Bonn. On Saturday, the flea market took place in Bonn's Rheinaue again for the first time since October 2019. It is one of the largest flea markets in the country. Staff and security personnel were employed to regularly remind visitors and vendors that face coverings were mandatory. The flea-market manager, Anja Ziegenspeck, explained that there were about 500 stalls, which was fewer than the usual number of 1,700 before the pandemic. People mostly adhered to the face-covering requirement, according to the opinion of the stall owners. Anja Ziegenspeck was satisfied with both the number of visitors and the adherence to the obligation of wearing a face-covering.

Jürgen Sprengel has been a regular participant in the flea market for 20 years and this time sold watches and jewelry at his stall. He said "I was very happy that the fleamarket can take place today, but of course nowadays you are always a little worried when so many people are together in a small space, but most people are reasonable." All the vendors hope that more fleamarkets can take place in the future. Only the rather modest buying mood dampened the spirits of some vendors.

The vaccination bus operated by the city was present to vaccinate people, as it did in Münsterplatz. The medical director Maria Riedloff estimated that by 12 o'clock, 45 people had been vaccinated. Future fleamarkets at the Rheinaue will depend on further coronavirus developments.

Beuel. Work is continuing at Beuel station, where new S-Bahn tracks are being laid on the east side of the station. The timetable for the rail replacement service on the right bank of the Rhine for the route between Troisdorf and Niederdollendorf is available on the internet and is 36 pages long. The RE8 and RB27 line services will be replaced by a large number of buses, especially at rush hour in the morning and early evening. Some buses will stop at all the stops that are usually served by trains, and express buses will run on weekdays. Things were pretty quiet at Beuel train station on Friday morning. However, Fridays are generally quieter because many commuters work from home and many travelled via Bonn main station because they didn't want to miss their connection, but even at Bonn central station, rush-hour traffic was normal.

The railway company is satisfied with the course of events: a railway spokeswoman on Friday afternoon said that they had not received any negative reports about the rail replacement service, but it is unclear how the strike announced by the train drivers' union GDL on Friday for next week from Monday to Wednesday will affect the replacement transport.

(Original text: Richard Bongartz)

Bonn. At the X-traPlatz initiative "My Bonn – our Bonn” in front of the Kreuzkirche, people could write on wooden blocks what they would wish for the city. About 100 people wrote down things such as a car-free city centre, the disciplining of cyclists, less noise, more culture, inexpensive parking, urban gardening, a better network of bike paths, and neighbourhood networking.

The idea of the X-tra Square started in 2020 when the Kreuzkirche was not allowed to hold events in the church due to coronavirus, so they moved to the square in front and realised that the idea had great potential. Therefore, they set up the X-tra square again this year and would like continue the idea in the future.

The church wants to use the initiative to offer an ecumenical forum for culture and conversation and to enter into dialogue with people who would not be reached in church. The programme can be found at www.evforum-bonn.de. It continues with a panel discussion on child and family poverty on Monday, August 23, from 6 pm. And on September 25, there will be a day of action entitled "Simply Thank You." The space is designed for 250 people and 3G rules apply. The challenge of reconciling different perspectives was also discussed in front of the Kreuzkirche. In the first round of discussions, Andrea Hillebrand interviewed Mayor Katja Dörner and superintendent Dietmar Pistorius about what "their" Bonn looks like. Dörner praised that the "city is willing to get involved," for example in the Bonn4Future climate forum. Pistorius saw great potential in the infrastructure of the Protestant church in Bonn.

Bonn. New apartments, medical practices and a kindergarten are being built on the Wittelsbacherring where the former Melanchthon House used to be. Melanchthon House was inaugurated in 1964 and was used by the Kreuzkirche for community work. The complex could only have continued to be used through extensive as well as expensive renovation work. Therefore, the non-profit Dr. Axe-Foundation purchased the site from the Kreuzkirche at the end of 2019. If everything goes according to plan, 40 apartments and an underground garage will be completed on the site by the summer of 2023 at the latest.

Wolfgang Onderka chairman of the board of the Dr. Axe-Foundation said "We want to create a residential quarter that is designed for the long term and that is socially compatible." In addition to the apartments and a daycare centre, space is to be created for two medical practices. The apartments will all be suitable for handicapped people and two apartments will be built so they can be used by wheelchair users. " Recently, the felling of several old trees on the site caused a problem and although the city had given its approval, there was still some resentment.

(Original text: Gabriele Immenkeppel)

(Translations: John Chandler)