The Villa Hammerschmidt is situated in the centre of the old federal capital on the banks of the Rhine, directly north of the Palais Schaumburg. It has been the private and official residence of the Federal Presidents of the Federal Republic of Germany since 1950. Since 1994, when Federal President Richard von Weizsäcker moved the first official residence to Bellevue Palace in Berlin, the Villa Hammerschmidt is being used as a second official residence. The standard on the building's roof is being hoisted when the Federal President is there.

The Villa Hammerschmidt was built by the merchant Albrecht Troost in 1863. The villa survived without damage the 2nd World War. At the end of the war, the occupying forces confiscated the estate. In order to set up an official seat of the Federal President, the Federal Republic of German purchased the estate in the year 1950, consisting of the house, outbuildings and the park along the Rhine. Before the official residence was located on the Schweinheimer Viktorshöhe. In January of the same year, the rebuilding started to furnish the estate as an official seat of the Federal President. Federal President Theodor Heuss moved officially into the Villa Hammerschmidt on the 15th of December 1950 and used it, contrary to later incumbents also as a private residence.

Today, the Villa Hammerschmidt is a place for meetings, events and talks by the Federal President with guests from home and abroad.

Since 2012, the city of Bonn offers the possibility for a civil wedding in the rooms of the villa.

Once a year, the villa opens its doors for interested citizens. In 2015, open day happened in June.