“O diese Sonne” (Oh this sun) – chorus from Der Freischütz
I normally avoid travelling much in the summer months for three reasons: it is usually more expensive, everything is busier and I don’t get on with extreme heat. When in April, Eurostar had one of their periodic sales offering tickets for just £35, I decided to snap up a bargain. I decided that I would go back to Bonn, where I had seen The Magic Flute the previous summer, but this time for Bonn Opera’s production of Carl Maria von Weber’s Der Freischütz. In my haste to book the cheap train tickets, I managed to overlook that I was due to attend a reunion of former work colleagues in Oxford on one of the days that would be away. In the event, my trip coincided with the hottest June heatwave ever in western Europe, which caused the reunion to be cancelled after the British rail network advised people against travelling. Whilst I an not a fan of the hot weather, I was not going to let that put me off my short excursion to Bonn.
Day 1 – Tuesday 23rd June 2026 – London to Bonn
Violent overnight thunderstorms had knocked out the signalling on a number of lines on the London Underground that morning, which combined with a faulty train stuck on another line, caused me to take a different route than usual to St Pancras station. I still arrived in good time for my departure, which enabled me to get some breakfast before going to check in. The international departure area was very busy, not helped by the e-gates that can normally be used by EU passport holders not being in operation. But the queues moved fairly quickly and I did not have long to wait in the overcrowded holding area, as they let you board the train 30 minutes before it was due to leave. Because of the heatwave, Eurostar had been letting you change your ticket for free if you did not wish to travel, but this had not appeared to have caused many people to change their plans, as the train was nearly full.
The train left on time at 09:01, which I found encouraging as I had only 20 minutes for my connection in Brussels where a quick change is no longer possible, as they make everyone go through the Belgian customs post at the end of the platform, rather than use the connecting passage that links directly to the other platforms. We sped through Kent and entered the Channel Tunnel within half an hour of leaving London. However, in the middle of the tunnel, the train stopped and sat around for a few minutes. It was announced that this was due to a human error resulting in an incorrectly set signal. This put us 10 minutes behind schedule, which we were unable to claw any of back before reaching Brussels. It was announced on the train that anyone wanting to connect to the Frankfurt service that I was catching should walk to the front of the train before it arrived. After seeing a lot of people making their way to the front, on the approach to Brussels I walked to the exit doors of the second carriage, correctly calculating that it would be much quicker to get out there than join the queue of people waiting to get off at the very front. Fortunately, I know where I am going at Brussels Midi and I was the first person from my train to leave the secure Eurostar arrivals area. Ignoring the signs to the escalator and lifts I went down the nearer narrow set of stairs and along the main central concourse to reach the platform where the Deutsche Bahn ICE train was waiting.
At the time I booked, a first class ticket was only a few euros more than second class, so that is what I had chosen. It was pleasantly cool in the air conditioned carriage and by selecting a single seat it was nice to not have anyone sitting next to me. Amazingly, given my recent experiences, the Deutsche Bahn train was more or less on time all the way to Cologne. My DB app was telling me that my connecting train to Bonn was running about 10 minutes late, so I should have a 20 minute wait at Köln Hbf. However, on the approach to the station I had a quick check of the times of other trains and calculated that I should just be in time to catch an earlier train to Bonn that was running a few minutes late. Fortunately, this was departing from the next platform to where I had arrived and by the time I reached that platform the train was pulling in. This was a CFL (Luxembourg Railways) Düsseldorf to Luxembourg service. As I had bought a through first class ticket from Brussels to Bonn, I could sit in the small first class area on this train, as the ticket only tied me to a specific train between Brussels and Cologne. Catching this earlier train also had the advantage that it would be non-stop to Bonn, where I arrived at 14:45, ten minutes earlier than my original schedule suggested was possible.
I walked the short distance from the railway station to my hotel. I had chosen a different hotel this time, as the one I used a year ago had put up its prices a lot. The hotel I was using this time was in a prime location, but had a rather dated feel to it and crucially did not have air conditioning, so my bedroom was stiflingly hot. I just dropped off my bag and immediately set out again. First stop was at an ice cream shop on the market square, where I bought a mango ice cream. When I had finished my ice cream, I called at Bonn’s Tourist Information Centre where I acquired a map with a walking route round the main sights of Bonn.
