Bonn-Mehlem station is a through station in the

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

district of Lannesdorf in the German state of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

. It has three platform tracks and is located on the

Left Rhine line The West Rhine railway (German: ''Linke Rheinstrecke'', literally 'left (bank of the) Rhine route') is a famously picturesque, double-track electrified railway line running for 185 km from Cologne via Bonn, Koblenz, and Bingen to Mainz. It i ...

south of

Bonn Hauptbahnhof Bonn Hauptbahnhof is a railway station located on the left bank of the Rhine along the Cologne–Mainz line. It is the principal station serving the city of Bonn. In addition to extensive rail service from Deutsche Bahn it acts as a hub for lo ...

. The station also is served by buses and has parking spaces. It is classified by

Deutsche Bahn The (; abbreviated as DB or DB AG) is the national railway company of Germany. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). The Federal Republic of Germany is its single shareholder. describes itself as the se ...

as a category 4 station.

History

On 21 January 1856, the section of the Left Rhine line between

and

Rolandseck Rolandseck is a borough in the town of Remagen in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The place consists almost entirely of villas and is a favorite summer resort. Crowning the vine-clad hills behind it lie the ruins of the castle, a picturesque iv ...

was opened to traffic. The station in the then independent city of Mehlem was opened at this time. Due to the incorporation of

Bad Godesberg Bad Godesberg ( ksh, Bad Jodesbersch) is a borough ('' Stadtbezirk'') of Bonn, southern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. From 1949 to 1999, while Bonn was the capital of West Germany, most foreign embassies were in Bad Godesberg. Some buildings ar ...

in the city of Bonn, Mehlem station was renamed Bonn Mehlem in 1971. Mehlem had been part of Bad Godesberg since 1935. A slightly recessed platform in the station served from 1949 as the location for travel and receptions of the American High Commissioner

John J. McCloy John Jay McCloy (March 31, 1895 – March 11, 1989) was an American lawyer, diplomat, banker, and a presidential advisor. He served as Assistant Secretary of War during World War II under Henry Stimson, helping deal with issues such as German sa ...

and his successors to 1955 and the subsequent

U.S. ambassadors Ambassadors of the United States are persons nominated by the president to serve as the country's diplomatic representatives to foreign nations, international organizations, and as ambassadors-at-large. Under Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. ...

. A class VT 06

railbus A railbus is a lightweight passenger railcar that shares many aspects of its construction with a bus, typically having a bus (original or modified) body and four wheels on a fixed base, instead of on bogies. Originally designed and developed ...

was continuously stationed here for this service. After 1963, the permanent stationing of trains at Bonn-Mehlem station for the American Embassy was terminated for financial reasons, but when required railbuses of classes VT 08-8 and VT 33.8 came from their base in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

, then the most important base for American troops in Germany. Once a year, possibly more often, a special train carried the U.S. ambassador via the

Brunswick–Magdeburg railway The Brunswick–Magdeburg railway is an German main line railway. It is with the Berlin–Lehrte railway and the Hanover–Berlin high-speed line one of the most important east-west lines between Hanover and Berlin. Important intermediate stati ...

through

Helmstedt Helmstedt (; Eastphalian: ''Helmstidde'') is a town on the eastern edge of the German state of Lower Saxony. It is the capital of the District of Helmstedt. The historic university and Hanseatic city conserves an important monumental heritage of ...

on the established transit route to Berlin-Lichterfelde West. The last such journey of an ambassador at Bonn-Mehlem took place on 18/19 December 1990 during the tenure of

Vernon A. Walters Vernon Anthony Walters (January 3, 1917 – February 10, 2002) was a United States Army officer and a diplomat. Most notably, he served from 1972 to 1976 as Deputy Director of Central Intelligence, from 1985 to 1989 as the United States Ambassado ...

German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

ended the role of Bonn-Mehlem station as a station of the American Embassy.

Services

The Bonn-Mehlem has three platform tracks, each over 200 metres in length. The edge of platform 1 is 76 cm high. Platform 2 and 3 have a height of 38 cm, appropriate for long-distance, although there are no longer any long distance services at the station. The station is served by the following three lines: It is served by four bus routes, operated by

SWB Bus und Bahn The Bonn Stadtbahn ('' en, city rail'') is a part of the local public transit system in Bonn and the surrounding Rhein-Sieg area, that also includes the Bonn Straßenbahn. Although with six actual Stadtbahn lines (as well as three tram lines) the ...

: 613 (at 10- to 20-minute intervals), 614 (20), 619 (20) and 852 (6 times a day). It is also served by two bus routes operated by Regionalverkehr Köln (both at 60-minute intervals): 856 and 857.

Notes

{{Authority control Railway stations in Bonn Railway stations in Germany opened in 1855 1855 establishments in Prussia