BONN. Existential anxiety is increasing among the hospitality industry due to the 2G-plus regulation in bars and restaurants which has been in force since 13 February, says Matthias Johnen from the German and Hotel and Restaurant Association (Dehoga) in the North Rhine region. City centre restaurant and bar owners in Bonn are complaining about huge drops in turnover and a lack of guests, especially in the evening.  

 Some businesses have lost up to 80 per cent of their turnover since the introduction of 2G plus. They say that the 2G-plus rule makes it virtually impossible for many people to make a spontaneous decision to go to a restaurant or café. Operators that previously welcomed many tourists are particularly hard hit.  

 “The problem is mainly with restaurants and cafés in the city centre, because many of them live off walk-in customers,” says Johnen. “After all, you don't always have a fresh test at hand when you go shopping.” Those who do decide to have a test often have to wait in line for a long time. “Many people also find it difficult to queue.” It is even more serious in the wider region, he explains. “There are far fewer test offers there than in Bonn. In addition, the test centres are usually not open in the evening.” 

 However, the controls at the entrance are said to be working well. Despite the strict Corona rules, Dehoga deputy managing director Johnen attests to good prospects for restaurants that work mainly with reservations. “This is where the guests go purposefully and are therefore prepared for the entry conditions.” 

 (Original text: lis)  

 BONN. A man exposed himself in front of a woman in Kottenforst on Tuesday afternoon. The woman reported the incident to Bonn police, who are now asking the public for further information. The suspect may have committed further offences. 

 According to police, the woman was walking by the Tongrubensee in Röttgen at around 5 pm on Tuesday when she noticed the man sitting on a bench. As she approached, he exposed himself and started masturbating. The woman spoke to the man, but he did not respond. She went to the police the next day. 

 The suspect is described as being around 20 to 30 years old and 1.65 to 1.75 metres tall. He has a slim build and slightly longer black hair falling on to his forehead. He was wearing jeans, a black scarf and a black jacket with red stripes. According to the witness, the man is said to have a darker complexion and a South-East Asian appearance. 

 The police are investigating whether he may be a suspect in other cases around the Kottenforst in recent months. Here the crime scenes were on Robert-Koch-Straße, Hauweg, Rheinhöhenweg, Langer Weg and Gudenauer Weg. The police say there are similarities in the descriptions of the perpetrators.  

 Police would like to know if anyone has seen the man described around the Kottenforst in the past few months. Please call 0228 150 or email KK12.Bonn@polizei.nrw.de. 

 (Original text: ga)  

 BONN. A digital project called City Stories by the Stadtmuseum (City Museum) is receiving around 104,000 euros in funding from the federal Cultural Foundation. The funding will be used to programme an app in collaboration with the Bonn Fringe Ensemble that captures personal stories about the city from local residents, according to a statement by the city authorities. As part of the project, current and former Bonn residents will be asked to donate their story linked to a particular place in the city - either in writing or by telephone. The City Museum will provide more information on its Instagram channel Studio_bnx.

 (Original text: buj)  

 BONN. If you go for a walk along the Rheinauensee in Bonn, you will nutrias, or beaver rats, in large numbers at the edge of the water. Last autumn, the city’s Lower Nature Conservation Authority carried out the first systematic count of the population in the Rheinaue. 55 animals were found to live in this area. Since it was the first census of this species, the authority was unable to comment on the extent to which the population has increased in recent years. However, municipal staff working in the field have observed a rise in the population inhabiting the Rheinaue in the last five years. 

 According to experts, nutrias give birth to an average of two litters a year, usually with five young. In the Rheinaue in Bonn, however, some animals have already undergone more than two reproductive cycles. Moreover, the beaver rat has no natural enemies in this country. Consequently, the very mild winters of the past years have resulted in a growing population in the Rheinaue park. 

The Lower Nature Conservation Authority assumes that the animals now have more reproductive cycles than usual due to regular feeding by humans and ask people to refrain from feeding wild animals. Director Bettina Molly explains that “the often one-sided food supply, such as bread, can lead to vitamin deficiencies in the animals and thus to diseases.” A city-wide feeding ban has been in place since February 2019. Despite this, according to the authority, some people come to feed the animals in the Rheinaue every day.  

 The nutria in the Rheinaue in Bonn have caused considerable damage to the banks of the Rheinauensee due to digging, as well as damage to the trees through bark erosion. The beaver rats are also a threat to the great pond mussel, which is a protected species. 

 (Original text: Niklas Schröder)  

(Translations: Caroline Kusch)