Highpoint of any cultural tour of this Rhineland gem is the Beethoven-Haus Bonn. Born into this humble abode in 1770, the musical genius remains intimately associated with the city to this day. Among the most memorable relics in what is now a museum are the enormous ear trumpets the composer of the Ode to Joy used to fight encroaching deafness. Beethoven’s last grand piano will also give many a tinkler twitchy fingers.

Among the best things to do in Bonn, the Haus der Geschichte (‘History House’) museum focuses on Bonn post-1945. The collection tells a multimedia tale of the city and nation’s often painful growth through the cold war to the present day. Temporary exhibitions on, for example, political cartoons and soldiers’ ditties leaven the history lesson. The Haus der Geschichte provides and engaging education on post-war Germany and is well worth a visit!

One of the most original things to see in Bonn, the Arithmeum explores the neglected intersection of technology and art. Budding young scientists, in particular, will enjoy the chance to get up close and personal with the surprising beauty of microchips scrutinized through an ultra-powerful microscope. Anyone will marvel at the ingenuity of multiple historical calculating machines.