by Gert Fischer | May, 2025 | EN, famous people from Bonn, history
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 ‘Bonn Republic,’ Wolfgang Koeppen’s ‘Das Treibhaus’ (The Greenhouse) alone satisfies the highest literary standards as a roman à clef of the young Federal Republic. Unfortunately, it is hardly known outside Germany.
This means that Bonn makes only one appearance in world literature. It was created by John Le Carré (actually David John Moore Cornwell, 1931-2020) in his novel ‘A Small Town in Germany’, published in 1968. The author of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and literary father of George Smiley is usually classified as a writer of pulp fiction in Germany. In the English-speaking world, he is rightly regarded as one of the most important authors of the recent past.
A Small Town in Germany is one of Le Carré’s lesser-known books. This may be because, unlike most of his works from the 1960s and 1970s, it does not revolve around the theme of the Cold War and does not feature the anti-Bond character George Smiley. Instead, the plot is embedded in the domestic politics of the Federal Republic of Germany and is therefore less accessible to an international audience than the global East-West conflict. It is set exclusively in Bonn and its immediate surroundings. Le Carré draws on his own experiences. From 1961 to 1963, he was stationed in Germany by the British Secret Service working undercover as Second Secretary at the British Embassy in Bonn. At that time writing was a part-time endeavour.
As Le Carré once remarked elsewhere, the plot takes place in the ‘near future’ from the year the book was published – if you look closely: in May 1970. The political panorama that forms the backdrop is bleak. Le Carré composes it from elements that helped shape the domestic politics of the Federal Republic in the 1960s, adding fictional and exaggerated elements to create an ugly dystopia: the grand coalition is still in power. The opposition FDP is infiltrated by shady figures with roots in the Nazi era. There is a powerful political alliance between the student movement and what we would today call right-wing populists. The target of their hatred is Great Britain. The Bundestag is still debating emergency laws, an amnesty for Nazi criminals comes into force, and accession negotiations between the EEC and Great Britain are going badly in Brussels. The country is on the brink of major unrest.
In this situation, a troubleshooter arrives in Bonn from London. A junior embassy employee has disappeared, apparently gone into hiding. Suspicions of espionage are rife. Alan Turner is tasked with getting to the bottom of the matter. Over the course of several weeks in May, he scrutinises the embassy’s operations, uncovers some of the staff’s dirty secrets and gets closer and closer to the man he is looking for, his character and his motives. This man is, if you will, the real protagonist of the novel. Yet he hardly ever appears in the book – only briefly at the beginning and end. This much can be revealed: it does not end well.
Le Carré’s picture of Bonn is as bleak as the plot. It begins with the weather – although it is May, it is consistently hazy and damp. There is no sign of warmth, and much of the action takes place at night. Le Carré anticipates an atmosphere that J.K. Rowling’s dementors would later spread. The city is cramped and narrow-minded – just like the republic that gave birth to it. This image is further embellished with all the prejudices that have always hurt Bonn’s local patriots: it rains, or the railroad crossing barriers are down; the nightlife is in Cologne; Bonn became the capital because Adenauer wanted it to be; it’s a waiting room for Berlin, etc. The tongue-in-cheek humour with which these sayings were often accompanied in Bonn is completely absent. The author is deadly serious. He even invents his own nastiness. In Bonn, even the flies are civil servants.
Woven into the backdrop of the book are many detailed descriptions. They range from the university and the railway station to the town hall and the British Embassy (sacrificed to Telekom in 2004) to the diplomatic settlements in Plittersdorf and Bad Godesberg. The protagonist lives on the slopes of the Petersberg, and the traffic problems are closely observed. Anyone reading the novel from this perspective may notice how Le Carré alters the city’s geography and even individual buildings to suit the needs of the plot. And, of course, he describes the buildings and structures as he remembers them from the early 1960s. They no longer correspond to the Bonn of 1970, let alone to the Bonn of today. Such a search for clues is great fun!
