The educational apiary was built on the occasion of the Federal Garden Show in 1979 with the help of Bonn beekeepers in the Rheinaue. In 2001, a devastating fire completely destroyed the apiary, and the newly constructed building was put back into operation by the Bonn Beekeeping Association in May 2003.

Since then, the apiary has not only been used to show how honey and wax are extracted, but also to demonstrate the importance of beekeeping for horticulture.

Between 50 and 70 school classes a year come to the Rheinaue for a vivid biology lesson on honey extraction and bee life. Beekeepers can attend courses on how to increase their bee colonies by breeding queens. Throughout the year, the Imkerverband Rheinland e.V. and the Bonner Bienenzuchtverein e.V. offer events on the subject of bees.

The Rheinaue leisure park offers a special range of leisure activities. Here, visitors can escape from everyday life, do sports and admire the many flowers and scents in the various gardens.

The garden for the blind was opened in June 1983 to make the park's flora accessible to blind and visually impaired people. At the entrance to the 2,000 square meter area, a bronze plaque provides an overview of the entire park, including in Braille. In the middle of the garden is the attraction: the bronze fountain for the blind. It shows an elephant and several blind people, each of whom can feel different parts of the animal's body. Touching is expressly permitted.

The names of the plants are written in Braille on small plaques in front of the individual plants. But the garden for the blind is also about touching and smelling the flowers and herbs. The two raised beds contain many plants with strong smells, such as mint, rosemary, thyme and chives. Certain plants in the garden can even be tasted.

Since the summer of 2017, the garden for the blind has shone in a whole new light. The two raised beds, each 80 square meters in size, were redesigned by the municipal gardeners and replanted together with members of the Ambassador Club Bonn. The Ambassadors have also taken over the green sponsorship and regularly look after and maintain the beds.

In total, more than 800 new aromatic plants, herbs and perennials from 33 plant varieties are now blooming in the garden for the blind. Visually impaired people can now experience the plant world with all their senses.

In 1968, an expert opinion was drawn up for the first time for the expansion of the Rheinaue between the then still independent municipalities of Bonn, Beuel and Bad Godesberg. In 1970, an open national competition for design concepts was announced, and the first and second prize winners were commissioned with the preliminary design planning.

The "spiritual father" of the park, Gottfried Hansjakob, envisaged generous terrain modeling and a gentle transition from the landscaped zones along the Rhine to the urban development areas. To this end, the park was divided into three areas: a floodplain forest section on the banks of the Rhine, a park zone with groups of trees and a mixed zone with vantage points in the transition area to the city.

A novelty in the realization of the largest landscaping project in Germany at the time was the absence of construction fences in order to be able to offer citizens a recreational area during the construction period. The 15-hectare Auensee was lined with bitumen and dry stone walls to prevent the water level from rising to the level of the Rhine.

The Rheinaue leisure park was completed for the 1979 Federal Garden Show. At the end of the 178-day event, the park was dedicated to the people of Bonn and their guests as a recreational area. With an area of 160 hectares (35 hectares of which are on the right bank of the Rhine), the green heart of Bonn is almost as large as Bonn's city center.

As its contribution to the 1979 Federal Garden Show, the Japanese government commissioned the president of its landscape design association, Dr. Akira Sato, to create a Japanese garden.

The result was an impressive example of Japanese horticultural art whose fascination remains unbroken to this day. Naturalness and harmony characterize the overall composition of the garden, which is dominated by two waterfalls, a lake and a 13-tiered pagoda.

The great art of small trees is the focus of attention every year on the Whitsun weekend (Saturday to Monday). This is when the Bonsai Team Bonn presents an exhibition of magnificent miniature trees in this gem.

Three special sights in the Rheinauenpark are located close to each other.

One of them is the cascade, over which water falls into the Rheinauensee. The exterior design of the cascade corresponds to the architectural style common in Bonn and Bad Godesberg at the turn of the 1900s. And even in the icy winter, the frozen ice cascade is an eye-catcher.

