Petersberg (Siebengebirge)

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Petersberg

Petersberg is a hill in the Siebengebirge near Bonn, Germany. It rises to 331 meters (1,086 feet) and looks over Königswinter on the right bank of the Rhine and Bonn on the opposite side. Today the peak hosts Hotel Petersberg, a guest house used by the German government.

History: People lived on Petersberg as far back as 3500 BC. A ring wall from about 1000 BC has been found. In 1189, Cistercian monks took over a former hermitage. In 1202 Heisterbach Abbey was built in the valley below. The mountain was first called Stromberg (documented in 1142) and got its current name after a chapel to Saint Peter was built on the top in 1764.

In 1834 the area was sold to Joseph Ludwig Mertens; his wife Sibylle built a summer residence known as the Rheingräfin. In the late 19th century, the Nelles brothers bought the land and opened Hotel Petersberg in 1892, together with the Petersbergbahn rack railway to Königswinter. In 1912 Ferdinand Mülhens bought the property and the hotel became a spa. In the 1930s terraces with Rhine views and a new access road were built; the railway closed in 1958.

After World War II, the hotel served as the headquarters of the Allied High Commission for Germany and later as a guest house for the German government. Many world leaders stayed there during official visits.

Location: North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.