VZCZCXRO0711
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBW RUEHDA RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHDF #0025/01 1201315
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 291315Z APR 08
FM AMCONSUL DUSSELDORF
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0142
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUCNFRG/FRG COLLECTIVE
RUEHDF/AMCONSUL DUSSELDORF 0158

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DUSSELDORF 000025 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV ECON GM
SUBJECT: BONN-VIBRANT: A GROWING CITY AFTER CAPITAL MOVES TO BERLIN 
 
DUSSELDORF 00000025  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Sensitive but Unclassified -- Not for Internet Distribution 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary: The gloom that descended upon Bonn in the wake 
of the German government's 1991 decision to move the capital 
back to Berlin has lifted as the city booms economically and 
retains its strong international orientation.  Through the 
Bonn-Berlin Law and other initiatives introduced in the 1990s, 
Berlin and the state of North Rhine Westphalia (NRW) have 
invested enormous political and financial resources into the 
city, which retains a major Federal government role and has 
grown into an important site for international organizations and 
commercial activity.  Major education and research institutions 
reinforce its impact in NRW, Germany, and beyond, although the 
city retains its "small town on the Rhine" feel.  The USG 
presence remains very small and is scheduled to be phased out: 
the "Little America" so well known (and loved) by so many 
Bonners, Americans and others is just a memory, but the city's 
future is bright.  End Summary. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
Resurgence as the "Federal City of Bonn" 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) Many residents of Bonn and the surrounding area thought 
June 20, 1991 was the city's death sentence.  On that day, the 
Bundestag decided to return the seat of government to Germany's 
capital, Berlin.  Many believed Bonn's major role on the federal 
and international stage would slowly decline, and pessimists 
even predicted it would die.  Since then, however, Bonn has 
enjoyed an average growth rate of about 6%, more than double the 
national average and the city is booming.  Although the 
Bundestag and Chancellery moved, national legislation (the 
"Bonn-Berlin Law" of 1994) ensured the city's future relevance, 
prescribing the "permanent and fair division of labor between 
the Capital City of Berlin and the Federal City of Bonn" and 
spelling out that six Federal Ministries (Defense; Development 
Aid; Education and Research; Environment; Health; and Food and 
Agriculture) would maintain their headquarters in Bonn.  In 
addition, all other Federal Ministries have major offices in 
Bonn (i.e. Ministry of Interior, Finance, Labor, etc) and 
several key federal agencies (BaFin; Federal Audit Office; 
Regulatory Agency for Network Industries (telecoms) and energy) 
are headquartered in the city.  In fact, Bonn currently boasts 
about 1,000 more federal employees than Berlin. 
 
--------------------- 
Bonn Businesses Boom 
--------------------- 
 
¶3.  (U) Since 1991, more than eighty major firms have moved to 
Bonn, creating some 20,000 new jobs.  Three of the German DAX 30 
firms (Deutsche Post, Deutsche Postbank and Deutsche Telekom) 
have their headquarters in Bonn.  There were many reasons why 
these companies chose to base themselves there:  the city's 
international and political expertise, its quick access to three 
international airports, and great high-speed train and road 
networks.  Perhaps most importantly, various levels of 
government invested some 256 million Euros in the city's 
infrastructure and transport connections, as Berlin and the 
state of NRW kept their commitments to support Bonn's 
transformation.  Meanwhile, population growth has remained 
positive and purchasing power is about 14 percent above the 
national average, according to recent studies.  Unemployment is 
1.7 percentage points under the national rate of 9.0 percent 
(2007 figures).  Many companies use Bonn's reputation for high 
quality of life to attract professionals.  One 2007 study (by 
ECA International, a major international HR network), ranked 
Bonn number one in Germany and number five in the world, in 
terms of environment, infrastructure, public health, social 
networks, personal security, and educational opportunities. 
 
