Welcome to Bad Godesberg

‘Encounter‘ by Eva de Maizière

Eva de Maizière, ‘Encounter’, 1978

This post has nothing to do with history but concerns an artwork which speaks to me.  I would like to introduce you to a sculpture in Bad Godesberg, a southern suburb of Bonn.  Often remembered for its abundance of embassies during the time when Bonn was the capital of West Germany.  The “Bad” (spa) refers to its older history as a place with a spring with health benefits.

645 Books with a Happy Ending

The library of my alma mater, Bonn University, has reason to celebrate:  645 books, which had been missing since WWII, have returned home.  Among the books, many of them unique, are 11 medieval manuscripts, 2 medieval documents and 39 incunabula.

Happy Birthday, University of Bonn!

Bonn University

Today, I would like to celebrate a birthday that is special to me:  my alma mater, the University of Bonn, is 200 years old.  Compared with some other European universities that may not seem like much, but it is still a memorable feast.

Siegfried von Westerburg refound in Bonn Minster

The story of a forgotten archbishop

Siegfried von Westerburg, archbishop of Cologne, was buried in 1297 in Bonn Minster, where he seems to have had the unfortunate fate to get forgotten.

Bonn Minster from the north looking west

The ‘Brückenmännchen’ in Bonn

a cheeky little sculpture on a bridge

When we visited Bonn earlier this year, we went for a walk along the Rhine, as you do.  To our surprise, we spotted on the Kennedy Bridge the sculpture of a man rather cheekily sticking his bum out at us, the Brückenmännchen, which translates as “little bridge man”. It turns out that this little sculpture plays an important part of the history of the bridge.

The Brückemnmännchen in Bonn – also a welcome resting place for pigeons

Bonn’s bridges across the Rhine

Connecting Bonn to its eastern neighbours

Bonn is situated on the western side of the river Rhine.  Understandably, a way to cross the river has been important for a long time, both for commercial and military reasons.  On the opposite, the eastern, side of the river is Beuel. Beuel has since 1969 been a suburb of Bonn, incorporating all the area on the right-hand side of the Rhine, which consisted of various parishes.  One example is Oberkassel, where the couple from the Ice Age was found.

There is a legend that Julius Caesar had the first bridge built in 55 BC when fighting the Gauls.  However, archaeologists say that’s all that it is:  a legend.

St Martin in Bonn

Ernemann Sander tells the story of the saint in reliefs at the Bonn Minster 

This time of the year brings a lot of memories of my childhood.  11 November is St Martin’s Day and that’s a very important date in the area of the Rhineland where I grew up with lots of traditions associated with this day.  The story of St Martin is told in four bronze reliefs by Ernemann Sander, set into a wall next to Bonn Minster.

The Double Burial of Bonn-Oberkassel

a man, a woman – and a dog

In March this years I had the opportunity to meet a special couple and their pet in the exhibition “Hunters of the Ice Age – Living in Paradise” (23 October 2014 – 28 June 2015) at the Landesmuseum Bonn, Germany.  The man and the woman – and the dog – were the double burial of Bonn-Oberkassel.