Older readers will recognize Bonn as the pleasant city on the Rhine where Ludwig van Beethoven was born in 1770 and which served as the capital of the western part of a divided Germany following World War II.
The surrounding Rhineland was incorporated into Prussia by the Congress of Vienna following Napoleon’s defeat in 1815—which explains how the University of Bonn came to be founded by the Prussian king, Friedrich Wilhelm III, three years later in 1818.
Thus steeped in history, today the University of Bonn is home to a major research university with 30,000 students, 4,000 of whom are international. Its 500 professors and various other researchers engage in over 1,500 projects.
The university owns or uses over 350 buildings throughout the city of Bonn, although seven particular facilities form its core. The university, with total expenditures of €570 million, is also affiliated with multiple teaching hospitals.
The University of Bonn brings in €156 million through third-party funding. Its medical-related enterprises run 14 collaborative research centers, 17 research units, and five research training groups.
Partnered with 56 universities in Europe, America, Asia, and Australia, Bonn has produced two Nobel Prizes and holds 5.5 million items in its 100 libraries.
