Exactly 50 years ago, on 5 September 1962, Chancellor Konrad Adenauer welcomed France’s President Charles de Gaulle on a state visit to Bonn. On the steps of Bonn Town Hall, Charles de Gaulle called for close Franco-German cooperation in a widely acclaimed speech.

To mark this important day on the road to the Elysée Treaty, which laid the foundation for cooperation between France and Germany, the city of Bonn is holding a street festival on 5 September 2012.

Following lunch in Adenauer’s house in Rhöndorf, the two Foreign Ministers will visit the Franco-German festival in the market square in Bonn, sign the city’s Golden Book and take part in a discussion with pupils in Bonn’s Old Town Hall, which will be open to the press.