Bonn Heimat Prize

The Heimat Award is one of a total of five components of the "Strong Homeland North Rhine-Westphalia" funding program. Subject to the respective provision of funds by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the City of Bonn will receive 15,000 euros each year from 2023 to 2027 to honor local civic engagement (as it did from 2019 to 2022). The prize money can be divided among up to three prize winners per calendar year in different proportions.

The "Heimat Award" is intended to honor exemplary commitment to our homeland by associations, volunteer initiatives or private individuals.

Conditions of participation

Criteria for the Heimat Award

At its meeting on March 28, 2019, the Council adopted the criteria for awarding the Bonn Heimat Prize and confirmed them at its meeting on June 13, 2023. These areas are then eligible for the award:

Bonn as a city of the United Nations, home to people from all over the world: With the City of Bonn as an international location, the concept of home must be open, cosmopolitan and European. Here, people with roots from all over the world shape the coexistence and traditions of the federal city through their civic engagement.
Sustainable nature and landscape conservation: Heimat as a place of cohesion also protects the environment, shapes our future and thus contributes to strengthening and preserving local identity.
Urban and cultural history: Home in the sense of central characteristics of the City of Bonn, with which citizens identify and whose traditions they pass on to their fellow citizens through their civic engagement.
Urban communities that strengthen local identity and connect people with one another: Home as that which people in the City of Bonn shape every day with their commitment to social cohesion, regardless of the origin of the individual and characterized by solidarity with one another.

Further conditions and notes

A "home project" is a voluntary commitment, not necessarily limited in time, in at least one of the aforementioned areas, which is carried out on a one-off, recurring or permanent basis

was/is carried out as a sub-project within an association, organization or initiative or
forms the core area of an association, organization or initiative or
was/is carried out by an individual as part of their own voluntary work.

The following criteria are also taken into account in the assessment:

The importance of the voluntary activity for social cohesion in the City of Bonn.
The benefits of volunteering for all Bonn residents in terms of accessibility to the project for all interested parties regardless of age, gender, origin, religion, culture, language or sexuality.
A future-oriented, cosmopolitan and tolerant interpretation of the concept of home by the potential award winners.

Information on the procedure

Receive the Bonn Heimat Prize 2025:

Presentation of the Heimat Awards 2025: Mayor Katja Dörner (3rd from right) and Head of Social Affairs Azra Zürn (front left) with the honorees.

Monika Heimerzheim
ArbeiterKind.de
MINTKiDS, THE reading aloud network in Bonn

The prize money is awarded in different parts:

Ms. Heimerzheim will receive 7,000 euros in prize money for her commitment to the NaturFreunde Bonn association. The organization ArbeiterKind.de receives 5,000 euros and MINTKiDS, DAS Vorlesenetzwerk receives 3,000 euros in prize money.

Monika Heimerzheim has been involved in children's and youth work with Naturefriends since 1973. The Bonn-Beuel branch of the Naturefriends association is part of the German Naturefriends Federation, a socio-ecological and socio-politically active association. The jury also nominated Monika Heimerzheim for the State Home Prize.

The local Bonn group of the Arbeiterkind.de association aims to help pupils, students and their supporters from a non-academic background to obtain a university degree.

"MINTKiDS" aims to combine the topics of mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and technology (MINT) and language development by reading MINT stories aloud in Kita and elementary school, as well as actively promoting volunteering in Bonn.

Mayor Katja Dörner presented the prizes to the three winners on Monday, June 30, 2025, at a ceremony in the Gobelin Hall of the Old Town Hall.

Subsequently, the local award winners (one per participating municipality) will be selected at state level to receive the State Home Prize and thus receive another special award.

Award winners from previous years

Award ceremony 2024

Group photo of the winners of the Heimat Award.

The winners of the Heimatpreis 2024 and Mayor Katja Dörner at the ceremony in the Old Town Hall.

Mayor Katja Dörner presented the Heimat Awards 2024 on 12 September in the Old Town Hall, marking the sixth time that the City of Bonn has honored the civic engagement of Bonn associations. The state of NRW provided funding for this as part of the "Heimat. Future. North Rhine-Westphalia. We promote what connects people" program.

