The BonnLive organisers are planning a cultural centre there and on Monday they gave Frank Wenzel, managing director of the owner of the property, Aachener Grundvermögen GmbH, a look behind the scenes at Karstadt on Poststraße, which closed almost three years ago.

Two years before the department stores' closed, branches of Aldi and the drugstore chain dm had moved into the Basement. They have been closed since December after water damage; as things stand, they will reopen with P&C at the end of the month.

Looking forward to the cultural project

The managing directors of BonnLive - Katharina Hetkemper, Sandro Heinemann and the brothers Simon and Julian Reininger, are visibly excited about the prospect of their plans being realised. As reported, they signed the lease with Aachener Grund only a few weeks ago. But they had been in contact with the Catholic Church's property management company since the end of 2020, as Wenzel revealed. BonnLive had first made a name for itself far beyond Bonn with cultural live streams during the pandemic, when the world was virtually put to sleep because of Covid, and they set up a highly regarded series of events ranging from car concerts to the so-called Kulturgarten.

Wenzel and his colleagues came up with the idea of contacting BonnLive. "We had quickly found a new tenant for three floors with Peek&Cloppenburg. We then asked ourselves what we should do with the remaining upper floors," Wenzel recalls. The idea was quickly born to establish culture there and approach BonnLive. "We have never rented to a cultural event organiser before and they have never offered culture in a former department store. I am very happy that this has now worked out," said Wenzel about the four young managers.

Hoping for a quick building permit

Heineman gave a brief overview of the plans, which they all hope will be approved by the City of Bonn, which was represented on the tour by the head of the cultural office, Susanne König, before the end of the year. For example, the auditorium area on the 1450-square-metre floor will be around 500 square metres. Above that, Heinemann says, the ceiling will be raised from the current 3.50 to six metres. There will also be space for a stage with backstage area, offices and lounges on this floor. Special soundproofing measures will ensure that neither other tenants in the building nor neighbouring residents suffer from noise pollution during daytime rehearsals or during events in the evening. Up to 900 people can be accommodated for events such as concerts, readings, cabaret, corporate events and even examinations, for example of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce. The entrance is from Windeckstraße. There a lift will be installed in the former branch of a bakery. "There aren't enough halls of this size in Bonn and I am really excited that we are getting live culture in the middle of the city in this way," said König. He added that the city of Bonn had also been involved in the project at an early stage and had accompanied it constructively from the beginning. "We continue to be available as a facilitator for the project".

Aachener Grund is investing a mid-single-digit million sum in the conversion of the floor, the GA learned. In reference to the former tenant Karstadt, the BonnLive managers have given their child the name "BonnLive-Kulturstadt" (BonnLive City of Culture). In two years, they hope, it will have its grand opening. "Until then, we are looking forward to a lot of support and also sponsors," says Julian Reininger. Because the interior design is the organiser's responsibility. During the tour, it becomes clear that a lot of imagination is needed as to what the floor will look like one day, because it still gives a rather sad impression with the odd pile of rubble in the corners and open pipes and cables above.

The three floors of P&C, on the other hand, present themselves in a freshly renovated state and employees are already busy putting up shelves and hanging up clothes. The third and fourth floors are still completely empty, except for some of the former restaurant's furnishings on the fourth floor. For the third floor, Wenzel said, they are already in talks with potential users. On the fourth floor, the possibilities for use are very limited because the number of people allowed in the building is restricted for fire safety reasons.

(Original text: Lisa Inhoffen; Translation: Jean Lennox)