----------------------------------- 
A Center for International Dialogue 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (U) Bonn, with strong support from the NRW government and 
Berlin, has put enormous emphasis on remaining an international 
city, and used a variety of means, such as financial and other 
incentives and political lobbying, to attract UN agencies and 
other NGOs.  Seventeen UN offices are now located in Bonn, 
including the UN European Center for Climate Change and a key 
World Health Organization branch.   Five UN offices alone have 
opened in Bonn in the last five years.  The former Chancellor's 
office is slated to become the seat of the UN Climate 
Secretariat (UNFCCC) in late 2008.  Major efforts have been made 
 
SIPDIS 
to attract important international events, including the first 
UN Conference on Afghanistan in 2001 and its follow-on in 2003. 
 In May, some 5,000 delegates and 75 environment ministers will 
descend upon Bonn for the UN Conference on Biodiversity.   In 
fact, the number of total conference participants in Bonn jumped 
from 50,000 in 2006 to 60,000 in 2007, and the city's goal is 
200,000 in 2011.  The new "World Conference Center" scheduled to 
 
DUSSELDORF 00000025  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
open in 2009 will have a capacity of 5,000 and support 2,000 new 
jobs.  The center is being built in coordination with the UN 
Congress Center (UNCC), a Korean-American joint venture to 
transform the former Bundestag into a center for international 
conferences, trade shows and other meetings.  One in seven 
residents of the city has a foreign passport. 
 
------------------------- 
Home to Educational Elite 
------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (U) The wide range of educational opportunities helps Bonn 
form an important part of the ABCDE region in Germany (Aachen, 
Bonn, Cologne, Duesseldorf/Duisburg/Dortmund and Essen), which 
reportedly has the highest concentration of educational 
institutions in Europe.  Bonn city officials boast the city has 
the highest percentage of citizens with a university degree in 
Germany (19 percent, well above the national average of 9 
percent).  The University of Bonn, with over 30,000 students, 
enjoys an almost two-hundred year reputation as one of Germany's 
most prestigious universities.  The city is also home to many 
major student exchange programs that involve the United States. 
 
 
¶6.  (U) Bonn has also become an increasingly important center 
for science and technology.  Research and educational 
institutions have received 820 million euros in the past ten 
years as a part of the Berlin/Bonn law to balance the transfer 
of government.  The Center for Advanced European Study & 
Research (CAESAR) was founded in 1995 as a part of this 
initiative and has become a leading research institute for 
physics, nanotechnology, and biotechnology.  Other important 
institutions in the Bonn area are the Center for European 
Integration Studies (ZEI), and the Center for Development 
Research (ZEF).  The ingenuity of the region is reflected in the 
fact that almost 20 percent of all patents in Germany in 2006 
came from this region.  The Bonn International Center for 
Conversion (BICC), a well-respected organization devoted to 
promoting peace through the transformation of military-related 
institutions and encouraging disarmament, is also located in the 
city. 
 
------------------------ 
"Little America" No More 
------------------------ 
 
¶7.  (U) The former large American presence in Bonn has now 
nearly disappeared.  With the exception of a small U.S. Embassy 
Office in Bonn known as the Defense Liaison Office (DLO), with 
an FAS representative, USG offices followed the German 
government's move to Berlin.  The former Ambassadors' residence 
as well as the American housing project, known locally as 
"Little America" have been sold to private German owners.  The 
former Embassy and housing compound have been refurbished and 
are now very desirable real estate.  The former DOD School is 
the Bonn International School (BIS), with a very good 
reputation, educating 515 students from fifty-five different 
countries from grades pre-K-12.  The former Chancery is now the 
headquarters of the German Federal Agency of Agriculture and 
Food Affairs and also contains German defense offices.  The 
small DLO primarily handles liaison work with the German 
Ministry of Defense and the numerous subordinate headquarters 
offices and agencies located in and around the cities of Bonn, 
Koblenz and Cologne, but is slated to move to Berlin in the next 
few years.  The famous American Club and its shopping center, a 
social hub of Bonn during its days as capital, have been sold 
and no longer exist.  The landmark Stimson Memorial Chapel, 
which was presented to the city of Bonn as a gift by President 
Clinton in 1999, is a protected historic landmark and still 
hosts several American worship services each week and is now 
known as the American Protestant Church (APC) to the Bonn 
community. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Bonn's transition has not been without pain and would 
not have been possible without massive financial and political 
support from Berlin and NRW.  What the city has lost in 
influence and power because of the move of the German capital to 
Berlin, it has retained in the business, educational, scientific 
and international organization sectors.  The NRW government and 
a powerful "Bonn lobby" in Berlin are determined that the city 
remains a major national and international location in the 
region, in Germany, and beyond.  Although the city still has a 
decidedly "small town on the Rhine" feel and the "Little 
America" so well known (and loved) by so many Bonners, Americans 
and others is just a memory, its future seems guaranteed and 
bright. 
 
¶9.  (U) This cable has been coordinated with Embassy Berlin. 
BOYSE