A university city
The University of Bonn (Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität) was founded in 1818, when King Frederick William III of Prussia signed its founding charter.
From federal capital to UN city
After serving as the federal capital, Bonn received a new task in the Bonn-Berlin resolution of 20 June 1991: to take on new functions and institutions of national and international importance. On 20 June 1996 the UN flag was raised in Bonn, and the UN climate change secretariat (UNFCCC) moved to the city the same year; Germany had won the right to host it at the 1995 climate summit in Berlin. The UN Tower, the centre of today’s UN Campus, opened officially on 11 July 2006.
Science profile
On this site we follow four threads of Bonn’s science: research funding, academic exchange, space programmes, and radio astronomy and climate. The institutions are described on Institutes & Facilities.
On the Atlas
Bonn lies on two routes of the TheScience.fm Atlas: Concept Cities, about how science is judged, funded and measured, and Space, through Germany’s space agency.
-
Large research machines for particles, photons and plasma.
Stops: Grenoble.science → Geneva.science → Lausanne.science → Villigen.science → Frascati.science
-
Space via Bonn
Space agencies, mission centres and the people who build spacecraft.
Stops: Pasadena.science → Noordwijk.science → Bonn.science → Frascati.science
-
Concept Cities via Bonn
Cities tied to ideas about how science is judged, funded and measured. Frascati gave its name to the rules for counting R&D.
Stops: Sevres.science → Lyon.science → Bonn.science → Bologna.science → Frascati.science
-
How Switzerland organises research, from CERN's host city to its federal institutes.
Stops: Geneva.science → Lausanne.science → Villigen.science → Zuerich.science
| Hub | Anchor institutions | Routes |
|---|---|---|
| Bologna.science | Bologna Process · ECMWF data centre | Concept Cities |
| Bonn.science | DFG · DAAD · Humboldt Foundation · German Space Agency at DLR | Space, Concept Cities |
| Frascati.science | INFN-LNF · ESA ESRIN · ENEA | Big Machines, Space, Concept Cities |
| Geneva.science | CERN | Big Machines, Swiss Model |
| Grenoble.science | ESRF · ILL | Big Machines |
| Lausanne.science | EPFL Swiss Plasma Center | Big Machines, Swiss Model |
| Lyon.science | IARC, the WHO cancer research agency | Concept Cities |
| Noordwijk.science | ESA ESTEC | Space |
| Pasadena.science | Caltech · NASA JPL | Space |
| Sevres.science | BIPM · SI and metrology | Concept Cities |
| Villigen.science | Paul Scherrer Institute | Big Machines, Swiss Model |
| Zuerich.science | ETH Zurich | Swiss Model |
| science.Taipei | Academia Sinica | — |
Sources
Sources checked on: 1 November 2026