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Bonn

American  
[bon, bawn] / bɒn, bɔn /

noun

  1. a city in W Germany, on the Rhine: seat of the government; former capital of West Germany.


Bonn British  
/ bɒn, bɔn /

noun

  1. a city in W Germany, in North Rhine-Westphalia on the Rhine: the former capital (1949–90) of West Germany; university (1786). Pop: 311 052 (2003 est)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Bonn Cultural  
  1. Former capital of the Federal Republic of Germany and still home to most of the German government's bureaucracy, located in the western part of Germany, on the Rhine River.


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The Constitution for West Germany was drafted in Bonn after World War II. Bonn became West Germany's capital in 1949 and reunified Germany's capital in 1990, but it has since lost that distinction to Berlin.

Example Sentences

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Many years before Höttges became CFO, the two had bought land in Bonn together and built neighboring houses.

From The Wall Street Journal Jun. 10, 2026

Bonn is where government negotiators meet every June to hammer out technical details and narrow differences over global climate action before leaders tackle the bigger decisions at COP31.

From Barron's Jun. 8, 2026

It also has two other bases – in Bologna in Italy and in Bonn, Germany.

From BBC May 13, 2026

During his stint as high representative, Paddy Ashdown memorably wielded these so-called "Bonn Powers" sacking 60 Bosnian-Serb officials in one day in 2004 for refusing to cooperate with the Hague Tribunal.

From BBC May 11, 2026

And Simon Martin and Nikolai Grube, respectively of University College London and the University of Bonn, first put the history of the great Mutal-Kaan war together in 1996.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

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