's the home of Beethoven, and they don't let you forget that: Statues, houses, street names and the great Beethovenhalle. It is also home to some of the greatest museums in Germany, and the "museum mile" is a very popular attraction. And finally you can explore and discover the curious moment in Germany's history when a small city that all but closes on Sunday mornings could become a capital of one of the greatest countries in the world.

a favourite place of ours

by margaretvn

Bonn is a lovely city with an old centre. It was founded by the Romans in 11BC and grew under the control of the Archbishops of Cologne and it is a favourite city ours because Ludwig v. Beethoven was born there in 1770. He is my favourite composer.

The composer Robert Schumann also spent the last years of his life there. he was mentally sick for years and tried (and failled) to commit suicide by jumping from a bridge into the Rhine. He was nursed in a mental hospital in Bonn. Schumann in buried in the old cemetery in Bonn, Beethoven's mother is buried in the same cemetery. On her gravestone are Beethoven's words "she was my best friend".

Bonn was made the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany on 10th May 1949 and remained so until 1991 when Berlin was made capital of the newly united country.