Why Bonn comes across so negatively in its only appearance in world literature remains an open question. It may have something to do with Le Carré’s bad memories of his time in Bonn. And, of course, it is also due to the dark subject matter. It may be comforting to know that he actually shows all the locations in his books from their ugly side. And perhaps there is a tiny grain of truth in his Bonn.
by Gert Fischer | May, 2025 | architecture, EN, Rhine region
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 right at the landing stage of the ‘Köln-Düsseldorfer’ shipping line. At the lower end of Vogtsgasse, in the shadow of the retaining wall of the Department of History, there is a small wayside shrine. It commemorates the Gertrudis Chapel, which stood a few metres away and has now been almost forgotten. Like the entire old town of Bonn, it was destroyed in the air raid of 18 October 1944. What remained of it was literally buried in the rubble. Shortly after the war, the mountains of debris in the city centre were used to raise the area between Belderberg and the banks of the Rhine by several metres. Unattractive new buildings from the 1950s were erected on what was once the ‘Rheinviertel’ (Rhine district).
The chapel was dedicated to Saint Gertrude of Nivelles, who lived in the first half of the 7th century. As a patron saint, she had a very broad portfolio. She was invoked against plagues of rats and mice (hence the mice as her attribute), and was considered the protector of travellers, pilgrims and sailors, gardeners, spinners and even cats. In addition, her historically documented commitment to nursing and the education of girls and women is still remembered today.
It was probably these diverse connections that brought together a rather unlikely cooperation: the ‘Schiffer-Verein Beuel 1862’ (Beuel Boatmen’s Association), the Bonn Women’s Museum and the Bonn drag artist Curt Delander joined forces to ensure that the wayside shrine was built in memory of the chapel. It was built from bricks from the destroyed old town and stones from the St. Gertrudis Church in Nivelles (Belgium), which was destroyed by German bombs. This makes it a small memorial to peace, and it also reminds us that reconciled enemies drank the ‘St. Gertrudis Minne’ in the Middle Ages.
The building, which was destroyed in 1944, was not an architectural gem and no longer had any great spiritual significance. It was a simple single-nave hall building from the 15th century with modest furnishings. It was originally located directly behind the city wall next to the ‘Gierpforte’ whose name is derived from ‘Gertrud’. Even after the wall was demolished in the 19th century, there was no unobstructed view of the Rhine. A hotel building between the riverbank and the chapel ensured that the backyard situation remained unchanged. The parish church of the district was St. Remigius on what is now Remigiusplatz, with the Gertrudiskapelle chapel merely a branch. For a long time, its main users were the local boatmen and their brotherhood. This Cinderella existence may explain why there was hardly any opposition to the demolition of the little church.
Despite its unattractive exterior and its minor importance at the time, the Gertrudiskapelle was considered the ‘most distinguished’ church in Bonn after the cathedral in the oral tradition of the 19th century. Even back then, this statement did not fit with what was known about its history: first mentioned in 1258, a small hermitage of Cistercian nuns, later a temporary home for Capuchin and Franciscan Recollect monks – each before they moved into their spacious new monasteries. In 2010/11, an archaeological excavation with sensational results revealed just how much truth there can be in oral tradition. It found the remains of two previous buildings – the earliest dating from the 8th century and thus Carolingian and about as old as the two oldest inner-city parish churches, St. Remigius and St. Martin. It is very likely that this first chapel was dedicated to St. Gertrude. This can be deduced from the fact that, like Remigius and Martin, the name was often used for churches in the Carolingian period – no wonder, since the historical Gertrude was one of the leading figures in the lineage of Charlemagne.
We do not know whether this first Gertrudis Chapel was built as a parish church or whether it has a different origin. In any case, by the middle of the twelfth century, it must have been the spiritual centre of a fairly extensive settlement along the Rhine, as evidenced by archaeological finds. This settlement lost much of its importance during the Middle Ages, and with it the Church of St. Gertrude. Today, the small wayside shrine on Vogtsgasse is the last link to this period.
by Helga Stark | Apr, 2025 | Bonn Sights, EN, points of interest, tradition
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 delight the eye.
