As early as 1886, an association of historically interested citizens was constituted under the name "Bonnensia" with the goal of assembling a collection through purchases that would lead to the establishment of a city museum by the city of Bonn. After the collection was moved to Cologne in the late 1930s, where it was to be integrated into the planned "Haus der Rheinischen Heimat" (House of the Rhenish Homeland), and after it was lost during the war and returned to Bonn in the post-war years, the association decided on January 22, 1957, to donate the collection to the city of Bonn.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the Bonn Association, whose successor is the Bonn Local History Association, continued to campaign for the establishment of a city museum. In 1989, the decisive step was taken: in the year of the 2000th anniversary of the city of Bonn, the council decision was made to establish a Historical City Museum, taking over the old holdings. The opening took place on January 14, 1998 under the direction of Dr. Ingrid Bodsch.
Planned new conception of the city museum
25 years after the opening of the exhibition in Franziskanerstraße 9, the City Museum is in the process of redesign. The museum is getting a new contemporary exhibition at a new location. Under the direction of Dr. Philipp Hoffmann, who passed the reins on to Yvonne Katzy after taking over the Center for Urban History and Remembrance Culture, the Studio_bnx participation room opened at Franziskanerstraße 3 in March 2022. Here, interested parties can help shape the new city museum. Stories, memories and wishes of the citizens are collected.
In December 2022, the administration commissioned a feasibility study for a new location at Rathausgasse 7 (Altes Kunstmuseum). "Our goal is a consistent further development for a city museum of the future. The historical collection and the city's history should be communicated in an attractive, low-threshold and modern way and inspire people across generations for their city," says Katzy.
With many other projects and collaborations - such as the CityStories app in cooperation with the Fringe Ensemble, the special exhibition "Spurensuche: Pitt Müller und das vergessene Bonn" (Searching for Traces: Pitt Müller and the Forgotten Bonn), or cargo bike campaigns that bring the museum to people in the city's neighborhoods - the Stadtmuseum team is breaking new ground. But the old familiar, such as the popular costume tours through the exhibition, will also continue to be offered.
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