Bonn
2 of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Bonn. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
bonn, a university town of western Prussia. It is pleasantly situated on the west shore of the Rhine about twenty miles above Cologne. Bonn had in 1905 81,996 inhabitants. It is the site of an old Roman fortification, and derives not a little historical importance from having been the seat of the electors of Cologne. During the Middle Ages Bonn suffered a number of destructive sieges. The old walls were leveled in 1717, and the moat was filled up to make way for boulevards. The city hall and the market are characteristic. The chief interest of the city centers in the university. In enrollment Bonn ranks fourth in the empire. The principal building is a former palace of the elector. The library contains about 275,000 volumes and many valuable manuscripts. There is a valuable museum of Roman antiquities. Albert, the prince consort of Queen Victoria, was educated here. In his day it was the resort of the young protestant princes of all Germany. Many Americans studied at Bonn. Among the noted professors Niebuhr and Schlegel are named. A statue of Beethoven, who was born here, stands in a public place.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a German town in the Rhenish province of Prussia, beautifully situated on the left bank of the Rhine. It has some trade and manufactures, but is chiefly important for its famous university, founded in 1777 by Elector Maximilian Frederick of Cologne, and for its cathedral, which has a crypt of the 11th century and medieval wall paintings. Enlarged and amply endowed by the King of Prussia , in 1818, the university is now one of the chief seats of learning in Europe, with a library of more than 300,000 volumes, an anatomical hall, mineralogical and zoological collections, museum of antiquities, a botanical garden, etc. Beethoven was born here. Bonn was long the residence of the Electors of Cologne; in 1794 the French took possession of the town , but it finally passed into the hands of Prussia by the arrangements of the Congress of Vienna, in 1815. Pop. about 88,000.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Aiton's 1910 account of a pleasant university town of 81,996 people, and Collier's 1921 note of "some trade and manufactures," give no hint of what followed. Bombing in the Second World War wrecked much of the old town, and in 1949 the Federal Republic chose Bonn as its provisional capital — a role it held until German reunification, after which the Bundestag voted in 1991 to return to Berlin, with the move carried out through the 1990s. Bonn kept a consolation prize: several federal ministries stayed, and the city became a United Nations hub as well as headquarters of Deutsche Telekom and Deutsche Post. Its population is now roughly 330,000, and the university Collier's called "one of the chief seats of learning in Europe" is among Germany's largest, with some 35,000 students; Beethoven's birthplace remains a museum.
Written for this edition, 2026.