The American High Commission for Germany (known as HICOG) was required to construct a new housing area for approximately 400 American employees and 800 Germans with their families. They built a shopping center, movie theater, school, club, gymnasium with swimming pool and the chapel, which was built in the style of 18th century churches in colonial New England.
High Commissioner John J. McCloy dedicated the chapel on 18 July 1952 to the memory of his World War II superior, Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson, who had died in 1950. In 1956 the Stimson Chapel became the official chapel of the American Embassy.
The chapel served not only the Protestant and Catholic worshippers from the families of the American Embassy, but also opened its doors to all English-speaking worshipers residing in the Bonn area.
On June 20, 1991 in a close vote (338-320) the German parliament decided to move the capital from Bonn to Berlin. This meant that the American Embassy also would move to Berlin. During the succeeding years the American Embassy sold the housing area in Bonn-Plittersdorf and all of its property in Bonn - except for the Stimson Memorial Chapel.
On June 20, 1999 while visiting Germany to attend an international G-8 Summit Meeting in Cologne, President William J. Clinton came to Bonn and officially turned over the keys to the Stimson Memorial Chapel to Bonn Lord Mayor Bärbel Dieckmann. The U.S. government had decided to give the chapel to the city of Bonn as a gift and symbol of post-war German-American friendship.
A “Förderverein Stimson Memorial Chapel e.V.” (SMC) was formed to foster continued use of the chapel after ownership was transferred to the city of Bonn.
On August 14, 2000 the Historical Monument Office of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia officially registered the Stimson Memorial Chapel on the list of historical monuments of the City of Bonn.
Today, the building is used by five congregations: APC, a Korean and a Sri Lankan congregation, a Russian-Messianic congregation and a Spanish speaking congregation.
(Source: American Protestant Church)
The text on the plate:
STIMSON MEMORIAL CHAPEL
In Memory of Henry L. Stimson
American statesman (1867-1950)
A SYMBOL OF AMERICAN-GERMAN FRIENDSHIP
PRESENTED BY PRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON AS A GIFT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO THE CITY OF BONN ON JUNE 20. 1999
ÜBERGEBEN VON PRÄSIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON ALS GESCHENK DER VEREINIGTEN STAATEN VON AMERIKA AUN DIE STADT BONN AM 20. JUNI 1999
Förderverein Stimson Memorial Chapel e. V.