Beethoven was born in a small house in Bonn in December of 1770, where his father was a court musician and his grandfather was a court music director (at the time, Bonn was home to an “elector,” a regional German ruler). His neighbors were court musicians as well. Beethoven lived in Bonn until age 22, where he received some of his musical education (first from his father, later from Christain Gottlob Neefe, another court organist) and worked as a musician in various capacities. He taught some music lessons, was an organist in one of the Bonn churches and at the elector’s court, and was a violinist in the court orchestra which was considered one of the best in Germany at the time. There are several historical buildings in Bonn relating to Beethoven. First, there is his birth house, currently a museum – in 1889, it was due to be demolished, but concerned Bonn citizens successfully prevented that from happening and established a society for its preservation. There is the St. Remigius Church where Beethoven worked as an organist, which also houses the baptismal font in which Beethoven was baptized. There is also the former electoral castle of Bonn (today the main building of the Bonn University), where Beethoven worked during his time as a court musician.
Although Beethoven was the first thing that interested me about Bonn, it’s not the only reason the city is important – it turns out that traditionally, Bonn is also a politically important city. For several decades after World War II, Bonn was the capital of West Germany.