How did Bonn get these magnificent cherries in the first place? In the 1980s, the Old Town (which is actually the Nordstadt and was only renamed ‘Old Town’ for tourist reasons) was redeveloped. Traffic was forced to slow down and Japanese cherries were planned to provide a splash of colour. The cherry trees were a gift from the Japanese government to Bonn and the city planner Brigitte Denkel made sure that they were planted. The cherry blossoms symbolise the friendship between Japan and Germany.
In many cultures, cherry blossoms have a special symbolic meaning, especially in Japan, where they are a symbol of beauty, transience and new beginnings.
On weekends there is also a flea market, design market and food market, which attract tens of thousands of people on the streets. All the shops, cafés and pubs in the area are prepared for the crowds. Those who prefer it quieter come during the week, in the morning or evening. Night photos of the cherry blossoms are also worth the visit after hours.
If you don’t want to plunge into the hustle and bustle, you can find Japanese cherry trees in Beuel, for example, on Professor-Neu-Allee or in the Rheinaue park.
My personal favourite cherry blossom spot is a small avenue in the Rheinaue near the Japanese garden: these cherry trees were donated by a Japanese choir that performs Beethoven’s ‘Ode to Joy’ every year with about 5,000 singers. The cherry trees were a gift in honour of Beethoven’s birthplace. Beethoven is as revered in Japan as the cherry blossom, but that’s another story…
by Marisa De Luca | Mar, 2025 | architecture, EN, points of interest, Rhine region
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 construct a motorway junction.
The castle has had a chequered history since it was built as the headquarters of the Teutonic Order in the 13th century in connection with the Crusades. Until secularisation in 1803, it was the economic base of the Teutonic Order and then the seat of several noble families. The remarkable architecture that can be seen today was created in a predominantly neo-Gothic style after a major fire broke out during reconstruction in 1842.
Among the numerous owners, the first youthful resident, Baroness von Francq (stepdaughter of the then owner, Prince Joseph zu Salm-Reifferscheidt-Dyck), deserves special mention. She lived in the castle from 1861 to 1881 and left her mark on the castle, which had since been spruced up with the addition of an English-style extension – at that time the rooms for the ladies – and the expansion of the extensive Ennert Park, including the planting of exotic trees. She also had some of the furnishings installed, which were unusually modern for the time, such as a powder room on the upper floor.
Another owner, Albert Moritz Freiherr von Oppenheim, also left his mark. As a banker and art collector, he was responsible for the interior design of the castle, which is particularly evident in the stairwell and in today’s restaurant. This heritage – wall panelling and historicist-style ceiling mouldings – was gradually restored by the new owners after the building was used by various institutions after the Second World War. The result is an extraordinary hotel and restaurant, and further rooms on the upper floor are being restored while business continues. Today, people are proud of the fact that Tina Turner liked to stay in a suite in the white tower, away from the hustle and bustle of Cologne, and that other celebrities, sheikhs with their families or guests from the worlds of business and politics now also stay here.
Since 2017, a Cologne restaurateur and an investment company have been running the extraordinary restaurant, hotel and the coach house for events. It is even possible to have a civil wedding here at the Schlosshotel Kommende. It’s definitely worth a visit!
by Gert Fischer | Mar, 2025 | EN, points of interest, tradition
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 still preserved and date back even further, Bonn’s cemetery landscape is almost worth a trip. This historical heritage overshadows the more modern facilities.
