Mayor Katja Dörner thanks the employees who work during the public vacations and company vacations: “Our colleagues are there for the people of Bonn at the end of the year with their service and availability. They ensure that everything runs smoothly in many different areas of operation, provide support, ensure safety and cleanliness and also provide entertainment. I would like to thank them all for this.” Mayor Dörner and City Director Wolfgang Fuchs will once again visit a number of departments on Christmas Eve to personally thank the employees.
The Bonn city administration will remain closed at the end of the year. With the company vacations, the city administration is reducing the amount of provisions for vacations and overtime and saving energy. The last working day in 2024 will be Friday, December 20; the first day open in the new year will be Thursday, January 2, 2025. The city is setting up emergency and on-call services to maintain the necessary service operations during this period.
The citizens' hotline is available for emergencies on December 23, 27 and 30
Although it is not possible to visit the authorities during the company vacations, the city can still be reached by telephone in emergencies, such as the certification of deaths or very urgent passport matters. On December 23, 27 and 30, citizens can call the city administration's citizens' hotline on 0228 - 770 between 7 am and 6 pm.
Hearing-impaired and deaf people can access the sign language telephone number 115 at www.115.de (opens in a new tab), where questions about administrative services are answered personally in German sign language.
Municipal security service and GABI guard on duty
Employees of the municipal public order service continue to deal with acute problems, such as blocked fire department access roads or parking spaces for the disabled. The joint contact point for the city and police in Bonn city center (GABI) is also staffed on all days.
During the company vacations on 23, 27 and 30 December, the municipal public order service and GABI police station can be contacted via the control center on 0228 - 77 33 33 from 7 a.m. to 1 a.m., and on 28, 29 and 31 December from 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. On December 24, 25 and 26, 2024 and January 1, 2025, the municipal public order service will be on duty from 10 am to 6 pm. The GABI station will be manned from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Christmas Eve and from 10 a.m. to midnight on both Christmas Days and New Year's Day. On New Year's Eve, the municipal public order service and the GABI police station will be deploying an increased number of staff with significantly extended deployment times.
Fire and rescue services also ensure safety
The fire and rescue services also ensure the safety of Bonn's citizens on all public holidays. The fire stations on Lievelingsweg, in Beuel, Bad Godesberg and Hardtberg as well as at Bonn University Hospital on Venusberg are staffed around the clock with more than 60 fire officers, up to 30 emergency services personnel and up to three emergency doctors, even during the company vacations (including Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day). In addition, a total of 18 units of the volunteer fire department are prepared to go into action at any time during the holidays.
Nursing and care in the municipal retirement homes
Christmas is also something special in retirement homes. Around 300 employees care for, look after and look after the residents in the three municipal retirement homes over the festive period and ensure that the holidays are festive.
The Office for Social Affairs and Housing of the Federal City of Bonn would like to point out that the municipal meeting places in Mehlem and Endenich will be closed from December 23, 2024 to January 3, 2025 inclusive.
Support for legal guardians
Legal guardians and authorized persons can contact the municipal public order office on 0228 - 77 33 33 during the municipal vacations for assistance with admission to a closed facility. For assistance, a current guardianship court placement order must be presented, which legitimizes the opening of doors and the physical deployment of law enforcement officers or police.
If a public placement in accordance with the North Rhine-Westphalia Mental Health Act (PsychKG NRW) is necessary due to an acute and concrete danger to oneself or others, the fire department control center can be contacted directly on 0228 - 71 70.
Wastewater treatment plant control center is staffed around the clock
The four municipal sewage treatment plants and numerous pumping stations in the sewer network are controlled and monitored around the clock from the control center at the Salierweg sewage treatment plant. Around 20 employees work in shifts to operate the Salierweg sewage treatment plant and ensure monitoring. The other sewage treatment plants and pumping stations are operated on an hourly basis. In addition, around 25 employees from the civil engineering department are on call to ensure the operation of the wastewater disposal system and traffic safety. For example, they ensure that sudden road collapses, disruptions to wastewater drainage or damage to the Bad Godesberg road tunnel are repaired as quickly as possible to prevent accidents.
Even during the company vacations, the on-call service of the civil engineering department and the shift and regular service at the sewage treatment plants ensure that traffic safety is maintained and that wastewater is discharged and treated safely.
Animals in the game enclosure are cared for
The Haus der Natur will be closed from December 21, 2024 up to and including January 3, 2025. During this time, the wildlife enclosure on the Waldau will be used for feeding the wild boar and animals in the red deer and fallow deer enclosure, as well as for checking and cleaning the enclosure.
On-call services for funerals, consumer protection, animal welfare and environmental emergencies
Employees of the Office for the Environment and Urban Greenery will also ensure burials. They can be reached on December 23 and 27, 2024 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on 0228 7766329 and 0228 772403 as well as by e-mail at bestattungswesenbonnde.
