Ende der Bonner Republik? Der Berlin-Beschluss 1991 und sein Kontext / End of the Bonn Republic? The Berlin decision of 1991 and its context

25 years after the move to Berlin, this volume is the first historical contextualisation of the transition from Bonn to Berlin.

On 20 June 1991, the Bundestag in Bonn decided that Berlin – in addition to its function as the German capital – should also be the seat of parliament and government. The decision, taken by a narrow but clear majority, was also a consequence of German reunification at the end of the Cold War. The relocation of the political establishment from the western to the eastern edge of the country also took place in the midst of accelerating processes of change in politics, society, culture and the media. In this context, the Germans’self-image was also renegotiated – metaphorically represented by the place names “Bonn” and “Berlin”.

The book reconstructs the decision-making process in parliament, reflects on the process of transition in the light of contemporary aesthetic and intellectual discourses and analyses both memories and literary representations of the “Bonn Republic”. The result is a multifaceted picture of the Federal Republic shortly after reunification – raising the question: What was and what remains of Bonn?