Hammerschmidt Villa

Official residence (secondary) in Bonn, Germany

50°43′22″N 7°07′03″E / 50.72278°N 7.11750°E / 50.72278; 7.11750Current tenantsPresident of Germany (secondary)Named forRudolf HammerschmidtCompleted1860Renovated1868OwnerFederal Republic of GermanyDesign and constructionArchitect(s)August Dieckhoff

Hammerschmidt Villa (German: Villa Hammerschmidt) is a villa in the German city of Bonn that served as the primary official seat and primary official residence of the president of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1950 until 1994. President Richard von Weizsäcker made Bellevue Palace in Berlin his primary official seat and residence in 1994. In German, the Villa is also called the "White House of Bonn", and served as a political symbol of West Germany and its capital Bonn. Since 1994, the Hammerschmidt Villa has been the secondary official seat and secondary official residence of the president of Germany. The president's standard is flown above Hammerschmidt Villa when the president is in Bonn.^[1]

The villa is situated in the heart of the former government quarter of Bonn, bordering the river Rhine to the north and opposite the zoological Museum Koenig to the south. It is also adjacent to the secondary official seat and secondary official residence of the chancellor, the Palais Schaumburg, to the west.

The upper floor of the building houses a private apartment for the German president, while the ground floor consists of state rooms which are used for ceremonial purposes.

Villa Hammerschmidt was built by August Dieckhoff in 1860 in Neo-classical style, as a stately home for a wealthy industrialist. It was redecorated in 1868 by the architect Otto Penner.

Past owners

Since its construction, Villa Hammerschmidt has been owned by:

Albrecht Troost (1860–1868)
Leopold Koenig (1868–1899), his son Alexander Koenig was the founder of the Zoologisches Reichsmuseum Alexander Koenig just opposite Villa Hammerschmidt
Rudolf Hammerschmidt (1899–1928)
Sold at auction and broken up into several flats (1928–1945)
Requisitioned by the British occupation forces in Germany following World War II (1945–1949)
Federal Republic of Germany (since 1950)