John F. Kennedy and Adenauer once visited Documentary of the history of the American Club in Bonn
Bad Godesberg · John F. Kennedy and Konrad Adenauer once paid a visit to the American Club in Bad Godesberg, the club has a rather storied history. After decades of neglect, it is now dilapidated but there are plans to restore it in 2024. A documentary film shows the whole story.
With the sound of Robert Schumann piano music in the background, the film camera pans across the Rhine and comes to a low-rise building hidden on the riverbank of Plittersdorf. Behind construction fences and the sign “Betreten verboten” ("No trespassing”), one can see pillars, building rubble and brightly colored graffiti under ivy which has spread out everywhere. "Firstly, this building was nobody's home, secondly, it was never an official government office. It was a third place,” says an off-screen voice in Kai von Westerman's new artistic documentary film "American Embassy Club", which he made for the Montag Foundations.
As reported, the dilapidated club of the former American Settlement is to be renovated and revitalized as a "future place for democracy". According to the Montag Foundations, construction is set to begin in autumn of 2024. A non-profit project company was recently founded for this purpose. Von Westerman's film, which the GA was able to see once before it premieres on December 10, asks what role the American Club actually played when Bonn was capital of Germany. The club was built in 1951, with a lovely terrace overlooking the Rhine. Besides looking at its past, there is also the question about what comes next for the 2,000 square meter historically listed bungalow, which sits next to Bonn International School (BIS).
John F. Kennedy and Konrad Adenauer were once visitors
For many years, it was one of the most important meeting places for diplomats and high-ranking representatives of the U.S. and German governments, says Walter Bawell, a witness to the times who is interviewed in the film. John F. Kennedy was there, as was Konrad Adenauer. The former U.S. officer poses elegantly in a jacket and tie in front of the glass fronts, which are now all boarded up. Historical photos superimposed in the same place 50 years earlier show groups of gentlemen engrossed in small talk, the ladies in little black dresses with mink stoles.
Today, there is nothing but dreariness here. Since the American Embassy moved to Berlin in 1999, the once elegant building has had no further use under its new owner, Vereinigte Bonner Wohnungsbau AG (Vebowag), or from lessee BIS. All plans for using the building have failed.
"In the beginning, even the unofficial negotiations for the complete reinstatement of German sovereignty took place here," recalls Walter Bawell in the film. He also mentions with a chuckle that everyone had to adhere to the dress code. Even ambassadors had to quickly borrow ties from their chauffeurs in a pinch.
Typical American food was served in the club
Meanwhile, Eveline Poser, another person who remembers the club from back then, makes her way through the dark interior of the building with broken glass, polystyrene and wallpaper remnants. Armed with a large flashlight, she tries to recall the monthly "family buffets" that she enjoyed as a Dutch diplomat's child.
At long tables, people ate typical American food, roast beef, sweet rolls and ice cream, while a band played jazz in a location which Poser points out. And at the front were the glamorous ladies' restrooms "with lots of light, red plush and mirrors like in a film”.
The club was always a status symbol of the young democracy in Germany, says film initiator Ruth Gilberger to the GA. She is the Director of the Montag Foundation for Art and Society. Von Westerman's film examines the significance and mood of the historical location. "At the same time, the film opens our eyes to the building's potential.”
In the GA interview, the director, who now has cult status as the cameraman for the German children’s program "Sendung mit der Maus", recalls that he was at the American Club in 1992 as a news cameraman for a political party to mark the U.S. presidential election. "Back then, I noticed how the generous architecture allowed for spaciousness and different party areas at the same time. Despite the large number of people, it didn't feel too cramped anywhere.”
Alexander Kleinschrodt, spokesman for the Baukultur Bonn network, confirms this in his film. If you think about it, the club is characterized by glass architecture, maximum transparency and slender columns. "This is democratic architecture compared to the monumental buildings that were built in Germany in the 1930’s and 1940’s.”
Skateboarders made the building a creative meeting place
Kleinschrodt explains that in 1951, an idea was created here, with spaces that could be used flexibly, with pluralism and openness. All of this told a story back then, but it also had the potential to inspire new approaches and new stories today. In that way, his film is not just a portrait of something that has come to a standstill, explains von Westerman.
He wanted to document the new beginning for the club, made possible by the Montag Foundation's project. "Some people will be surprised to see which people have been the only ones to find a sensible way of dealing with parts of the club." Two former skateboarders also appear in the film. Until 2009, they transformed the smooth outdoor areas of the American Club into a creative meeting place for some time.
Film premiere and discussion: Sunday, December 10, 11 am, "Zentrifuge" in the Haus der Luft- und Raumfahrt, Godesberger Allee 70. Admission is free. Registration at posteingang-mkg@montag-stiftungen.de. Please dress warmly.
(Orig. text: Ebba Hagenberg-Miliu / Translation: Carol Kloeppel)
