Beethoven-Haus Bonn

If you have seen movies like The Age of Innocence, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, The Crime of Padre Amaro, Dead Poets Society, Mr. Holland's Opus, Traffic, A Clockwork Orange, The Company of Wolves, The Horse Whisperer, Howards End, The Pianist, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Far and Away, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Star Trek: Insurrection, L.A. Story, Saturday Night Fever, Fight Club, there is a great chance that you have heard Beethoven's musical pieces.

Ludwig van Beethoven is one of the world's most famous and influential composers of classical music. His music has been played all over the world for over 180 years. His best known compositions include 9 symphonies, 5 concertos for piano, 32 piano sonatas, and 16 string quartets. His most famous piece being "Für Elise" and "Moonlight Sonata".

Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany in December 1770. The house where he was born is now a Museum  and Studio of Digital Archives, which today houses the world's largest Beethoven collection. The exhibition rooms contain a selection of more than 150 original documents from the time Beethoven spent in Bonn and Vienna.

Beethoven-Haus Bonn

The Beethoven-Haus is located at Bonngasse 20, Bonn and is made up of two buildings which were originally separated. After their marriage in 1767, Beethoven's parents lived in the back house, toward the garden. The family lived in this house for a number of years and moved afterwards at least three times within the city of Bonn.

Here in his house, in Room 2, on the first floor, you will be able to see the earliest document of Ludwig van Beethoven's public performances is the announcement of a concert on March 26, 1778 in Cologne. You will also find Beethoven's first composition that was published in 1782 (9 variations for Piano on a March by Dressler), aided by his most important teacher in Bonn, the court organist, theater conductor and composer Christian Gottlob Neefe.

In Room 3, First Floor, displays the viola which Beethoven played in the orchestra during his time in Bonn. Augustusburg Palace in Brühl, the summer residence of the Elector, and his residence in Bonn were the most important locations in which the orchestra performed. 

Beethoven's viola

In room 5, there is organ manual from the Church of the Minor Orders (now St. Remigius) that Beethoven played regularly from his 10th year on. Also in the room, in the showcase, the first edition of the three early piano sonatas which he dedicated to the Elector are on display.

Beethoven left Bonn in 1792 in order to study composition with Joseph Haydn. He was supposed to come back to Bonn as a court musician at the end of his studies. The French occupation of the Rhineland in 1794 lead to the dissolution of the Electoral state, however, so that Beethoven remained permanently in Vienna. 

Beethoven's last grand piano

Room 8, Second Floor ushers the visitors into Beethoven's Viennese period. Evidence of Beethoven's deafness is found in the case on the left-hand wall. Already at the age of 30, Beethoven reported a growing difficulty with his hearing and the isolation resulting from it to his friend Wegeler. Ear trumpets were of only limited help so that Beethoven had to communicate with the aid of notebooks, the so-called "Conversation books". Exhibited in this room also, the piano identical in its construction to the grand piano presented to Beethoven by Thomas Broadwood, the London piano builder and the instrument built by the famous Viennese piano builder Conrad Graf, which was Beethoven's last grand piano. 

The two pianofortes are displayed here as they were positioned in Beethoven's last Viennese lodgings in the "Schwarzspanierhaus". Hanging on the wall above the two pianos is what is probably the most famous Beethoven portrait of all times, painted in 1820 by Joseph Karl Stieler. Exhibited as well is the string quartet instruments which Beethoven received as a gift from his patron, Prince Carl Lichnowsky.

Beethoven's Funeral

Beethoven's died on March 26, 1827 in Vienna in his lodgings in the "Schwarzspanierhaus". The funeral cortege on March 29, 1827 in which about 20,000 mourners took part, depicted in watercolour by Franz Stöber, reveals how very famous and acclaimed Beethoven was already during his own lifetime (Room 9). 

Digital Archives Studio entrance is in the Sculptures courtyard. It contains more than 5,000 digital documents. In addition there are explanations and recordings of all Beethoven's works as well as audio letters, music scores which can be listened to, virtual exhibitions and digital reconstructions of his last home.

Note: This blog was written based on various sites and the author's visit to the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn