Pilgrimages to the Past

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In the past half-century, Bonn has gone through dramatic changes. In 1949, the quiet university town was transmogrified into the western capital of a divided Germany. When reunification led the government to return to Berlin in the late 1990s, the city transformed itself again. Today instead of bureaucrats, diplomats and spies, John le Carré's "small town in Germany" plays host to entrepreneurs, investment bankers and managers at the scores of telecommunications and postal services companies drawn by lavish state subsidies and proximity to the market leaders, Deutsche Telekom and Deutsche Post.

Through all these mutations Bonn has retained its most attractive feature: its perch on the banks of the Rhine, "the beautifullest river on earth," according to the 19th century English historian and essayist Thomas Carlyle. The city boasts a hinterland dominated by the wooded range of the legend-shrouded Siebengebirge (Seven Mountains) and a scenic landscape dotted with crumbling ruins and picturesque castles.

To set out on your journey into the past, buy the $11 Bon(n)Card day pass, which allows you to use all buses and streetcars in the area. Catch the southbound 66 tram from the main station for the 30-minute trip upriver to Königswinter. The town nestles at the foot of one of the most famous of the Siebengebirge, the mythical Drachenfels. There, according to folklore, the Nibelungen hero Siegfried slew the firedrake Fafnir and then bathed in his blood in an effort to become invincible. To get to the ruins of the 12th century fortress on the 321-m summit, either board the little cogwheel railway — constructed in 1883, it is Germany's oldest — or, if you have the stamina, walk up the mountain's steep slopes through ever-cool deciduous forest. The sublime view of the Rhine Valley from the peak, which inspired Lord Byron to sing his praise of the "castled crag of Drachenfels," will be your reward.

Back in Königswinter, catch the 521 bus from the railway station to the Gothic ruins of the Cistercian abbey of Heisterbach, which is set in a shady dale at the base of the towering Petersberg. Founded more than 800 years ago, the monastery was destroyed in 1809 and, though never rebuilt, became a place of pilgrimage for 19th century Romantics. Only the apse and vestiges of the basilica choir are left today. Legend has it that the medieval monk Caesarius fell asleep in the woods near the abbey one day while he was listening to the song of a bird. When he awoke, he discovered that 300 years had passed.

Another excursion from Königswinter involves a short ferry ride across the Rhine to Rolandseck. From there you can stroll up to the decoratively dilapidated Roland's Tower, the remains of a 12th century castle that, according to myth, was home to the most famous of Charlemagne's paladins. After the hero of the eponymous Song of Roland went to the wars, the story goes, a false report of his demise was brought to Hildegunde, his betrothed, who retired to a nunnery on the isle of Nonnenwerth. When the knight returned and found his ladylove had irretrievably taken the veil, he built the cliff-top castle to overlook the convent, in order that he might catch a glimpse of his lost inamorata. While you won't see her, you can at least enjoy a panoramic view of Bonn and the region you've just explored.