Die Vereinten Nationen in Bonn

The United Nations in Bonn
17
Bild Eröffnung des Hauses Carstanjen am 20. Juli 1996
Image Inauguration of Haus Carstanjen, July 20, 1996
the German Ministers of Foreign Affairs, the Environment and
Economic Cooperation inaugurated the new UN office complex.
Only two of the persons shown in the well-known photograph
of the inauguration ceremony are still in office today:
Angela Merkel (Minister for the Environment in 1996), whose
career has since taken an upward turn, and the UN policeman
hoisting the flag, who is still serving with the UN in Bonn. The
United Nations Information Center for Germany (UNIC) and the
Secretariat of the Bonn Convention also cohabited at Haus
Carstanjen with the two organizations from Geneva.
The next steps were taken in 1998. The small secretariats of
two agreements created under the auspices of CMS – the Agreement
on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic and
North Seas (now Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans
of the Baltic, North-East Atlantic, Irish and North
Seas, ASCOBANS) and the Agreement on the Conservation
© Michael Sondermann/Bundesstadt Bonn
of European Bats (now Agreement on the Conservation
of Populations of European Bats), Eurobats joined the
Secretariat of their mother convention on the banks of the
Rhine. These two funnily named, two-person secretariats
caused a certain measure of hilarity in the German media.
Bats and small cetaceans were much more suited than
UNFCCC and UNV to the stereotypes of the nationwide
press in Germany, which had never been positively inclined
towards Bonn and now, blinded by the rather pale luster of
Berlin, missed no opportunity for an unflattering comment
about Bonn.
Nevertheless, the number of UN agencies in Bonn continued to
grow. In 1999 a further Rio Convention, the United Convention
to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) joined the UN family at
Haus Carstanjen. By 2003, 11 UN agencies had found a new
(or first) home in Bonn. Newcomers were the Secretariat of the
Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory
Waterbirds, AEWA (whose name immediately identifies it as
CMS daughter agreement), the European Centre for Environment
and Health of the WHO Regional Office for Europe (WHO-
ECEH), the UNESCO International Centre for Technical and
Vocational Education (UNESCO-UNEVOC) and the Institut for
Environment and Human Security of the Unite Nations University
(UNU-EHS). The latter laid the groundwork for a rapidly
growing UNU presence on the banks of the Rhine. Over 70
staff members now work in the various UNU institutes based in
Bonn, including the UNU Vice Rectorate in Europe (UNU ViE).
FROM FAIRY TALE CASTLE TO HIGH-RISE TOWER
However, the growing number of UN organizations started
posing problems. The original UN premises at Haus Carstanjen,
designed for approximately 300 persons, soon proved too
small. As a result, newly recurited UN offices were housed in
buildings across Bonn and, ultimately, some UN agencies actually
split up among several buildings. A stopgap solution at
best. And so the idea of a Bonn UN Campus was born.
The project took flight at a cabinet meeting on May 28, 2003.
The idea, championed by then Minister for the Environment
Jürgen Trittin, was to group the Bonn UN offices in the Langer
Eugen tower and the surrounding former parliamentary
buildings. Both Langer Eugen and the neighbouring socalled
Altes Abgeordnetenhochaus (translating roughly as
old parliamentary high-rise) were to be placed wholly at the
disposal of the United Nations.