A Decisive Decision

On June 20, 1991, the Bundestag decided to move the German capital from Bonn, where it had been for 40 years, to the traditional city of the German confederation after 1867.

An emotional debate preceded a close majority vote. The final tally was 338 in favor of Berlin and 320 for Bonn. Some observers said that this crux decision was "the greatest in the Federal Diet's history."

An emotional speech by Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, a chief negotiator of the unification treaty, was thought to be instrumental in swinging the deciding votes.

Source: Lewis J. Edinger and Brigitte L. Nacos, From Bonn to Berlin: German Politics in Transition, New York, Columbia University Press, 1998