The veterinary services and food monitoring of the city of Bonn are available during the company vacations and on public holidays by telephone 0228 - 77 27 57 or by e-mail veterinaeramtbonnde and lebensmittelueberwachungsamtbonnde as follows: on December 23 and 30 from 9 am to 4 pm, on December 24 and 31 from 9 am to 12 noon, on December 25/26 and January 1 from 12 noon to 9 pm and from December 27 to 29 from 9 am to 4 pm. Outside of these times, the office can be contacted via the fire department control center on 0228 7170.
The Lower Water Authority and the Lower Environmental Authority have set up an on-call service and can also be contacted via the fire department control center on 0228 7170.
Opening hours of the indoor pools
The Frankenbad and Friesdorf swimming pool are open regularly on December 23. The Beueler Bütt is closed.
From Christmas Eve, December 24, up to and including Christmas Day, December 26, as well as New Year's Eve, December 31, and New Year's Day, January 1, Bonn's swimming pools will be closed.
In the days in between, the Frankenbad will be open from December 27 to December 30 from 9 am to 6 pm. The Beueler Bütt and Friesdorf swimming pools will remain closed between the holidays.
All pools will reopen at the regular opening times from January 2, 2025. In addition, the Beueler Bütt will be open on January 2 until 1 pm and the Frankenbad on January 6 from 6:30 am to 5 pm. Further information at baeder.bonn.de (opens in a new tab).
Opening hours of the Bonn Information Office
With the exception of the public holidays (December 25 and 26, 2024 and January 1, 2025), the Bonn Information Center will be open, albeit with slightly restricted hours:
On December 23, 27, 28 and 30, 2024 from 10 am to 4 pm, on December 24, 29 and 31, 2024 from 10 am to 2 pm. From January 2, 2025, the regular opening hours will apply again: Monday to Friday from 10 am to 6 pm, Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm, Sundays and public holidays from 10 am to 2 pm.
If you want to use the leisure time “between the years” for a city tour, you can take the double-decker bus on the following dates: December 27, 28 and 29, 2024; departure times at 10:30 am, 1 pm and 3:30 pm.
In the service of culture and leisure: Theater Bonn and Beethoven Orchestra Bonn
The city offers a wide range of cultural events during the festive season. In order to make the events in the opera and theater possible, work has to be done behind the scenes and on the stages. Stage technicians, make-up artists, actors, musicians from the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn, singers and other helping hands put on a lavish festive program during the company vacations and on all public holidays - with the exception of Christmas Eve.
The theater and concert box offices on Münsterplatz and in the Schauspielhaus in Bad Godesberg will be closed on 25 and 26 December 2024 and on 1 January. The box offices at the Opera and Schauspielhaus will also be open on these days one hour before the start of each performance. On Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, shortened opening hours apply from 10 am to 1 pm. Regular opening hours apply on December 23, 27, 28 and 30, 2024: Monday to Friday from 10 am to 2 pm and 3 pm to 6 pm, Saturday from 10:30 am to 4 pm (Münsterplatz) and 10 am to 1 pm (Schauspielhaus).
The opera “Alcina” by Georg Friedrich Händel is on the program at the Bonn Opera House on Christmas Day and “Hansel and Gretel” by Engelbert Humperdinck on Boxing Day. In the Schauspielhaus, “The Brothers Lionheart” (December 25) and “Istanbul” (December 26) can be seen on these days. On New Year's Eve, the opera gala “Nessum Dorma! - An Italian Opera Night” is on the program for the first time. At the Schauspielhaus, visitors can look forward to a performance of the popular play “The Legend of Paul and Paula”, including a glass of sparkling wine to celebrate the day. Information on the rest of the program can be found at www.theater-bonn.de (opens in a new tab) or www.beethoven-orchester.de (opens in a new tab).
Art museum and city museum
The Kunstmuseum Bonn is closed on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Eve. On all other days, including Christmas Day and New Year's Day, the museum is open at regular times: Tuesday to Sunday 11am to 6pm, Wednesday 11am to 7pm.
The following exhibitions/collection presentations are running: “Bruno Goller. Retrospective 1922-1992§ (until 19.1.2025), “Human AI Art Award 2024. Lauren Lee McCarthy: LAUREN: Anyone home?” (until 19.1.2025), “EXCELLENT #8: Simon Pfeffel. Scholarship holders of the Stiftung Kunstfonds” (until 09.2.2025), ”Space for imaginative actions. Collection Presentation Art after 1945” (until 31.12.2025), ”Departure into Modernism. Collection presentation August Macke and the Rhenish Expressionists” (until 31.8.2025). Further information at: www.kunstmuseum-bonn.de (opens in a new tab).
The permanent exhibition in the Stadtmuseum is closed until January 10, 2025.
The permanent exhibition of the memorial and the National Socialist Documentation Center will be closed from December 16, 2024 until January 10, 2025.
City library is closed
The Dottendorf and Endenich district libraries and the Auerberg Integrated District Library will be closed from December 23, 2024 to January 6, 2025. Due to the city administration's company vacations, all other city library facilities will be closed from December 23, 2024 to January 1, 2025. The outdoor return desk at the Haus der Bildung will also be closed during this period and cannot be used.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)