Despite having visited Bonn twice before, I had not previously been inside Bonn Münster. This Catholic basilica was originally built between the 11th and 13th centuries. After a brief look inside, I made my way via the Hofgarten to the banks of the Rhine. I walked by the side of the river as far as Bonn Opera House, before heading back to the centre of the city.
For dinner that evening I dined in a pleasant restaurant, where I had cold roast beef followed by apple cake, as well as a couple of different German beers. After dinner, I continued my walk around the city centre, taking advantage of the slightly cooler temperatures.
Day 2 – Wednesday 24th June 2026 – Bonn and Königswinter
As on my visit to Bonn last year, I decided to visit the Haus der Geschichte first on this morning, as it opens at 9am. I chose to walk there along the east bank of the Rhine, which takes about 30 minutes from the city centre.
Last year the main museum was closed for refurbishment and only a special exhibition in the foyer was open for viewing. The permanent exhibition covers the history of Germany since 1945. I had also visited this museum in 2016, but the permanent exhibition has been redone since that visit. The history of post-war Germany up until reunification is presented in parallel, often comparing and contrasting the situation in East and West Germany. One fascinating display shows the handwritten notes of Günter Schabowski, the official spokesman of the DDR, who presided over the chaotic press conference which inadvertently led to the fall of the Berlin Wall. In presenting the plans about a proposed relaxation of travel restrictions, Schabowski was asked when they would come into effect. As he had not been briefed on this, he answered ‘sofort’ (immediately), resulting in thousands of people heading to the border crossings, which the overwhelmed guards eventually opened. You can take away from the museum your own copy of Schabowski’s notes.
After reunification, topics are presented more thematically and personally I found these sections less interesting. A common thread running through the whole exhibition was the Grundgesetz (Basic Law or constitution) of the Federal Republic and how this affected different aspects of life in the country.
I spent all morning in the Haus der Geschichte and left it via the adjoining U-Bahn station. From there I caught a train southwards and across the Rhine to Königswinter. After alighting from the U-Bahn train, which when it reached Königswinter travelled along the streets like a tram, I started to climb up the Drachenfels hill which overlooks the town. By now it was much hotter than when I had walked along the Rhine earlier in the day and I tried actively to seek out the shade on my walk. Nonetheless, by the time I reached my objective, Schloss Drachenburg, half way up the hill, sweat was pouring off me.
Schloss Drachenburg is a fairytale castle overlooking the Rhine valley, that was built in the 1880s. It was constructed by a rich banker, Stephan Sarter, to be his private residence, although in the end he never lived there. After Sarter’s death, it was used for a variety of purposes. Initially, a private residence, it then became a convalescence home, and later a Catholic boarding school. During World War II it became the Adolf Hitler school, an academy for elite Nazis. Towards the end of the war it was bombed, resulting in nearly all of the original stained glass windows being destroyed. After the war it became a railway training college. In 1960, Deutsche Bahn moved out and the castle was derelict for ten years, during which time vandalism destroyed parts of the original features that had survived the bombing in the war. In 1970, it was bought by an eccentric entrepreneur, Paul Spinat, who restored it and once more it was used as a private home. After his death, the castle was taken over by the state of North Rhine Westphalia and opened to the public.
I initially went to the former carriage hall, where there was a detailed exhibition on the history of the castle. I then wandered through the gardens before entering the main building of the castle. It is sumptuously decorated inside, having been restored to how it would have been when it was first built. Finally, I climbed the north tower, which enables you to look over the roof of the main building and provides great views of the Rhine valley.
When I had finished at Schloss Drachenburg I returned the way I came, stopping off to buy a cold drink before catching the U-Bahn back to the centre of Bonn. After a shower and a change of clothes to make myself respectable enough to go out again, I went for an early dinner at a restaurant that I had visited on my previous trip to Bonn. Here I had a schnitzel with some locally brewed Kölsch beer.