At the award ceremony in the Old Town Hall, Dörner presented the Heimat Prize sculptures to the three winners, who had previously been selected by the jury in a decision-making process. This year's Heimat prizes went to the Team Bananenflanke Bonn/Rhein-Sieg association, the InteGREATer association and the Hebammen Ambulanz Bonn association. "I am delighted that - with the support of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia - we are now able to recognize the commitment of Bonn associations and initiatives for the sixth time. They all help to do a lot of good in Bonn and strengthen the sense of community," said Mayor Katja Dörner. Without the commitment of the volunteers, many challenges in everyday life, culture, sport or integration could not be overcome, she continued. "Home is where you feel at home and in Bonn, people from 176 nations feel at home and are committed. The associations honored today, as well as the many other committed people in Bonn, are an enrichment for our city," said Katja Dörner.

About the three award winners:

The Team Bananenflanke Bonn/Rhein-Sieg association was recognized for its "Football knows no boundaries" project. The association is committed to ensuring that young people with mental disabilities and some with a migration background find a footballing home and are thus able to participate in social life.
The commitment of the InteGREATer association is aimed at young people, pupils, people interested in education and integration, parents and teachers. The aim is to motivate children and young people to pursue an educational career and to inform them about the opportunities offered by the German education system. The many volunteers want to show: "If we can do it, you can do it too."
The Hebammen Ambulanz Bonn association was founded by midwives who want to make low-threshold midwifery help available to all women. All women are offered support and safe care for their families during and after pregnancy.

Award ceremony 2023

The winners of the Heimatpreis 2023 in the Old Town Hall

The winners of the Heimatpreis 2023 at the ceremony in the Old Town Hall.

The city of Bonn honored special civic commitment on Wednesday evening, 13 December 2023, when the Bonn Homeland Awards were presented for the fifth time in the Old Town Hall. Deputy Mayor Dr. Ursula Sautter and Anja Ramos, Head of the Office for Social Affairs and Housing, presented the Heimat Prize sculptures to the three winners on behalf of Mayor Katja Dörner. A jury had previously selected them in a decision-making process.

The Bonn Heimat Prize 2023 was awarded to

Anonymous sick bill e. V.
Association of Friends and Sponsors of Lede Castle e. V.
Verein der Waldfreunde St. Hubertus 1926 Bonn-Duisdorf Hardtberg e. V.

The prize money of 15,000 euros was awarded in different parts. The Anonymer Krankenschein association received 8,000 euros in prize money, the Verein der Freunde und Förderer der Burg Lede received 4,000 euros in prize money and the Verein der Waldfreunde St. Hubertus 1926 Bonn-Duisdorf Hardtberg association received 3,000 euros in prize money.

The Heimat-Preis jury also nominated the Anonymer Krankenschein association for the Landes-Heimat-Preis award. Winners from Bonn have already received the State Home Prize twice: The working group of Bonn's repair cafés, open workshops and MakerSpaces, for example, received an additional award in 2021, as did the stadtstreifen association this year.

The Bonn Heimat Prize 2022 was awarded to:

Mayor Katja Dörner with representatives of the award-winning associations in the Gobelin Hall

The winners of the Heimat-Preis 2022 with Mayor Katja Dörner in the Old Town Hall.

City strips
Wahlverwandtschaften Bonn e. V.
FC Hertha Bonn 1918 e. V.

The prize money of 15,000 euros was awarded in different proportions. The stadtstreifen association received 6,000 euros in prize money, the Wahlverwandtschaften Bonn e. V. association 5,000 euros in prize money and FC Hertha Bonn 1918 e. V. received 4,000 euros in prize money.

On August 17, 2022, Mayor Katja Dörner presented the Bonn Heimat Awards in the Old Town Hall.

The Bonn Heimat Prize 2021 was awarded to:

MediNetzBonn e. V. is presented with the award by Mayor Katja Dörner.

the MediNetzBonn e.V. association
Flüchtlingshilfe Bonn e.V. and
the Kültürklüngel Orkestar.

The prize money of 15,000 euros was awarded in different parts. The MediNetzBonn association received 7,000 euros in prize money and Flüchtlingshilfe Bonn e. V. and the Kültürklüngel Orkestar each received 4,000 euros.

The Bonn Heimat Award was presented on September 15, 2021 as part of the nationwide Civic Engagement Week (September 10-19, 2021).

The Bonn Heimat Prize 2020 was awarded to:

The award winners and Mayor of Bonn Ashok Sridharan in the Old Town Hall.

the working group of Bonn's Repair Cafés, Open Workshops and MakerSpaces,
Bonn im Wandel e.V. and
the Freibad Freunde Friesdorf e.V. with the project MITeinander im Freibad Friesdorf.

The prize money was awarded in equal parts.

The Bonn Heimat Award was presented on September 16, 2020 as part of the nationwide Civic Engagement Week (September 11 to 20).