■ Our first stop is Bonn's largest bookstore, Thalia am Markt. Here we find the Solar Beethoven. The city's most famous son in the form of a 20-centimetre-high figurine is a definite must-have. The same manufacturer also makes the admittedly much better-known solar powered Winke-Queen figurine. But our Ludwig is a bit more novel - he enthusiastically waves his baton with his right hand, as long as enough daylight has fallen on the small solar panel in his foot (25 euros). Fits on every shelf and windowsill.

■ Since 1984, Jacques Tilly is best known as a political and satirical float builder for the Düsseldorf Rosenmontagszug (Rose Monday procession). He also designed the hidden object picture for the 1000 piece, 70 x 50 centimetre Bonn jigsaw puzzle. You can easily get lost in it. You’ll find all the chancellors of the Bonn Republic, cabaret artists Pause and Alich from the Pantheon Theatre, and the Bonn and Beueler Carnival stars alongside the Haribo golden bear and the titan arum from the botanical gardens in Poppelsdorf. And there’s even a newspaper vendor with hot-off-the-press copies of the General-Anzeiger and Rundschau. (19.95 euros).

■ Of course, we couldn't leave the Thalia bookstore without a book: We chose the fine illustrated book "So schön ist Bonn" (Bonn is this beautiful) from Ellert & Richter Verlag (11.95 euros).

■ Take a detour to Rheingasse, to Sabine and Rolf Jachmich at the Kleimann confectionery. A family business since 1895, also known for its handmade Bonn and Beethoven specialities. Our package includes: a praline set of eight chocolates with a light version of the Bonn kissing mouth (with Marc de Champagne) and a dark one (with whole milk brandy cream), Beethoven portrait and Münster motif (9.50 euros); an Advent calendar with 24 chocolates made in-house and a nostalgic Beethovenhaus motif by Barbara Behr (now unfortunately out of stock) and the Beethoven Goldstück, a delight made of pistachio marzipan, almond nougat and covered in dark chocolate (55 grams in gold foil for 3.95 euros). All the chocolates at Kleimann are gluten-free and without colourings or preservatives.

■ Our next stop is Wolfgang Orth’s Bonn souvenir stall at the Bonn Christmas Market, right in front of the historic Sterntor. Orth has been the 14th commander of the Bonn Carnival City Soldiers Corps, founded in 1872, since June 2020. You’re almost spoilt for choice at this lavishly stocked stand, and you can also have a great chat with the Bonn character. We go for a porcelain table-top bell with a gold-plated tip on the handle. It shows the coat of arms of the city of Bonn with the lion. Of course, the hand bell is perfect for the German “Christ Child” to ring on Christmas Eve when the presents are under the tree. Anyone who grew up in the Bonn Republic may also think of the German Bundestag on the Rhine when the President called for silence with a table-top bell (15.95 euros).

■ In the 1930s, a board game classic was launched on the market in the USA. It is essentially an adventure playground for budding capitalist predators and despite (or precisely because of) this it became hugely successful. There are many special city editions, including the Bonn Monopoly (49.95 euros). Well-known Bonn Street names and places with photos on the board make the local Monopoly variant interesting. Instead of the four stations from the original, there are the main railway station, the central bus station (ZOB), the port of Bonn and the Cologne/Bonn airport. You can also end up in prison in this Bonn edition of the vintage game - although the real Bonn jail was closed in 1995.

■ And on it goes: A T-shirt made of 100 per cent cotton with the still very likeable Bonn kissing mouth logo also fits, carefully folded, perfectly into our package (12.95 euros).

The Bonn Winter Liqueur with the flavours pomegranate, almonds, cinnamon and vanilla has 18 per cent alcohol by volume and has been produced by the family-run distillery Eicker & Callen in Wanne-Eickel since 1889. The liqueur contains no artificial flavourings or colourings, and the half-litre bottle looks good in a home bar (19.95 euros).

Our package is almost full to bursting, but there's still a little space left. So it's perfect for this colourful squeaky duck made of natural rubber. The Salzburg-based manufacturer Austroducks has several versions in its portfolio, including a Beethoven duck, but Maestro Ludwig is already sufficiently represented in our gift box. The solution: the ducky dressed as the Cologne Elector, who lived in a magnificent palace in Bonn when he was here – now, as we all know, the main building of the university. The squeaky duckling with its red pomp jacket and white frilled shirt immediately put us in mind of the Elector (although it’s actually meant to be "Rock Me Amadeus" Mozart. (9.95 euros). (Original text: Hagen Haas / Translation: Jean Lennox)