Haus Carstanjen

Did the name “Schiller Park” ever cross your ears here in Bonn? Here we stand before Haus Carstanjen, once jokingly called “Schiller Park” after a former finance minister. Haus Carstanjen’s story begins long before Karl Schiller, though. The original structure dates back to 1716. The Carstanjen family, wealthy tobacco and later sugar merchants, purchased the estate in 1881. Wilhelm Adolf von Carstanjen transformed the building into the grand neo-Gothic castle you see now. Haus Carstanjen isn’t just a pretty facade. It played a key role in post-war Germany. After 1950, the German Federal Government occupied the building. It housed the Federal Ministry for the Marshall Plan, and later, the Treasury and the Federal Ministry of Finance. Imagine government officials bustling through these halls, shaping the future of a nation. In the 1970s, the Carstanjen family sold the estate, including the surrounding land that now forms the Rheinauen Park, to the government. With the reunification of Germany and the subsequent move of ministries to Berlin, Haus Carstanjen found a new purpose. It became home to United Nations agencies. After extensive renovations, the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change secretariat and the UN System Staff College’s Knowledge Centre for Sustainable Development now reside within Haus Carstanjen’s walls. Haus Carstanjen stands as a testament to adaptability. From a riverside farm to a noble’s castle, a government ministry to a UN hub, this building has witnessed history unfold. Its story intertwines with the stories of nations, economies, and global collaboration.