The development of this ministry site began in 1968 with a government district initially planned by Joachim Schürmann in what is now the Bonn district of Bad Godesberg. The overall plan envisaged seven cross-shaped buildings to create space for all the federal ministries. However, this project failed due to public criticism and the creation of a recreational area in the adjacent Rheinaue. Instead, the two current high-rise buildings were realized by the Stieldorf planning group (Planungsgruppe Stieldorf). The buildings stand on a 4,500 square meter site which, with the exception of a few planted courtyards, is underlaid with a basement containing a cafeteria, central registry, library, meeting rooms, technical facilities and an underground car park for 850 cars. Above a red brick floor, the two 12- and 15-storey buildings with a cross-shaped ground plan rise in reinforced concrete, accompanied by one elongated and three smaller square low-rise buildings, three small adjacent pavilions and a porter’s lodge.

The symmetrically arranged cross-shaped buildings, which dominate the distant view, appear to float on free-standing concrete slabs. Exterior escape staircases made of exposed concrete wind around a thin concrete rod at each of the four outer ends. Seemingly floating cubic towers housing the elevator machines in the middle of the roofs close off the structures as if with a crown.

The outdoor area features several works of art by Cologne painter and sculptor Jürgen Hans Grümmer and a sculpture by artist Ansgar Nierhoff.

Heritage protected since 2004.

From spring 2004 to spring 2010, Beckmann Wenzel Architekten carried out a comprehensive refurbishment of the building. The building was adapted to current fire protection requirements, renovated in terms of energy efficiency, and the façades and interiors were renewed (last updated on August 16, 2024).