By no means every legacy of disappeared or relocated workplaces is listed in Bonn. In contrast to cities in the Ruhr region, for example, which have a larger inventory and a desire to document industrial culture, it is rather difficult to draw up an inventory for Bonn. In response to a GA enquiry, the city administration was not in a position to compile a complete list of the industrial and factory buildings included in the list of monuments.

A search of the extensive list of monuments yields just three entries that are related to the term "factory". Under the keyword "factory" there are barely a dozen buildings registered that have a connection with the world of work. Orientation aids for those interested are also otherwise lacking at many "real" sites. There is no guided tour with information, whether real or digitally, available. With a little attention while walking around, at least some things can be discovered.

In Graurheindorf, directly north of the present-day Autobahn 565, a prominent chimney bears witness to a tradition that began in 1928. At that time, the Bonner Fahnenfabrik, founded by the Jewish factory owner Josef Meyer, moved into a former barracks building there. Among other things, the growing national consciousness in the then young state led to a focus on flags. Meyer's company was repeatedly the target of anti-Semitic resentment, with the sad climax coming under National Socialism. After the end of the Nazi regime in 1945, Meyer returned from hiding and resumed business. At its peak, around 400 people worked at "Bofa"; shortly before its closure in 2018, there were still around 60. Today, the headquarters are in Hennef. Flats and commercial space are soon to be built on the site. The main building is to be preserved, as is the distinctive chimney.

A little further southeast, on the other side of the A 565, Bonn trams ran in and out for maintenance and repair until the mid-1980s. The fact that places of hard work can also exude architectural charm is revealed by the sight of the portal with its former twelve entrance gates. Whether the staff of the public utility appreciated the fusion of industrial building and art nouveau elements is not known. In any case, the building from 1905, which has been used as office space for about 20 years, still radiates at least some of its original purpose. The course of the rail tracks that used to lead to the hall gates has been kept visible with cobblestone lines in today's car park.

Nowadays, it is mainly research results that leave the building of the former Soennecken stationery factory in Kirschallee. Since 1980, biologists from the University of Bonn have been residing in the historic setting of the former administrative building of a company with a worldwide reputation. The digital cultural heritage archive Kuladig of the Landschaftsverband Rheinland (LVR) calls Soennecken in retrospect the "economic mainstay of Poppelsdorf". From 1876, stationery, including many in-house developments, was produced and exported all over the world. The end, at least in Poppelsdorf, came in the course of bankruptcy in 1973 and closure two years later. Modern buildings have long since decimated the former presence of the Soennecken ensemble after partial demolition.

If one could speak of a former conurbation of factory work in Bonn at all, it was to be found in the area on the right bank of the Rhine. In Beuel today, a cultural institution trades under the name that is still clearly visible on a connecting corridor across Auguststraße: the wallpaper factory now houses a large number of cultural and creative projects that are open to guests in many places - and thus also to trace seekers of industrial culture. The eponymous product, for which Bonn was also known before, was manufactured between 1893 and 1980. No one has to worry about the preservation of the factory: the wallpaper factory is indeed a registered monument.

Apart from numerous manufacturing sites, it is otherwise the functional but hardly present buildings that can tell the city's history. From the inconspicuous transformer station in Poppelsdorf to the old-established backyard workshop in the Weststadt - many buildings do not seem to be currently "affected" by the prospect of being listed on the city's initiative.

For Bonn, the LVR, specifically the Office for the Preservation of Monuments, otherwise examines preserved buildings and thus also their history. "As far as potentially listed technical and industrial buildings in Bonn are concerned, there is no fixed list of objects that we are planning to investigate," says Ralf Liptau, scientific officer for industry and technology at the LVR. "However, it can be assumed that we will continue to come across listed industrial and technical objects in Bonn as part of our ongoing survey." This is due not least to the fact that, as time goes on, "younger" objects are also increasingly being considered. "An example in Bonn that has been current for some time and is now also widely discussed is the twelve underground stations of the city railway."

(Original text: Alexander Bart; Translation: Mareike Graepel)