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Between 1898 and 1900, the municipality of Godesberg built a steamboat landing stage and also redesigned the riverside promenade. The highlight of the project was the panorama park, the end of which was the bastion facing the Rhine - also known as the "little castle" because the building was designed in the historic castle style. It is considered a typical building of a time when progressive tourism was combined with the romanticism of 19th century castles.
Tickets were sold in the bastion, and there was also a waiting room on the first floor, a restaurant on the second floor and a viewing terrace above. The municipality wanted to offer the guests of the excursion boats a gastronomic offer and create an excursion destination for the people of Godesberg.
Over time, the municipality's interest in the bastion waned, so that it gradually fell into disrepair and eventually had to be closed. In 1998, the building was extensively renovated by a new owner and, together with the surrounding gardens, is now a listed building. Today, the bastion houses a restaurant with a beer garden. The landing stage is still used by the excursion boats of the Cologne-Düsseldorf shipping line and the Siebengebirge passenger boat service, as well as by a ferry.
The carillon has been in the Bad Godesberg spa gardens since 1981
For the 1979 Federal Garden Show, the organizers had the idea of having a carillon built in the tradition of Dutch carillons. It is played only by hand via a keyboard, the keys of which are connected to the clapper in the bell via wires. This allows it to be played dynamically like a piano. The carillon was built by the Dutch company Royal Eijsbouts and installed on the Glockenhügel (on the parking lot opposite the junction with Heinemannstraße). On the initiative of the district mayor at the time, the imposing metal construction was moved to the Kurpark in Bad Godesberg at the beginning of 1981.
The carillon has 23 bells, which are attached to the approximately seven-meter-high metal construction so that they are visible to visitors. The player (carilloneur) can also be observed in the glass cabin at the foot of the structure. This is a great rarity, as carillons usually hang in a high tower. As a comparatively large amount of force is required to strike the bells, the player presses the large keys, which are shaped like the ends of sticks, with his fist. This is why the keyboard of a carillon is called a stick piano. From 1985 to 2018, Bad Godesberg local historian Wilfried Rometsch played the carillon. Since the beginning of 2019, the carilloneers A. Toffel and G. Wagner as well as the pianist and organ builder R. Linden have been playing this rare musical instrument. Since then, concerts with international carilloneurs have been held in addition to regular playing times.
After extensive renovations and a ceremonial reopening in August 2023, the carillon now shines in new splendor. This was made possible by funding from the "Heimat-Fonds" support program of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the commitment of the Bürger.Bad.Godesberg association, which has recruited numerous bell sponsors and donors.
For 800 years, Godesburg Castle has towered over the Bonn district of Godesburg, to which it gave its name. As one of the first hilltop castles on the Rhine, construction of the fortress was begun in 1210 by Dietrich von Hengebach in order to control the river on the southern border of the Cologne archbishopric. The castle was a favorite residence of the Cologne electors in the Middle Ages. In 1583, it was blown up by Catholic Bavarian troops after the then Elector Archbishop Truchsess zu Waldburg converted to the Reformed Church and was deposed by the Pope; only the keep remained. The terraced castle cemetery contains the graves of well-known personalities. From Godesburg Castle, there is a wide view over Bad Godesberg, the Siebengebirge mountains and the Rhine Valley.
The "Haus an der Redoute" was built between 1790 and 1792 under the last Elector of Cologne, Maximilian Franz of Austria, in the (early) neoclassical style as an electoral court theater. The small theater with its 35 square meter auditorium was mainly used privately by Max Franz: small plays and musical comedies were performed here in front of him and a few other guests.
The theater was only used in 1793 and 1794 until the invasion of the French Revolutionary troops. In 1811, the building was sold to the von der Heydt banking family from Elberfeld, who used it as a residence.
The "Haus an der Redoute" remained in the possession of the family until the death of Gerda Dorothea de Weerth, descendant of the von der Heydt family, in 1995 and was subsequently acquired by the city of Bonn.
Since 2011, the listed building has housed the Bad Godesberg district administration office and the office of the district mayor.
The representative rooms on the first floor are used for receptions and events of the district as well as for exhibitions.
Bad Godesberg has two drinking water springs, the Draitsch and the Kurfürstenquelle, which are recognized as healing springs. Both springs were made famous beyond the immediate vicinity by Elector Clemens August and his successor Elector Maximilian Franz. Elector Max Franz had the Draitsch spring tapped on Brunnenallee in the 18th century and elevated Godesberg to the status of a health resort. The water was (and still is) considered to be beneficial to health.
In 1973, Helmut Fiehl and his wife Evi took over the municipal drinking pavilion and had the current pavilion built in 1978, where the water from both springs is served. The Kurfürstenquelle spring was drilled in the city park in 1962. Its water is served in the drinking pavilion in Bad Godesberg city park by the Bürger.Bad.Godesberg e.V. association.
The Draitschbrunnen at Brunnenallee 33 is open Monday to Friday from 1:30 pm to 6 pm, Saturday from 9 am to 2 pm. The water costs 50 cents per liter or part thereof.
The drinking pavilion at the Stadthalle, Koblenzer Straße 80, is open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 3 pm to 6 pm and on Saturdays from 12 pm to 2 pm. Cultural, social and sporting events are also held there regularly. Further information can be found at www.buergerbadgodesberg.de. (opens in a new tab)
Electoral line
Town hall in the Kurfürstliche Zeile.
The Bad Godesberg town hall consists of an ensemble of six adjoining houses in the neoclassical style, which were built under Elector Max Franz in 1792 and 1793 as lodging houses for bathers. For years, the buildings were used as a hotel and a bathing establishment. After Bad Godesberg became a town in 1935, the administration, among others, moved into the Kurfürstliche Zeile.
La Redoute
The Redoute used to serve as a social venue for courtly guests.
The building was constructed between 1790 and 1792 in the classicist style at the behest of Archbishop and Elector Max Franz. It served the courtly bathers as a society house, where weekly balls and games of chance were held. The young Ludwig van Beethoven is said to have played music here in the presence of Joseph Haydn.
From 1856 to 1920, the Redoute was the private villa of the von Wendelstadt family and then became municipal property. The building became famous as a venue for national and international receptions of the German government.
Right next to the Redoute is the Haus an der Redoute. It was once the electoral chamber theater and is now used as the headquarters of the Bad Godesberg district administration office and as an exhibition venue.
The "Redüttchen", the small Redoute, served as a gardener's cottage for the adjoining park; today it houses a restaurant. The English-style park stretches uphill across the grounds behind the Redoute.
Under Elector Joseph Clemens, St. Michael's Chapel, which was destroyed in the Truchsess War, was rebuilt in Baroque splendor from 1697 to 1699 and dedicated to the archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. The small extension on the side served as a hermitage for monks until 1800 and is now once again inhabited by a hermitess. The chapel has been a listed building since 1982.
The magnificent interior was designed by Johann Schießel and plasterer Giovanni Pietro Castelli. The latter also worked for Elector Joseph Clemens on the Bonn Residence and Clemensruh Palace in Poppelsdorf.
The chapel is open daily from 8 am to 5.45 pm. In addition, from the beginning of the summer vacations until the beginning of November, early evening mass is celebrated in St. Michael's Chapel on Saturdays at 6.30 pm.
