Women have shaped the development of Bonn at all times - and are doing so today more than ever. It is important to make this work visible and to bring these women into the public eye in the true sense of the word. From spring 2024, four so-called FrauenOrte NRW will therefore draw attention to women in Bonn who have achieved great things and made groundbreaking contributions. The Haus der FrauenGeschichte Bonn, together with the Equal Opportunities Office of the City of Bonn, has applied for the FrauenOrte NRW project of the FrauenRat NRW and has been awarded the contract for four women's sites in Bonn:

• Elisabeth Selbert (1896-1986) - one of the four "Mothers of the Basic Law" who pushed through the equal rights article in the Basic Law
• Maria von Linden (1869-1936) - the first woman to be appointed professor in Germany and worked at the University of Bonn
• Johanna Elberskirchen (1864-1943) - a fearless fighter for women's and gay rights
• "Silent heroines" (1870 -2011): Frieda Mager, Sibylla Cronenberg, Katharina Bayerwaltes - the three women were named "Righteous Among the Nations" by the Yad Vashem memorial and documentation site in Jerusalem because they saved Jews* from annihilation at the risk of their lives during the Nazi terror.

The historical women and their life's achievements are honored with steles and memorial plaques. In addition to those in Bonn, others are also being erected at various locations in NRW. These places will thus become "Women's Places NRW". The steles and plaques are financed by the FrauenRat NRW and have a uniform design for recognition value.

"We are delighted to have been selected to implement four FrauenOrten in Bonn. Women have made an impact on society from Bonn - also nationwide - and are thus role models for women today," says Stephanie Clemens-Krämer, Equal Opportunities Officer for the City of Bonn.

"Making women, their lives, their work and their influence on society, culture and politics visible has been the aim of the House of Women's History for many years. With our four publications 'Bonner Frauen(orte)' we have already presented an extensive collection here, so we are all the more pleased that four of the women portrayed there are now being given an even broader stage," says Dr. Ulrike Klens from the House of Women's History Bonn.

The appreciation of the various female personalities with their different identities communicated by the women's sites can give young women impetus in the development of their own strengths, wishes and goals and, with the historical background, the women can serve as role models in today's world, according to the FrauenRat NRW's motivation for the project.

The planned installation sites are currently being examined and then equipped with the steles. On May 8, 2024, the FrauenOrte NRW in Bonn will be officially opened with a reception in the Old Town Hall. Further information and detailed portraits of the selected and other women's personalities can be found at  www.bonn.de/bonner-frauenorte. (opens in a new tab)