I then went straight from the restaurant to Bonn’s opera house located beside the Rhine. I had wanted to see Carl Maria von Weber’s Der Freischütz (The Marksman), being the first great opera to herald the era of German Romanticism. However, I don’t think that I was fully prepared for this production. At the start, a smartly dressed woman came through the auditorium and onto the edge of the stage. This had happened the last time I visited Bonn Opera, when an announcement was made about a last minute cast change and a reminder to turn off your mobile phones. The woman again addressed the audience directly, but this time it appeared to be an election pitch. At first, everything seemed fairly innocuous with the sort of aspirational statements that any politician could make, but I soon realised this was the AfD candidate for Chancellor, bearing a strong resemblance to Alice Weidel. At the end of her oration she said her name was Samiel. Samiel in the original Der Freischütz is the mysterious ‘dark hunter’ who is an embodiment of the devil. The overture started and throughout, projected on the front curtain, were a series of images. These started off with idealised portrayals of German family life, but then scenes of desperate immigrants began to be interspersed among them. These scenes became more apocalyptic with the centres of German cities appearing to be rubbish-strewn hovels.
When the curtain rises, you find that all the protagonists are members of the AfD, whose talk among themselves is rather more sinister than that delivered by Samiel to the audience at the start. It is set in 2029, with the AfD hoping to assume power after the forthcoming elections. Throughout the opera, actual quotes from various AfD candidates are shown on the back of the stage, which give an idea of their true intentions. Der Freischütz has large amounts of recitative spoken dialogue, which is completely changed for this production, but the music and sung parts remain largely as in the original. I not sure that trying merge two completely different plots in this way quite works, but it gives you a lot to think about. The marksman, Max, is a former Afghan war veteran, who used to be a crack sniper, but appears to have lost confidence in his ability to hit the target. His love interest, and prospective bride, Agathe is brilliantly played by the Russian soprano Alyona Rostovskaya. The duets between her and her friend Ännchen, who is a social media influencer making videos promoting trad wife values, were amazing. At the end of the second act, when Max, his love rival Kaspar and Samiel go out on a practice hunt, rather than shooting animals, they are shooting immigrants to stir up social unrest, which the AfD hope to exploit. Chillingly, as in the original, they say the final bullet will be used to shoot a human.
During the overture for the third act, a scrolling list of the details of the more than 200 people who have died in racist murders in Germany over the past 20 years are projected onto the screen. Max is tasked with shooting the current Chancellor when he visits the town, but his love rival Kaspar thinks he has a pact with Samiel to direct the bullet to kill Agathe, who has rejected Kaspar. Agathe appears to have been shot, but as in the original, she has just fainted, while Samiel shoots Kaspar. The Chancellor (who looks very much like Friedrich Merz) learns of the plot to shoot him, and wants to punish Max. But Samiel spins it that she has saved the Chancellor by shooting one of her own. This proves that she is a true democrat and that the Chancellor should abandon the ‘brandmauer’ (firewall) which stops other parties doing coalition deals with the AfD. The current Chancellor agrees, whereupon Samiel kisses him on the forehead and says ‘thank you, my Vice Chancellor’.
This production was subtitled as an ‘alptraum für Deutschland’ (nightmare for Germany), reflecting its prophecy for the political future of the country. It gave you a lot to think about. That said, the musical standards were high, with the overtures, main arias and choruses all beautifully performed.
Day 3 – Thursday 25th June 2026 – Bonn to London (via Cologne and Brussels)
When I stepped out this morning, it already felt much hotter than the previous two days and was forecast to be around 37°C by lunchtime. After refilling my water bottle in the drinking fountain in the Marktplatz, I walked the short distance to Bonn’s main railway station. Here, by a pleasing symmetry, the next train to Cologne was again a CFL (Luxembourg Railways) train making the reverse journey to the one I had caught two days previously. The train was nearly full and I was lucky to get a seat. The air conditioning on this train was very efficient and it was pleasantly cool inside. It was non-stop to Köln Hbf, where it arrived 15 minutes later.
After getting off the train, I walked past Cologne Cathedral to the nearby Cologne City Museum, arriving just as it was opening at 10 am. By now, it was already feeling really hot and I concluded that it would not be a day for idly wandering around outside. The City Museum had recently moved to these new premises and all the displays were new. I decided to make the most of my time in the cool of the museum by following an audio guide on my phone. I initially visited the section providing an overview of the history of the city from its founding as a Roman colony through to the present day, which also has a large scale model of the medieval city. The remainder of the museum was divided into four thematic sections. ‘What do we believe in?’ covered not only religion in the city, but also football and the love of money and consumerism. ‘What frightens us?’ covered the Nazi era and other periods of oppression, as well as terrorist atrocities and pandemic diseases in the city. ‘What moves us?’ was about transport in Cologne. Finally, ‘What connects us?’ considered cultural influences that had shaped the city. I spent well over two hours in the museum.
