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Bonn American High School
Bonn American High School (BAHS) was an American international school located in Bonn, Germany.
Among the thirty-four American high schools opened in Germany by the United States Government (USG) during the Post-War period, Bonn American High School (BAHS) was unique in that it was the only school in the world built and owned by the U.S. Department of State. Developed out of an elementary school that originally opened in 1952, it was intended to support the families of personnel at the U.S. Embassy – which grew to become the largest U.S. Embassy in the world with over 900 Americans and 600 local staff – in Bonn, West Germany, then the linchpin of the West's engagement during the Cold War. When BAHS opened in 1971, it was only the thirteenth USG high school in Germany, and although not associated with a U.S. Department of Defense military installation, it was staffed and run as part of the Department of Defense Dependents Schools system in an arrangement between the Department of State and the Department of Defense. BAHS closed in 1997 following the transition of the Embassy to Berlin, and was part of the Post-War American Plittersdorf settlement, now a protected historical area.
Bonn American High School traces its roots to Bonn American Elementary School (BAES), which was created after the end of World War II when Bonn became the capital of West Germany.
The American School on Rhine as it was initially called, had grades 1-8 and was located in an apartment building of the HICOG Plittersdorf housing project at the corner of Europastrasse and what was then Turmstrasse (later renamed Martin-Luther-King, Jr Strasse). US Assistant High Commissioner Chauncey G. Parker cut the ribbon opening the school on March 21, 1952.
The school was unique because it was the only school in the world owned and funded by the United States Department of State. Immediately following WWII's end, the four occupying powers – the United States, France, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union – administered Germany. The Allied High Commission formed by the United States, France, and Great Britain, also known as the High Commission for Occupied Germany (HICOG), was set up in the environs of Bonn, West Germany, in 1951. The U.S. Embassy in Mehlem, a suburb of Bonn-Bad Godesberg, was to become the largest U.S. Embassy in the world with over 900 U.S. Foreign Service Officers and staff from other U.S. Departments. It was convenient to St. Petersburg across the Rhine River where HICOG was physically located. With the arrival of HICOG also came the construction of housing for the Americans and a school for their children. Plittersdorf was the HICOG housing area for Americans; there were other HICOG housing areas for German Embassy staff in Muffendorf/Pennefeld and the Tannenbusch settlement.
Bonn was in the British Occupation Zone and not the American Occupation Zone, which was further south. Thus it fell to the U.S. Department of State to build and run the school. Later the Department of State maintained its ownership of the school but used the U.S. Department of Defense's program that ran a worldwide network of schools associated with U.S. military bases.
Prior to the opening of BAHS in 1971, students of high school age attended the U.S. Department of Defense schools in Frankfurt, Wiesbaden and even Bitburg. They took a U.S. Embassy bus to these schools on Sunday evening and stayed in dormitories during the week, returning to Plittersdorf on Friday afternoon.
Unlike Berlin, Bonn had no particular international community, but in the Post-War period and throughout the Cold War, it was a key European capital. Thus BAHS not only served the U.S. Embassy in Bonn, but also drew students from Bonn's diplomatic community and international companies. For example, the 55 students of the Class of 1974 included eleven nationalities from five continents. Students from countries in conflict with each other sometimes attended and studied side by side at either BAHS or the BAES.
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Bonn American High School
Bonn American High School (BAHS) was an American international school located in Bonn, Germany.
Among the thirty-four American high schools opened in Germany by the United States Government (USG) during the Post-War period, Bonn American High School (BAHS) was unique in that it was the only school in the world built and owned by the U.S. Department of State. Developed out of an elementary school that originally opened in 1952, it was intended to support the families of personnel at the U.S. Embassy – which grew to become the largest U.S. Embassy in the world with over 900 Americans and 600 local staff – in Bonn, West Germany, then the linchpin of the West's engagement during the Cold War. When BAHS opened in 1971, it was only the thirteenth USG high school in Germany, and although not associated with a U.S. Department of Defense military installation, it was staffed and run as part of the Department of Defense Dependents Schools system in an arrangement between the Department of State and the Department of Defense. BAHS closed in 1997 following the transition of the Embassy to Berlin, and was part of the Post-War American Plittersdorf settlement, now a protected historical area.
Bonn American High School traces its roots to Bonn American Elementary School (BAES), which was created after the end of World War II when Bonn became the capital of West Germany.
The American School on Rhine as it was initially called, had grades 1-8 and was located in an apartment building of the HICOG Plittersdorf housing project at the corner of Europastrasse and what was then Turmstrasse (later renamed Martin-Luther-King, Jr Strasse). US Assistant High Commissioner Chauncey G. Parker cut the ribbon opening the school on March 21, 1952.
The school was unique because it was the only school in the world owned and funded by the United States Department of State. Immediately following WWII's end, the four occupying powers – the United States, France, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union – administered Germany. The Allied High Commission formed by the United States, France, and Great Britain, also known as the High Commission for Occupied Germany (HICOG), was set up in the environs of Bonn, West Germany, in 1951. The U.S. Embassy in Mehlem, a suburb of Bonn-Bad Godesberg, was to become the largest U.S. Embassy in the world with over 900 U.S. Foreign Service Officers and staff from other U.S. Departments. It was convenient to St. Petersburg across the Rhine River where HICOG was physically located. With the arrival of HICOG also came the construction of housing for the Americans and a school for their children. Plittersdorf was the HICOG housing area for Americans; there were other HICOG housing areas for German Embassy staff in Muffendorf/Pennefeld and the Tannenbusch settlement.
Bonn was in the British Occupation Zone and not the American Occupation Zone, which was further south. Thus it fell to the U.S. Department of State to build and run the school. Later the Department of State maintained its ownership of the school but used the U.S. Department of Defense's program that ran a worldwide network of schools associated with U.S. military bases.
Prior to the opening of BAHS in 1971, students of high school age attended the U.S. Department of Defense schools in Frankfurt, Wiesbaden and even Bitburg. They took a U.S. Embassy bus to these schools on Sunday evening and stayed in dormitories during the week, returning to Plittersdorf on Friday afternoon.
Unlike Berlin, Bonn had no particular international community, but in the Post-War period and throughout the Cold War, it was a key European capital. Thus BAHS not only served the U.S. Embassy in Bonn, but also drew students from Bonn's diplomatic community and international companies. For example, the 55 students of the Class of 1974 included eleven nationalities from five continents. Students from countries in conflict with each other sometimes attended and studied side by side at either BAHS or the BAES.