Bonn American High School (BAHS) was an American international school located in Bonn, Germany. Among the thirty-four American high schools opened in Germany by the United States Government (USG) during the Post-War period, Bonn American High School (BAHS) was unique in that it was the only school in the world built and owned by the U.S. Department of State. Developed out of an elementary school that originally opened in 1952, it was intended to support the families of personnel at the U.S. Embassy – which grew to become the largest U.S. Embassy in the world with over 900 Americans and 600 local staff – in Bonn, West Germany, then the linchpin of the West's engagement during the Cold War. When BAHS opened in 1971, it was only the thirteenth USG high school in Germany, and although not associated with a U.S. Department of Defense military installation, it was staffed and run as part of the Department of Defense Dependents Schools system in an arrangement between the Department of State and the Department of Defense. BAHS closed in 1997 following the transition of the Embassy to Berlin, and was part of the Post-War American , now a protected historical area. History Beginnings Bonn American High School traces its roots to Bonn American Elementary School (BAES), which was created after the end of World War II when Bonn became the capital of West Germany. The American School on Rhine as it was initially called, had grades 1-8 and was located in an apartment building of the HICOG Plittersdorf housing project at the corner of Europastrasse and what was then Turmstrasse (later renamed Martin-Luther-King, Jr Strasse). US Assistant High Commissioner Chauncey G. Parker cut the ribbon opening the school on March 21, 1952. The school was unique in that it was the only school in the world owned and funded by the United States Department of State. Immediately following the end of WWII the four occupying powers – the United States, France, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union – administered Germany. The Allied High Commission formed by the United States, France, and Great Britain, also known as the High Commission for Occupied Germany (HICOG), was set up in the environs of Bonn, West Germany, in 1951. The U.S. Embassy in Mehlem, a suburb of Bonn-Bad Godesberg, was to become the largest U.S. Embassy in the world with over 900 U.S. Foreign Service Officers