Kulturgarten Residents criticise concert noise on the Bonn Rheinaue
Bonn · No sooner have concerts on the Rheinaue begun again than complaints about noise are piling up from residents. The organisers of the Kulturgarten are seeking discussion.
Whether events in the Rheinauen or small garden concerts, culture is happening in the open again, but people are also annoyed by the noise. Wolfgang Zerbs, musician of the Klöbner band, experienced this in April and May, when he sang for his neighbourhood and the next day he received a letter from a neighbour saying please refrain from singing, “which is sometimes unbearable".
On Europastrasse, Michael Doering is campaigning for more "peace and quiet in the Rheinaue". This is the name of his initiative, which was founded in 2011. The initiative has meant that noise emissions have "decreased very strongly". This is stated in a letter he distributed to the residents of his street and the Kolumbusring. In the letter, he criticises among other things, the noise that the six-week series of events called "Kulturgarten" with a mixed programme of theatre, comedy and concerts on the small Rheinaue had at times caused.
Noise emissions will be "considerably exceeded"
Doering refers to the NRW Noise Emmission Protection Ordinance, which stipulates a maximum value of 45 decibels in the period from Monday to Saturday between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. Doering emphasises that events in the first week of the Kulturgarten and those with deep bass such as the "Panama Open Air", caused particular problems. Performances by bands such as Höhner or Brings were less of a problem.
Doering also points out that two thirds of the Kulturgarten series consists of music concerts and says that as a result, "according to our measurements, the approved noise emissions are sometimes considerably exceeded". Doering had measured values with his mobile phone of between 65 and 75 decibels. He admits that the mobile phone is not calibrated, but neither was the device that the city used during a joint measurement in early August.
Wolfgang Fischer-Keller, a resident of the Columbus Ring, disagrees about the number of concerts. In a letter to the GA, he says that concerts did not even make up half of the 42 Kulturgarten events and that "we can't envisage any noise nuisance from music or cultural events". Fischer-Keller hopes "that the series of events can occur successfully and that life, especially in these times of pandemic, can be made a little more colourful and varied".
Doering said on Sunday that the organisers had been approaching the residents about a week ago. Sandro Heinemann, managing director of Rheinevents GmbH, confirmed a meeting with residents at the end of July – without Doering. In the meantime, however, Doering has been able to exchange information with the organisers.
(Original text, Stefan Knopp; translation John Chandler)
