Congratulations to Prinz Roland I and Bonna Stephanie III from the Festausschuss Bonner Karneval on their proclamation tonight.
UNiversa Skirmante and the UNFunken were delighted to celebrate with you on this momentous occasion at the Maritim Hotel, we wish you both a wonderful session under the motto “200 years of Carnival in Bonn: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow”!
Carnival and sustainability – can they go together? At UNFunken, we think Yes! And since yesterday, this is even part of an exhibition in Bonn.
The Federal City of Bonn is celebrating 200 Years Of Carnival this year with the traveling exhibition “Loss mer fiere. 200 jecke Johr en Bonn”. It showcases highlights from the rich and diverse history of Carnival, which began with the founding of the “Bönnische Carnevals-Gesellschaft” in 1826. We’re delighted to be represented with one of our sustainable wooden medals.
Come and take a look! Until October 2026, the exhibition will travel in a container through all city districts. At the moment, it’s located at Bonn’s Market Square.
More information about the exhibition can be found here: bonn.de
The Mayor of Bonn will continue the tradition of hosting
“BonnExpat Alaaf!” in the Old Town Hall on Wednesday, January 28, at 6 pm,
Learn about beautiful Rhenish Carnival traditions, meet Carnival royalty—starting with Prince and Bonna—and watch the inauguration of UNiversa Skirmante of UN Funken, Bonn’s international Carnival association founded by UN Bonn staff members. And, of course, enjoy a party with music, dancing, and drinks.
More info on https://international.bonn.de/
The carnival session has begun and UNiversa Skirmante and the UNFunken were in Bonn at the Marktplatz to greet the season.
Thank you to Prinz Roland I and Bonna Stephanie III, Kinder Prinz Noah I and Bonna Leonie I, the Festausschuss Bonner Karneval and Mayor Guido Déus for bringing the sunshine and a wonderful program to the stage under the motto “200 Jahre Bonner Karneval – jestern, hück und morje”.
We are looking forward to meeting old and new friends throughout this carnival session! 3 x Alaaf
All UN Sparkles: Meet us at the Bonn market place on November 11th 11:11 a.m. Wear blue and join the crowd in welcoming the 200th session of carnival in Bonn.
We have started a crowdfunding campaign on the platform „Viele schaffen mehr“ (many achieve more). We want to raise funds for our sustainable wooden Ordens for this session and beyond.
The benefit of asking for donations via this platform: The bank will top up each donation from an individual donor of more than 5 Euros with another 10 Euros. More smaller donations mean more added money from the bank.
The campaign will run until 26 November 2025. If we reach our funding goal of 1,000 Euros, we will get this amount plus the matching amounts from the hosting bank. Any amount beyond our goal will also be ours. Should we not reach the goal, donators will receive their money back. And we will get NOTHING. Hard to imagine that this could happen though with such an engaged group of members and friends.
The UNFunken and UNiversa Skirmante visited the Heimatmuseum Beuel at the invitation of the Heimat und Geschichtsverein Beuel am Rhein e.V. yesterday. Thank you for opening your doors to us and giving us the opportunity to enjoy a relaxed evening together and to take a look behind the scenes of your wonderful museum.
We highly recommend a visit – check out https://www.hgv-beuel.de/ for more information.
We would also like to thank Wäscherprinzessin 2026 designate Judith I and Obermöhn Patty Burgunder of Beueler Weiberfastnacht, as well as Lord Mayor Katja Dörner and our friends Biggi from Bonn Information and Dirk for joining us.
Impressions from our General Assembly yesterday……the serious business of carnival🤡
Thank you to all the UNFunken members who attended yesterday either in person, online or in spirit. President Heidi, Secretary Ute and Treasurer Audrey were unanimously voted to continue as the board to lead the sparkles for the next two years.
Congratulations again to our next UNiversa Skirmante. We are planning for an exciting session and we can’t wait for it to begin.
The UN Funken have been awarded the Bonner Klima-Preis from the Federal City of Bonn and the Stadtwerke Bonn. We received the recognition award for our commitment to climate protection and sustainability.
https://www.bonn.de/klima-preis
This is the laudation given to us by David Baier:
Dear Mayor Dörner, dear guests, thank you for your opening words.
If the jury decides to give an East Hessian like me the responsibility to hold a laudatory speech in the context of the Rhineland Carnival, that’s courageous, I almost want to say daring, but that’s what you wanted. Ok – here we go – clown nose on for maximum disguise.
Today, with this green clown nose, I have the honourable task of talking about a carnival club that is unique not only in the Rhineland, but in all of Germany, in the context of the Bonn Climate Prize.
From a sober point of view, the jury’s preliminary examination has confirmed that an application with the consecutive number 19 in the tabular overview was formally received correctly on November 27, 2024.
Behind this sober number 19, however, there is a highly exciting, content-rich and humorously diverse organization. The UN Funken from Bonn.
Those of you who know the Bonn Rose Monday Parade, probably all of you here in the Old Town Hall, will also know the UN Funken.
Founded in 2017 as a carnival association for UN staff and their families, the UN Funken are already a highlight with their UNiverso on 7 electric cargo bikes. Their unique selling point is that they always focus on one of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. In the context of the Climate Award, the jury particularly appreciated this originality.
But that’s not all: according to the motto “everything different – everything the same”, 25% of the material is invested in fair trade camels. As an important symbol of our Rhineland carnival, the medal is also a must. And, of course, it is lovingly made from sustainable, renewable wood. The UN Funken have a wonderful understanding of how to not only “stick” to sustainable ideas, but how to effectively implement them, as the jury could see in its detailed examination of the application. In the context of Carnival, for example, it is particularly noteworthy that the greenhouse gas emissions generated by the Rose Monday Parade have been offset by supporting climate projects in the Global South since 2020.
The jury and hopefully all of us sitting here in Bonn’s historic town hall sincerely hope that you, the UN Funken Bonn, will continue this tradition and your lively commitment to understanding, humour and climate protection in our great city of Bonn for a long time to come.
You – the UN Funken – deserve a well-deserved recognition within the framework of the Bonn Climate Award 2025 with a Bonner Alaaf.
David Baier, Head of the Office for Environment and Urban Greenery, Bonn
On Ash Wednesday everything is over…and we had a wonderful session.
Our UNiverso Gaurang (Thanekar) and the UN Funken are grateful for all the encouragement and support we have received and hope everyone had a fabulous and fun carnival session.
Thank you to the Festausschuss Bonner Karneval and Stadt Bonn for all their support and organization throughout such a long session, but thankfully it starts again on the 11/11 and we will be there to celebrate the 200th year anniversary of carnival in Bonn!