The numbers speak for themselves, with the University cafés run by the Studierendenwerk selling 238,000 cups of coffee and other coffee-based specialties in 2025, all of them certified as organic and fair-trade. The most popular choice was a cappuccino (34 percent), followed by a Café Crème (32 percent) and a standard milky coffee (14 percent). These six cafés, which are often somewhere to take a quick break from the stresses of day-to-day student and work life, are scattered throughout Bonn and across the various campuses, from Venusberg to the city center. Although each has its own unique concept, two in particular stand out: Leah’s World Café on Rabinstraße and Café Luise on Poststraße, which combine coffee and culture in a completely original way.
Set up by the Vice Rectorate for International Affairs in partnership with the Studierendenwerk, Leah’s World Café is dedicated to international encounters and art. It is named after Leah Goldberg, who obtained her doctorate from the Faculty of Arts at the University of Bonn in 1933 before moving to Palestine in 1935. She went on to become one of Israel’s most important poets, authors and intellectuals as well as working as a professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Leah’s World Café pays tribute to this exceptional alumna, so you will find information about her life here alongside a selection of her books and even some quotes from her on one of the walls.
Another wall is set aside for exhibitions with an international focus. The University’s international community is warmly invited to use it to display works of art that showcase personal stories, cultural backgrounds or specific projects.
Café Luise, for a cup of coffee surrounded by original exhibits
Visitors to P26, the “House of Knowledge and Research” at Poststraße 26 in downtown Bonn, are bound to stumble across Café Luise. It is based on the ground floor of the building, which houses several museums, scientific collections, temporary exhibitions and the University’s Infopoint.
The café takes its name from Luise Straus-Ernst, wife of the artist Max Ernst. Born into a Jewish family of hatmakers from Cologne, she came to the University of Bonn in 1912 to study history, art history and archaeology. She obtained her doctorate in Art History here in 1916, becoming one of the first women to do so, before going on to live an eventful life as an art historian, culture journalist and single mother. She was deported to Auschwitz in 1944, where she died. An information board is to be installed in the café to commemorate the life of this exceptional University of Bonn alumna.
The space occupied by Café Luise is surrounded by temporary exhibitions that even spill over into the niches inside the big front windows. Here you can while away the hours sipping hot, aromatic coffee while contemplating some extraordinary exhibits and areas of research.
Six suggestions for your next coffee break
Whether they are after a quick espresso on their way to lectures or a more leisurely coffee break between meetings, many people would now find it hard to do without the cafés at the University of Bonn. They offer somewhere to meet, an opportunity to recharge your batteries and, often, the nearest good cup of coffee wherever you happen to be.
An overview of all the Studierendenwerk cafés at the University of Bonn:
- Leah’s World Café, Rabinstraße 8
- Café Luise, Poststraße 26 (inside P26)
- Café Campo, Endenicher Allee 19
- Cafeteria vb, Venusberg-Campus 1
- medikiosk, Venusberg-Campus 1
- Jurishop, Adenauerallee 24
Details of the cafés’ opening hours can be found here.
