From Past to Present

The building known by the name of Bundeshaus (that once hosted the former Plenary Hall of the Federal Parliament, the Bundestag) was originally devised to accommodate the newly founded Pedagogical Academy, built between 1930 and 1933. It is designed in the Bauhaus style with a protruding gymnasium at its southern limits. Between 1948 and 1949 the Academy’s auditorium served as assembly hall for the Parliamentary Council.  

On May 10, 1949, two days after adopting Germany’s Basic Law, the Parliamentary Council decided by secret ballot with a majority of 33 votes in favor and 29 votes against for Bonn to become the “provisional seat of the federal bodies”. The first session of the German Bundestag took place in the Plenary Hall on September 7, 1949. 

Planning for a new Plenary Hall started as early as in the 1970s. The architectural company Behnisch & Partners from Stuttgart won the architectural competition to build a new Bundestag under the condition that they revise their draft. Planning and debate took up a number of years until in 1981 the parliamentarians opted at first to remodel the old venue that had become a class listed monument. Then, after more preliminary investigations and discussions, in 1987 the old facility was demolished. The new building with adjoining presidential area and restaurant was to be erected on the same site. 

In fall of 1999 the former Plenary Hall became part of the World Conference Center Bonn. The Waterworks building was incorporated into the neighboring UN campus that hosts various organizations of the United Nations. After extensive remodeling it will be used for smaller events by the United Nations.      

The signing of the Bellevue Agreement on February 27, 2002, was followed by a planning period to extend the Bonn conference center. Since its completion in 2015, the Main Building of the World Conference Center Bonn can offer additional capacities to host any type of event. With its Plenary Hall and the Main Building, the conference center provides ample space to carry out events for up to 7,000 participants within the two buildings.

Up until the first years of the new millennium the mansion Villa Dahm and the so-called Bundesbüdchen, literally translated as “the federal shack”, stood on the premises of the Main Building of the World Conference Center Bonn (WorldCCBonn). 

Ever since 1955, the Villa Dahm served as the headquarter of the German Parliamentary Society (Deutsche Parlamentarische Gesellschaft - DPG). When the DPG moved to Berlin in 1999, the mansion was donated to the City of Bonn; and despite being a class listed monument, in May 2005 Bonn opted for the demolition of the building, as space was needed for the extension of the WorldCCBonn.
 
In close vicinity to the Villa Dahm and at kitty-corner to the entrance to the Bundesrat stood the so-called Bundesbüdchen, a kiosk operated by the Rausch family ever since 1957. Here, the VIPs from the world of politics bought their daily papers, cartoon books or sandwiches. The regular customers included top-ranking politicians, parliamentarians and journalists from around the world. In the wake of having lost a bet in a popular national TV game show, in 1981 top-notch journalist Friedrich Nowottny worked at the kiosk and sold wieners for charity. One of his customers was Loki Schmidt, the wife of the Federal Chancellor at the time, Helmut Schmidt. Other famous politicians like Herbert Wehner or Franz-Josef Strauß visited the Bundesbüdchen frequently. Furthermore, Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl had his chauffeur go there regularly to buy him Brötchen, the German equivalent of sandwiches.
  
In October 2006 the Bundesbüdchen had to make way for the planned extension building of the WorldCCBonn. Thus, the kiosk was put on a trailer and transported to storage. It was not until May 2020 when it was returned and found a new home at the corner where Heussallee and Platz der Vereinten Nationen meet.
 
Starting in 1996, secretariats and agencies of the UN began to settle in Bonn. Any UN city needs an appropriate conference infrastructure to be able to accommodate even major conferences of the parties. To this end, the signing of the Bellevue Agreement on February 27, 2002, was instrumental. It was followed by a planning period for the extension of the Bonn conference center, covering the area next to the former Plenary Hall. In 2015, with some delay and interruptions due to a building scandal, the Main Building was finished, and the World Conference Center Bonn now boasted substantially expanded capacities to host any and all kinds of events. Today the conference center with its two buildings – the Plenary Hall and the Main Building – provides ample event space for up to 7,000 visitors.

Theodor Heuss was an outstanding German politician and the first president of the Federal Republic of Germany. Born on January 31, 1884, in Brackenheim, Heuss devoted all of his life to the democratic ideal, promoting freedom, tolerance and social justice. 

During the Weimar Republic Heuss worked as a journalist and writer. He started his political career in the 1920s, when he became a supporter of the German Democratic Party (Deutsche Demokratische Partei – DDP). When the National Socialists rose to power, Heuss was forced to emigrate because of his political convictions. 

After the Second World War, Theodor Heuss became one of the founding fathers of the new German democracy. As a member of the Parliamentary Council, he had great influence on the wording of the new Basic Law. In 1949 Heuss was elected Federal President and remained in office until 1959. As the head of state, he stood for integrating Germany into the international community, coming to terms with the past and democratic reconstruction. 

When he retired as president, he continued to work on social and cultural topics. He died on December 12,1963, in Stuttgart.