Hauptstadt and Amt Bonn

Bonn was settled by the Romans and reached a peak population of around 17,000 in the 3rd century. It shrank thereafter, but nevertheless became the seat of the Frankish Bonngau in the 7th century. The Archbishop of Cologne began exercising secular jurisdiction in the 11th century. Bonn was formally recognized as a city in 1286 and as the seat of an Amt and an Oberamt shortly thereafter. Although this page describes Amt Bonn, the name “Bonn” in my simplified subdivision names refers to the Oberamt. Thus, places outside of Amt Bonn (e.g., Amt Godesberg) still contain “Bonn” as part of the subdivision name (hence “Bonn-Godesberg”).

 

Having been evicted from Cologne itself as a consequence of the 1288 Battle of Worringen, the Archbishops/Electors of Cologne chose Bonn as one of their preferred residences, and in 1597 officially designated it as their capital. (I use Bonn as part of the simplified country name (Cologne-Bonn) even before 1597 because I need a single descriptor to distinguish it from the Imperial City of Cologne and Bonn was arguably the most important of the Elector’s residences, as evidenced by its eventual selection as the single capital. Bonn later served as the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany between 1949 and 1999.)

 

Amt Bonn consisted of five Dingstühle. The name of each follows “Bonn-” in the simplified subdivision names. All were part of the Electorate of Cologne throughout the period covered by the database. Adjacent to Amt Bonn were thirteen Unterherrschaften that were not part of the Amt but were grouped with it for statistical purposes. They are described on their own page.