Bonn

Bonn, Germany

In 1947, Oxford and Bonn formed one of the first Anglo German twinning links in the UK. 75 years of this longstanding friendship will be celebrated in 2022.

1 Visiting Bonn

At the heart of twinning is the hospitality extended by the hosts to the visitors; the Bonn-Oxford link is no exception, with the sharing of food, of culture and environment. These photographs from Bonn offer an informal documentation of such visits showing both the generality of the types of experience as well as the particularities created by the individuality of place. The photographs here document a workshop in Bonn attended by members of the Oxford Stanza poetry group and Bonn’s Dada War Alles Gut group.

people standing around a table outdoors, involved in a creative process

Photo © Eva Wal and Oli Kerth

Making masks.

A group of middle aged women sitting around a table in a library

Photo © Eva Wal and Oli Kerth

In the library of the Arp Museum Museum at Bahnhof Rolandseck on the Rhine’s west bank a few kilometres up-river of Bonn.

5 women on a balcony overlooking the river Rhine

Photo © Eva Wal and Oli Kerth

Overlooking the Rhine.

Beethoven statue, dressed in a blue overcoat

Photo© Voirrey Carr

Bonn is, of course, the birthplace of Beethoven and 2020 has seen the marking of the 250^th anniversary of his birth. The ‘BTHVN’ sites provided a focus on the music of language for the poets seen above.

Photo© Voirrey Carr

In 2019 a large group from Oxford visited Bonn and had a fascinating tour of the Alter Friedhof (Old Cemetery), dating from 1715. The group paid their respects to the grave of Maria Magdalena Beethoven. Ludwig wrote after her death that his mother ‘was such a kind, loving mother to me, and my best friend’.

2 An old tradition - carnival in Bonn

Karneval is very important to all who live in the Rhine region. The main festivities begin on the Thursday before Shrove Tuesday, known as ‘Weiberfastnacht’ - Women’s Day. Men are advised not to go out in their best tie - it will get cut off by the ladies! This commemorates a feminist revolution of 1824, when the washerwomen of Bonn-Beuel decided they were not going to carry on working whilst their husbands enjoyed themselves at the Karneval.

The next big event is on the following Sunday when the Ehrengarde, wearing red and white 18th century uniforms, set up tents in the market square with food and Glühwein for sale. The ‘Stadtsoldaten’ (blue and white uniforms) proceed to storm the ‘Rathaus’ (Town Hall).

group of young women dressed up a carnival cadets

The Stadtsoldaten

Regular visitors to Oxford are the Brückenberger 'Trachtengruppe' dancers, who link up with the Oxford City Morris Men. This group was founded in 1953 by displaced Silesians in Bonn to preserve their costume and dance traditions.

women and men dressed up in traditional costumes of the 'guard of honour'.

The Ehrengarde

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