The City of Bonn is characterised by various strengths: City of the United Nations, renowned business and scientific location, birthplace of Ludwig van Beethoven, lovable city on the Rhine and a political centre of the Federal Republic of Germany. The City’s umbrella brand focusses on its characteristics as an international UNO City and birthplace of Ludwig van Beethoven. Agentur Gramm from Düsseldorf represented an ideal combination of both aspects. The word “joy”, taken from the text of “Ode to Joy” by Friedrich Schiller, set to music in the final chorus of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, is a reference to the great composer and the City’s most famous son. The translation of the key term into English and French, in turn, represents the international character of Bonn.

Graphic designer Prof. Theodora Casse-Schlüter created the Bonn Kiss logo “Bonner Kussmund” as early as in 1971 as the winner of a poster competition of the City of Bonn. The idea came to her in the shower. She wrote “Bonn” with her finger on the misted-up shower screen and placed a kiss on the “o” – the logo we know today was born and was soon used on mugs, pens or stickers. In early 2016, the Bonn Kiss got a fresh new look with the help of product designer Sebastian Pretzsch. With a rich red and new font, the appealing emblem returned to the souvenir items of Bonn-Information. As the umbrella brand, the new Bonn Kiss also contains a reference to Ludwig van Beethoven: The line “This kiss to all the world” also originates from Schiller’s “Ode to Joy”.