Photo: A. Savin
Thus, Bonn’s largest cemetery by far, the Nordfriedhof on Kölnstraße in today’s Auerberg district, is perhaps the Cinderella of cemeteries. Opened in 1884 as the official successor to the Old Cemetery, which could no longer be expanded, the Nordfriedhof got off to a bad start mainly due to its location. More than three kilometres from the centre of Bonn, it was on the far northern outskirts of the city. It only received a rail connection in 1906, when the Rheinuferbahn (Rhine bank railway) started operating. In the first decades of its existence, it was located in an open field. On the way there, you passed the smouldering rubbish heap where today’s Sportpark Nord is located, the Rheinische Provinzial-Irrenanstalt (today the LVR-Klinik Bonn), the Städtische Hilfshospital für Geisteskranke, Epileptiker und Trunksüchtige (a municipal hospital for the mentally ill, epileptics and alcoholics) and the orphanage and correctional home, which was located on the former site of the leprosarium (an isolation ward for infectious diseases). And contemporaries were certainly also aware that the cemetery area included the former place of execution with the gallows and the Schindanger, where animal carcasses that could no longer be used were disposed of. It is therefore not surprising that the so-called ‘better circles’ at the time sought burial sites elsewhere. After 1905, this was also officially possible. Those who lived ‘west of the railway’ could be buried in the cemetery of the recently incorporated Poppelsdorf. The inhabitants of the southern and western parts of the city made ample use of this opportunity. The Nordfriedhof thus became the cemetery for the city centre and the northern part of the city. Accordingly, the names of the families buried here that are significant in local history are linked to this part of the city. The graves of professors and wealthy individuals were buried mainly in the Poppelsdorf Cemetery, as were those of many of Bonn’s dignitaries.
Nevertheless, the North Cemetery gradually gained its place in the Bonn cemetery landscape. It changed for the better as a park, designed in an exemplary manner including a large chapel added in 1913. Its subsequent three expansions prove that it has become a popular cemetery. Even the reckless handling of some of its remnants could not prevent this. In the 1960s, for example, rows of gravestones were cleared when the main entrance was widened, and the neo-Romanesque gate was demolished. As a result, the list of ‘preserving-worthy’ grave monuments is short compared to the size of the cemetery.
The character of the Nordfriedhof as a cemetery of honour represents a special chapter. The beginnings of this development lie in the First World War. Today, not only the German victims of two world wars are buried here, but also numerous forced and foreign labourers as well as prisoners of war. Initially a place of local remembrance, the war cemetery and cemetery of honour became the central ‘Memorial of the Federal Republic of Germany for the Victims of War and the Victims of Tyranny’ in 1980 (today in Berlin at the Neue Wache). At that time, the bronze plate designed by Hans Schwippert – known as the architect who converted the Pedagogical Academy into the Bundeshaus and Palais Schaumburg into the Federal Chancellery – was transferred from the Hofgarten to the Nordfriedhof for this purpose. One of the more embarrassing chapters in Bonn’s history is that in 2017 it was stolen and replaced by a copy in sandstone.
As a relatively modern cemetery, the Nordfriedhof was not consecrated by a Catholic priest and was not bound to historical structures. Therefore, it reflects the developments that have shaped the funeral industry in the recent past better than many older cemeteries and those that are subject to preservation orders that restrict them to an earlier state. For example, a Yazidi cemetery is integrated into the Nordfriedhof. There are graves where the Greek Orthodox or Russian Orthodox rites were observed, as well as an area for children who died in the womb or at birth. And since 1990, it has had an Islamic burial ground.
A walk through the Nordfriedhof Cemetery is therefore not so interesting if you are interested in art, historically significant graves and famous names. Rather, it is a generously laid out park that reflects the social structure of Bonn city centre and the north of Bonn. Nevertheless, exciting discoveries are not out of the question. For example, there are three graves of members of the Sikh religious community who came to Bonn with the British occupation troops after the First World War. Or the grave of the singer and entertainer Fereydun Farrochsad, who was murdered in Bonn in 1992 in the name of the Islamic revolution in Iran.
Furthermore, the Nordfriedhof is of ecological interest. It has remarkable trees and, due to its size, a wide variety of animal and plant life. With the support of the Rotary Club, the city of Bonn is using it as an experimental area for ‘future trees’ – as a ‘climate grove’.