When I emerged it was like a furnace outside, so I bought a green apple ice cream, which I ate walking through an air conditioned shopping centre, before visiting a supermarket to buy cold drinks and some other things to bring home. I then walked to Köln Hauptbahnhof to catch my booked 13:42 train to Brussels.
When I arrived at the station, the train which was coming from Frankfurt, was shown as only a few minute late, but after I got to the platform the delay increased to 10 minutes. The train was indicated to stop in the southern half of the long platform. This part of the platform is under the glass roof of the station, which made it feel like being inside a greenhouse. However, when the train did arrive it sailed through the part of the platform where all the passengers were waiting, to stop in the northern half of the station. This caused a mass stampede of several hundred people in the blistering heat to reach the train. As a result of this confusion, we departed 15 minutes late and crawled rather slowly through suburban Cologne, being overtaken on occasion by S-Bahn trains on the adjacent tracks. We were soon running 30 minutes late, and the train managed to claw back only a few minutes of the delay before we arrived in Brussels just before 4pm.
I had originally planned to to spend a few hours in Brussels, with a number of possible attractions to visit. The late arrival and the weather caused me to change my plans. I had been booked on the 18:52 departure, which was originally due to arrive in London just before 8pm, but a couple of weeks before my trip, Eurostar had e-mailed me to say that it was taking 25 minutes longer, presumably being rerouted off the high speed line for part of its journey. I also knew that the Dutch rail network was having problems that day, so my original train was likely to be about 30 minutes late. However, given that because of the heatwave, Eurostar was letting you change your booking for free, upon arrival in Brussels I changed my booking to the 17:56 train, which I knew was starting in Brussels, and so should be less prone to a late departure. I would need to check in for this train at about 5pm. I calculated this would just give me time to visit a bistro, about 10 minutes walk from the station that I had been to before, for an early dinner. On arrival I ordered a cold beer to cool down, and then had a steak accompanied with a glass of red wine.
I returned to Brussels Midi by 5pm to check in for the Eurostar. They did not have all their security scanners working, so there was a bit of a queue to get through the security area. However, this was nothing compared to the scene that then greeted me. The entire space before Belgian passport control was full of people and the snaking queue moved incredibly slowly. I am not sure what the root cause of the problem was – maybe because the preceding train was 30 minutes late they had only started processing passengers for my train once that had departed. Anyway, it was a very unpleasant experience to be trapped in a packed area in stifling heat for nearly an hour. I eventually got through passport control just three minutes before my train was due to depart. Given that there were still a number of people behind me in the queue, we were unable to depart on time, and we eventually departed five minutes late.
The heat had caused speed restrictions on the Belgian high speed line between Brussels and Lille, so the delay grew to 15 minutes by Lille. That was not the end of the problems, as just before the entrance to the Channel Tunnel the train stopped at the now unused platforms of Calais Frethun station, because there was a broken down train in the tunnel ahead. Before Covid, Calais Frethun was served by three Eurostar services per day in each direction, which was useful if you were visiting northern France from the UK, but since Covid, as at the intermediate stations in the UK, nothing stops there any more. The platforms and the terminal look neglected, with weeds growing on the platforms. After about a 10 minute wait we were allowed to proceed again, eventually arriving at St Pancras at 19:30, 30 minutes late – but still earlier than I was scheduled to return, had I not been able to change my train.
Ultimately, Eurostar is primarily competing with air travel. Other things being equal, I prefer to travel by train rather than plane. But these days, compared with flying, Eurostar is more expensive, is less reliable and provides a less pleasant departure process. The proposed opening up of the cross-channel train routes to competition can’t come soon enough.
Final thoughts
Arranging this trip was a bit of a spur of the moment decision in response to a Eurostar seat sale. Despite the heat, I don’t regret going at all and in the end I arrived earlier than planned on both end-to-end journeys. Der Freischütz was an opera that I wanted to see and I thought it was beautifully performed, even if the changing of the underlying story to become a political warning was not what I was expecting. I also enjoyed my excursion to Schloss Drachenburg in Königswinter, as well as the chance to see the newly redone Haus der Geschichte in Bonn and the City Museum in Cologne.