Construction fence foil

Construction work for the civil engineering of the Bundesbüdchen at the new location opposite the UN/corner of Heussalle began on 13 January. A construction fence has now been erected to show what is to be built there: the historic sales pavilion – the Bundesbüdchen, a landmark of the Bonn Republic.

Symbolic start of construction

On Wednesday, 20 February 2019, Professor Karl-Heinz Erdmann, member of the board of the North Rhine-Westphalia Foundation, Jürgen Rausch and the chairman of the Förderverein historischer Verkaufspavillon e.V., RA Peter Storsberg, met to give the symbolic starting signal for the civil engineering work at the new location opposite the entrance to the UN/corner of Heussalle. Thanks to a funding commitment of over 55,000 euros from the North Rhine-Westphalia Foundation and the decision of the Bonn City Council in December 2018, the financing of the difficult civil engineering work was finally secured.

Return of the Bundesbüdchen

In the early hours of the morning around 2:00 a.m. on Sunday 17 May 2020, the heavy transport will start at the Baumann company’s building yard in Hersel, where the Bundesbüdchen has been stored for the last 14 years. The route to the former government district in Bonn is around 12 kilometres long. An advance team removes signs and lamps so that the heavy goods vehicle with the precious freight can travel the route undamaged – often only at walking pace. At 4.00 a.m., it symbolically passes the bronze bust of Konrad Adenauer, who was a guest at the Bundesbüdchen during his lifetime.

The red couch
by photo artist Horst Wackerbarth

Just as Beuys stands for felt and fat and Richard Serra for steel plates, the Red Couch stands for Wackerbarth. For more than 30 years, Horst Wackerbarth has been photographing people around the world on the red couch and bringing a piece of home to the world. He is now portraying the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the Büdchen for the ‘heimat.nrw’ project.

Comeback
of Bundesbüdchen

The legendary Bundesbüdchen had to wait 14 years before it could resume operations in the heart of the former government district. Now the time has finally come. On Friday, 21 August 2020, the Förderverein historischer Verkaufspavillon e.V. celebrated the reopening of the Bundesbüdchen together with Jürgen Rausch, the former owner, and numerous guests

The talking monument

Bockwurst with the leader of the parliamentary group, coffee with the political opponent – that only happened to me. In 40 years at the former seat of government in Bonn, I have seen a lot and can tell many stories about political greats such as Helmut Kohl or Joschka Fischer.

Jürgen Rausch
Interview on monument protection

Tracing the history of the Bundesbüdchen

Prof Karl-Heinz Erdmann from the Institute of Geography at the University of Bonn and board member of the NRW Foundation, which is supporting the reconstruction of the Bundesbüdchen, and his students Johannes Stoltenberg and Lukas Gielen met in June 2020 to search for clues at the Bundesbüdchen. Hardly any other place proves as aptly as Bonn’s Bundesbüdchen – for many, a symbol of the ‘manageable Bonn Republic’ – that it is often the inconspicuous spots that tell the most exciting stories.

Bundesbüdchen celebrates its first anniversary

Commemorative plaque for the sponsors unveiled on 20 August 2021

One year after the reopening of the Bundesbüdchen at its new location in Heussallee, RA Peter Storsberg, 1st Chairman of the Förderverein historischer Verkaufspavillon e.V., which was founded in 2015, was able to ceremoniously unveil the commemorative plaque for the sponsors of the historic gem.