It is to be hoped that the restoration work on the cemetery chapel, which has been going on for two years now, will finally be completed. Until then, funeral services are held in an unworthy plastic tent. The North Cemetery is still worth a visit!
by Stefan Heinze | Mar, 2025 | EN, Sports, tradition
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 Lennartz, Axel Bosse, Hansjürgen Melzer, Thomas Greiser and Wolf-Dirk von Berchem, founded the ‘Marathon Bonn e.V. (source: GA from 5.4.2016). A significant amount of time was needed for the planning and organisation. Three years later – marking Bonn’s 2000th anniversary – the first marathon took place on 10 June 1989 in the former capital.
Closing streets for a marathon was new for Bonn. The administration provided arguments against, such as, ‘The runners should stop at red lights’ (Source: GA from 11.06.2024) Despite this, a date in summer was chosen because it is traditionally a marathon-poor time. In addition, in the 1980s, shops closed at 2 p.m. on Saturdays, and most employees had the day off.
At the first marathon in Bonn, 2,443 runners finished, including 156 women. The time limit was five hours. It is hard to imagine today that 375 men and 10 women broke the magical three-hour mark. 1969 athletes completed the course in a time of under four hours. (Source: ibid.), On 5 June 1993, after the fifth marathon, the sponsor withdrew. The quote from back then: ‘For that money, we could get a season’s advertising deal with 1. FC Köln.’ (Source: ibid.)
It was not until 2001 that the marathon was permanently reinstated. Since 2005, the half marathon has also been offered. In 2005, I started running as a former judoka. The beginning was difficult – and it took until the summer of 2006 for me to complete the so-called small bridge 10 km lap (Kennedy and South Bridge) for the first time. That’s when a raffle was held by my employer: up to 25 starting places including preparation training. What could possibly go wrong? At worst, I win!
What I didn’t realise was that everyone who entered would win! Experience shows that only a few people stick to their training schedule from the beginning until the race in April. In addition to the twice-weekly training sessions starting at the company gate, there are Sunday runs starting at Kloster Heisterbach. And Helmut Tillmann is also one of the trainers!
In Janaury 2007 the storm Kyril hit during the running training phase. Hence the 28 km Sunday run took a lot longer than usual due to the many detours needed. Comment from the trainer: I’ll register everyone who is still registered for the half marathon for the marathon.
And so, without ever having participated in a half marathon, I ran my first marathon on 22 April 2007. For the last time, the route also went through Godesberg, Rüngsdorf, Friesdorf, Poppelsdorf, past the Sportpark Nord to Josefshöhe and then to the market square.
Today, the marathon course is twice the half marathon distance: starting near the opera house, over the Kennedybrücke and then south to the Südbrücke and parallel to the Rhine back towards the Kennedybrücke. A samba band plays at the bridge ramp to support the runners and pick up the pace. A large loop around the Beethovenhalle and then along the Rhine promenade (where the Bonn Rowing Club provides the runners with Kölsch beer) to the Rheinaue and on to the Caesar Research Institute.
In the past, the marathon runners continued straight ahead here, but today all runners turn here and run along Konrad-Adenauer-Allee to the Hofgarten. This route is often almost without spectators. From the Hofgarten, the route continues via Münsterplatz and Bottlerplatz to the market square, where the finish is.
For the last two kilometres, the spectators carry you to the finish (or into the second round). There is a great atmosphere on both sides of the running track.
While the number of registrations for the marathon remains stable, the number of registrations for the half marathon continues to rise. In 2025, 10,000 runners will start in the half marathon.
After running the marathon in Bonn several times, as well as in Istanbul, Florence, Nice to Cannes and on Lake Garda, I completed my 15th marathon in Tel Aviv in 2019.
Due to Corona, there was a longer break from running – and without a goal, I also drastically reduced my training. Now I am registered again for the half marathon in Bonn in 2025.
If you want more detailed information about the running track and the individual competitions (also for inline skaters, handbikers or relays), follow the link to the organiser: Deutsche Post Marathon Bonn
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