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Exploring Bonn, Germany's More Recent Identity And Purpose

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Flickr/Matthias Zepper

Cities are pretty robust organisms. They tend to survive even when put under tremendous stress and strain. Local industries rise and fall, people immigrate and emigrate, but most of these changes happen over long periods of time. What happens to a city when its purpose is stripped away virtually overnight?

Bonn was the quiet, unlikely capital of West Germany. Then it became official seat of government of a United Germany. But when the Cold War ended, the seat of the German government was moved back to its historic home of Berlin.

Today the city of Bonn is still finding its new identity and purpose. But there are hidden clues in the urban landscape that can remind us of what Bonn used to be. Independent producer Roman Mars brings us the story.

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