Visiting Beethoven’s House by Riley Mazey

      I have been living in Bonn, Germany for about a month now. Bonn, also known as the city of music, is a small town in the west of Germany. It was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990. Bonn is well known across Germany for being Beethoven’s birthplace. The people of Bonn have a deep appreciation for the music history that surrounds them. Naturally, the first thing I did when I got to Bonn was visited Beethoven’s house. Beethoven was born in 1770 and would become one of the most influential composers in music history. The house where he was born and lived until he moved to Vienna is now a museum open to the public. This museum houses the largest collection of Beethoven’s belongings, correspondence, and other documents. It was a really unique experience to walk the same halls that Beethoven once did. At the museum, they have a great deal of Beethoven’s belongings that have been carefully preserved. When you enter the home, the first room you walk through is full of original oil paintings made to resemble Beethoven from the 1700s. My personal favorite part of the collection is Beethoven’s original music manuscript for his 9th Symphony. There are two floors to walk through and plenty of displays to depict the life of Beethoven. After walking through the house you can walk through a small garden behind the house and visit a music hall where visitors can stop to listen to some of his most influential compositions. Since I have been in Germany seeing the Beethoven house was one of my favorite activities. It’s not every day you get to see such rich music history. The town of Bonn loves Beethoven and takes pride in being his Birthplace. Everywhere in town there are statues, murals, and merchandise displaying a deep appreciation for the composer. As a composer myself it was a really meaningful experience to see how Beethoven’s work and dedication to music are reflected nearly 200 years later.

 

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