Bonn. The legendary Christmas train returned to the shop window of the Puppenkönig shop in Bonn on Saturday for the 95th time. On Saturday at 10 a.m., lights were switched on in the arched windows in Gangolfstraße. The new owner of the Puppenkönig, Alexander Jentsch, had already announced that the railway would be on display again this year, but that it would look a little different.

For all Bonn residents, the Christmas train is a firm fixture of the Advent season. Countless childhood memories and stories entwine themselves around this shop window. This year, however, the railway looked different to in previous years and consists of Playmobil figures throughout, explains Jentsch. Everything from the station to the knight's castle is included. The entire installation measures seven by three metres. A Playmobil world of experience will open in the second quarter of 2021 following the current conversion work.

(Original text: ga)

Bad Honnef. During the night to Saturday, unknown persons in Bad Honnef damaged more than 80 cars in the inner-city area. According to the police, the perpetrators punctured the tyres of each car and smashed the windows of several vehicles. Vehicles of the public order office were also affected. The city administration estimates the total damage at 50,000 euros. Local residents notified the police on Saturday morning after they discovered the damage to property.

This is the second time within two weeks that the tyres of the public order vehicles have been slashed. Two weeks ago, the city had already filed a complaint against unknown persons. Then, the city estimated the damage at around 1,000 euros.

In addition, posters in the city centre on the subject of coronavirus and the appeal to wear masks had been destroyed. The city administration estimates the total damage to be at least 50,000 euros.

The mayor of Bad Honnef, Otto Neuhoff, was horrified by the destruction of private and public property: "This is anything but a spontaneous act.” He asks citizens for help. The police in Bonn welcome tips on the incident under the telephone number 0228/150.

(Original text: Claudia Sülzen and Jill Mylonas)

Bonn. A feminist geocaching tour has been organised by the Bonn Action Group of UN-Women, a United Nations unit for equality and empowerment of women. It is a treasure hunt that draws attention to special women and special challenges for women in Bonn and presents important women and places from a feminist perspective.

Between the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on November 25 and Human Rights Day on December 10, landmarks around the world will be illuminated in orange to draw attention to the issue. Many additional events are usually held, but this is not possible during the partial lockdown. People can set out on their own with the tour of the Bonn Action Group and view the city with feminist eyes.

If you want to take the tour, you should dress warmly. The tour is about 4 km long. At each station, there is a question for the participants and using the correct answers, you can take part in a competition. More information is available on the UN-Women website. The presentation of the feminist tour is available on the Internet: https://www.unwomen.de/index.php?id=985.gso

The information, the stations and their geo-data have been compiled by the action group in a presentation that can be easily accessed via a mobile phone. It starts at Bonn city hall. The first station already presents some facts, for example from the World Health Organization (WHO): "According to a WHO study from 2013, 35 per cent of all women worldwide experience physical, psychological or sexual violence. Then the presentation leads a few steps further to Remigiusplatz in front of the new toilet blocks. Here UN-Women criticises the payment system, which is unfair to women: The use of urinals for men are free, but women have to pay for the toilets. Next, the tour leads to the house where Johanna von Elberskirchen was born in Sternstraße – a building that Bonn residents often pass by without noticing the plaque commemorating the activist for women's and gay rights.

On the way to the next station, you pass numerous women's heads embedded into the ground in Bonngasse. Their stories of these women are not taken up in the presentation, but are highlighted by the information board of the previous station. A further story conderns the memorial statue of the peace activist Bertha von Suttner at the square of the same name. The tour then passes the Frauenhaus in the Kölnstraße and leads into the old town to the Haus der Frauengeschichte and the Frauenmuseum. Due to the lockdown, the museums can only be viewed from the outside.

(Original text: Sofia Grillo)

Wachtberg. About 5,000 farmers from throughout NRW caused a sensation in the region the evening before St. Nicholas' Day. Under the motto "A spark of hope", the farmers polished their tractors, decorated them with fairy lights and Christmas decorations and headed for children's hospitals and nursing homes in various regions of the state to provide a small ray of hope in the coronavirus pandemic. "We want to make others happy and bring a smile to the children's faces when we visit them with our tractor convoy," said Albert Schmitz, one of the organisers of the initiative in the Rhein-Sieg district. "It is about bringing light into the dark in this difficult time with the coronavirus pandemic.”

On Saturday, the farmers first headed for the children's clinic of St. Marien Hospital with their tractors. In the evening, the convoy drove to the Parent-Child Center (ELKI) of the University Clinic Bonn (UKB) with Christmas music, to provide a change for the patients, some of whom were seriously ill. "The SARS-CoV2 pandemic makes the situation all the more difficult for our youngest patients, because they have to be protected and therefore have very few diversions. The festive tractors gave many children here a great deal of joy and a great evening," said Johannes Breuer, Managing Director of the Center for Pediatrics at UKB. Supported by many donations, gifts were also handed over at the hospital for distribution to the children.

On Sunday, the convoy will drive to the children's homes in Wachtberg and the Limburg-Stift in Berkum. Schmitz was enthusiastic about the commitment of his colleagues: "One call and everyone was immediately on board - this is absolute madness," Schmitz told the GA, visibly touched.

(Original text: Michael Wrobel and Axel Vogel)

(Translations: John Chandler)