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May in Bonn is cold and grey – Le Carré’s ‘A Small Town in Germany’
Apart from the seemingly inevitable local crime novels and a few autobiographical special cases, Bonn hardly ever appears as the setting for a novel. This also applies to its years as the capital city of Germany. Of the few novels that deal with the politics of the...
Hidden on the banks of the Rhine
Anyone strolling along Bonn's Rhine promenade usually has their eyes fixed on the river and the sights on the horizon: the Siebengebirge mountains, the government district or the Schwarzrheindorfer Doppelkirche church, for example. But it's worth taking a look to the...
It’s hard to imagine Bonn without the cherry blossoms!
In the first phase the white-flowered cherries, such as the plum cherry in Wolfstraße, Franzstraße or in the Rheinaue, bloom. After that it takes about 14 days for the thick pink-flowered Japanese flowering cherries (especially in Breite Straße and Heerstraße) to...
A fairytale castle in Bonn Ramersdorf
From the terrace of the castle, you can see as far as Cologne Cathedral and, of course, the whole of Bonn. The view, under a bright blue sky, is truly magical. Fortunately in the 1970s a citizens' initiative was able to save the castle from demolition with a view to...
Bonn’s often-forgotten cemetery
With the Old Cemetery in the city centre, the Bad Godesberg Castle Cemetery and the Poppelsdorf Cemetery, Bonn has three outstanding burial sites due to their significance, ambience or location. If you add to this the village churchyards in some districts that are...
Bonn Marathon
I moved to Bonn in 1986. Shortly after that, I met Helmut Thillmann at a seminar. He organised the early-morning sports and showed us how relaxed he could run fast and long when we went jogging. What he didn't tell us is that on 29 January 1986 he, together with Karl...
Carnival in Bonn
Bonn's Carnival is also known as the ‘fifth season’ and officially begins on 11 November at 11:11 a.m. and reaches its peak in the days before Ash Wednesday. Originally Carnival was celebrated as a pagan festival to drive out winter. Later, Carnival was celebrated...
From cement factory to innovative meeting place: the Bonner Bogen
I remember well the cement factory, which was vacant in the 1990s (we called it the ‘ghost house’), which we had to go around on the bike path to Königswinter. Today, here - on the sunny side of Bonn - it is a very popular meeting place at the weekend. Cyclists take a...
A staircase of national importance
The flight of steps at the Old City Hall has seen better days. Its grand appearances have become rare. Nowadays it only takes centre stage on Carnival Sunday, when the carnival revellers storm the town hall. In addition, there are rare events in which it briefly...