On February 9, 2023, the Bonn City Council confirmed the “Tourism Mission Statement of the Federal City of Bonn”. The mission statement defines a tourism vision for 2030 and links its achievement with corresponding goals, key topics and fields of action. Bonn Information immediately started to make the development themes “World Cultural Heritage Lower German Limes” and “UN City of Bonn” more attractive. In addition, the priority theme “Bonn - Gateway to the Romantic Rhine” was strengthened by planning the redesign of the banks of the Rhine.

Bonn is the only UN city in Germany. However, this is difficult for travelers to experience, as the UN Campus cannot (yet) be visited as part of a guided tour. Bonn Information is in talks with those responsible to make guided tours of the site possible.

The proximity to the legendary Siebengebirge mountains, the Petersberg and Drachenfels as attractive leisure destinations is well known among the city's guests and is a popular excursion destination, preferably by boat as a means of transportation. Bonn therefore already has a good range of offers and a high profile in this area of travel. However, there is still potential in terms of the quality of stay on the banks of the Rhine. On Tuesday, December 12, 2023, the Bonn City Council therefore approved the draft planning for the first construction phase of the Rhine bank redevelopment. Over the next few years, the banks of the Rhine in Bonn are to be redesigned in three construction phases and transformed into a boulevard where people can linger and stroll. The planning between Josefstrasse and Altem Zoll was approved first.

The development theme surrounding the Romans in Bonn received a major boost in 2024. On July 27, 2021, the “Lower Germanic Limes” (NGL) was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. The NGL is the name for the former border of the Roman Empire on the Rhine. The World Heritage certificate was presented in Bonn on November 8, 2021. With the award of World Heritage status, the city of Bonn has committed itself to making the Roman heritage visible and tangible in coordination with the cooperation partners ( the LVR Office for the Preservation of Monuments in the Rhineland (LVR) (opens in a new tab), which is responsible for the NRW area of the Limes, and the respective local authorities).

The Limes World Heritage Site is attracting a great deal of media and political interest in Bonn. The Bonn Information Office has therefore initially trained six tour guides on the subject of “Roman tours” with specialist support from the University of Bonn within the framework of existing budget funds. This tour has become an integral part of the Bonn tour program. As a direct follow-up measure, the already proven tourist guidance system was also expanded so that guests without an expert guide can also follow in the footsteps of Bonn's Romans independently. The implementation of the “Roman Tour” as part of the TLS now includes 17 locations with signposts and steles.

The preparation of the mediation site at the Graurheindorfer Straße / corner of Rosental building project with the “Didinkirica” presentation area was continued in 2023 so that it could be completed in 2024. A partially covered area was created on the first floor of the central building at Graurheindorfer Str. 10 in close cooperation with the LVR-LVM. The existing bronze model of the legionary camp was moved to its final location.

The joint marketing of the NGL and the establishment of tailor-made offers is a challenge that the participating municipalities face together. Under the leadership of the LVR Office for the Preservation of Monuments in the Rhineland, the municipalities, participating ministries and institutions meet regularly to exchange ideas. The steering committee took place in Bonn on October 17, 2023.

Continuous knowledge and communication work beyond the current measures and projects is necessary. In the future, modern communication channels will increasingly be used and digital methods will contribute to the visualization of the Roman theme in Bonn. 

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)