A little Ode to Joy
Visiting Ludwig van Beethoven’s house in Bonn
This is where he was born in 1770: The composer Ludwig van Beethoven, the genius. One is immediately awestruck upon entering the house where he was born. Here, in the centre of Bonn, his ears heard their first tones, his eyes read their first notes. In these rooms, visitors suddenly come very close to the person and the musician. Will he walk through the door at any moment? Is he already in the room? The well-preserved house and the many original musical instruments and everyday objects suggest that this is so. A personal encounter is only a symphony away. Perhaps in the intimate atmosphere of the chamber music hall in the rear courtyard? There, composition are regularly to be heard at the Beethoven House annual chamber music festival. A little Ode to Joy for music lovers.
Encounter with Beethoven
From the house where he was born, the young Beethoven first explored his native city and then went out into the world at the age of 22. A new Beethoven round tour invites visitors to follow these traces, thus becoming closer to the composer at authentic locations in the city and region. An important route to fame leads across the Rhine: How excited must the eight-year-old have been in 1778 when he set out by boat to Cologne for his first public concert? What must he have felt five years later as he headed off for Rotterdam? We don’t know – but we can imagine.