Jansen recalled the many debates where the district council had made it anything but easy to discuss the layout of the square. In the end, however, it had been agreed to revive history. "The city marketing pavilion, the square and the railway station are already coming into their own in a completely different way," said the district mayor. In the neighbourhood, the restaurant of Ria Maternus also reminds one of "an icon of the Bonn Republic". "We still want to cultivate the rich traditions in many places in Bad Godesberg and also lead the district into the future", said Jansen.

Ashok Sridharan, the Lord Mayor of Bad Godesberg, told us that he had seen the famous restaurant owner more than 30 years ago as a schoolboy. The square is now car-free, barrier-free again and has its fountain back. "When you arrive at the station, it is an entrance that Bad Godesberg deserves," said the mayor. He did not hide the fact that the measure should have been started in 2018 and should have been finished in 2019. "But the bids for the first tender showed bizarre characteristics," said Sridharan with regard to unreasonably high prices.

The redesign of the area, which started in May 2019, finally cost around 1.86 million Euro. The expansion will be 90 percent subsidised by urban development funds. There are already new parking facilities for 180 bikes, and a separate bike station is to follow in the former sound station. There will then also be a public toilet. In the Godesberg Facebook groups, members had praised the quality of the installation but some complained about the lack of shade in the form of trees. When asked, the city was unable to say what else was to be planted.

(Original text: Silke Elbern, Translation: Mareike Graepel)