Above the cascade, next to the sculpture by Hermann Goepfert and Johannes Peter Hölzinger called Löffelwald, there is a row of ancient gravestones from Roman times, the so-called Römerstraße. It was realized in cooperation with the LVR-Landesmuseum and the Bundesgartenschaugesellschaft. 26 casts of Roman gravestones and altars from the Rhineland can be seen here.

Since 1989, "Trees of the Year" have been planted regularly in Bonn and so, to mark the 25th anniversary, the idea was born to set up a central location in the Rheinaue leisure park where all past annual trees can be seen and future ones will also be planted.

The "Annual Trees" are proclaimed by the "Kuratorium Baum des Jahres" (KBJ). Stiftung Wald in Not and Schutzgemeinschaft Deutscher Wald are members of the Board of Trustees.

A circular route leads to the individual locations.

Background to the Day of the Tree

J. Sterling Morton came as a pioneer to the treeless landscape of North America and was the first to have the idea of establishing a holiday for tree planting. On January 4, 1872, he proposed an "Arbor Day", which was celebrated for the first time on April 10, 1872. Following the recommendation of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization on 27 November 1951 to celebrate a "World Arbor Day", the then Federal President Prof. Dr. Theodor Heuss planted a maple tree in Bonn's Hofgarten on 25 April 1952. April 25th thus became the Day of the Tree.

In the Rheinaue Bonn, 18 exciting mini golf courses are available under the theme "The Rhine Pirates" with spectacular obstacles and a vacation feeling on the sandy beach. The game is played on artificial turf courses up to 20 meters long.

One of the park's main attractions is the 15-hectare Auensee lake with its six pontoon bridges. The island in the middle of the park is a bird sanctuary.

Please note: There is a city-wide  ban on feeding water birds and the nutrias that have been living here for several years. The wild animals multiply too much thanks to the excessive supply of food, and the animal droppings in the water can no longer be broken down.

In the north of the park, there is a pedal boat and rowing boat rental service for fun boating.

At the southern end, the so-called regatta lake, a number of model ship builders launch their boats, which have been designed with great attention to detail.

The rose garden was replanted in the spring of 2005 with shrub roses, scallion roses, climbing roses and standard roses. Rose fans will find a large selection of different varieties here.

Gather ideas for planting your own garden! Here you will find, for example, rose standard varieties such as Schwarze Madonna, Duftwolke, Christel von der Post, Hamburger Deern, Brinessa, noble roses such as Zitronenjette, Gloria Dei, Aachener Dom or shrub roses such as Schneewittchen, Bischofsstadt Paderborn, Frühlingsgold, Lichtkönigin Lucia. You will also find a large selection of climbing roses such as Flammentanz, Sympathie, Morning Jewel, Ilse Krohn Superior.

Inspired by the original adventure playground from 1979, a true climbing paradise was created on the playground in the Rheinaue at the end of 2020: Three slides, hanging routes, footbridges and platforms as well as various climbing elements form a coherent course where young conquerors can test their skills. The free-fall slide, which is particularly steep with a gradient of 58 degrees, offers plenty of thrills. Comfortable lounger nets invite you to relax in between.

The climbing area is challenging, but still suitable for children and teenagers of all ages. Depending on their individual abilities, children can climb as high as they like. The course is also designed to be inclusive: At the center of the course is a wooden deck that can be reached barrier-free via a wooden walkway. A sand construction site invites children with and without disabilities to get creative together.

When selecting the materials, emphasis was placed on durability: The supporting posts of the climbing landscape and the roof structures are made of painted steel. The platforms and walkways are made of robinia wood and the climbing ropes are made of Hercules ropes.

The totem pole from the Rheinaue was extensively restored in 2018. The meter-high Indian wooden sculpture stands between the Japanese Garden and the Post Tower.

The totem pole was a gift from the Canadian government on the occasion of the 1979 Federal Garden Show. Canadian Kwakiutl Indian Chief Tony Hunt carved the artwork on site over the course of four months. From bottom to top, the totem pole shows a chief with a shield-shaped copper plate, a welcoming figure with outstretched hands and a double-headed snake. At the top is a raven, the heraldic animal of the Hunt family.