End of building in May? Update on the redevelopment of Museumsplatz in Bonn
Bonn · Bundeskunsthalle spokesman Sven Bergmann is confident that the redevelopment work on Museumsplatz can be completed in May. Small concerts are to take place there in the summer.
The area between the Federal Art and Exhibition Hall (Bundeskunsthalle) and the Municipal Art Museum (städtischem Kunstmuseum) will no longer be the venue for major concerts. The current white plastic fence around the site is reminiscent of that of a few years previously, which prevented non-paying guests from seeing the music stars from all over the world on stage; instead, a lot of digging has been going on in the Museumsplatz since October and the fence is just a simple building fence. After many years as a concert venue and for many winters the site of a large ice rink, the square is currently undergoing major renovation. According to Bundeskunsthalle spokesman Sven Bergmann, the reopening is scheduled for May.
“The work is all going according to plan,” Bergmann commented and therefore, it looks as if the completion date in May will be met. Bergmann also has positive information to report with regard to finances: “In the end, we will not fully use the earmarked budget of three million euros.”
Concerts should occasionally take place
In terms of what is planned, not only will the gravel surface of the square be completely replaced, but the square will also receive new electric and water connections as well as new lighting. This will make the square more suitable in the future for the presentation of works of art, but also for the Museum Mile Festival, explained Bergmann.
Even if the era of big concerts in the square is over, there will still be occasional music performances and small concerts and performances will take place there during the summer months. In addition, using the style of French parks as a model, new seating benches are planned, as well as free-standing chairs and easy chairs, which will attract exhibition visitors to spend more time there. The damaged rows of trees will be replaced by new trees and a further row will be added. A large Norway maple tree will be planted in the inner courtyard of the visitor entrance to the Bundeskunsthalle. A new striking design element will be a circular hedge labyrinth in the centre of the square with a diameter of 14 metres, which the architect of the Bundeskunsthalle and Museumsplatz, Gustav Peichl, had already included in the original plans at the end of the 1980s but had never realised. The water sculpture Circular Appearing Rooms by artist Jeppe Hein, which was displayed on the square in 2018 as part of the “Playground Outdoor” exhibition, is also to be rebuilt in the summer.
The Museum Mile in Bonn was opened in 1992
The redevelopment of the 3,200 square-meter area of the square, which is owned by the federal government, had become necessary due to heavy soil compaction over the decades and increasingly poor drainage and accessibility. It is the first major construction project on the Museum Mile, which was opened in 1992 in the presence of former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and about 1,000 other prominent guests from Germany and abroad.
Last year, the section of the B9 in front of the Museum Mile was renamed after Helmut Kohl. Many world-famous artists performed on the Museum Square until 2012, including Elton John and David Bowie. According to Bergmann, the Bundeskunsthalle has discontinued the concerts because they were no longer profitable. The ice rink moved to the Stadtgarten at the Alten Zoll some years ago.
(Original text; By Lisa Inhoffen, translation John Chandler)
