Ludwig van Beethoven left Bonn behind, but the city has preserved and cherished his legacy, making Beethoven-Haus Bonn a centre for music lovers.

The house shows the surroundings and community of Beethoven’s early years, which helped shape a master composer. It houses a permanent exhibition displaying authentic documents and original artefacts.

The Baroque stone house of Beethoven’s birth at Bonngasse 20, not far from Markt, is one of the few Bonn houses from early in the 18th century. It was built about 1700 on cellars that were medieval.

Ludwig van Beethoven was born, the story goes, in a tiny attic room in 1770. The Beethoven family lived in the back section of the building, facing a small garden, and stayed there about seven years, until Ludwig was four years old.

The house retains its low ceilings and beams, steep stairs and some of the ambience of the age, especially in the garden area at the rear.

Beethoven grew up in a musical family and among a community in service of the court of the Cologne prince-archbishops, based in Bonn. His father Johann was a court singer, his grandfather (also Ludwig) a director of court music. The families of court musicians occupied the front and neighbouring houses. The Beethovens later lived in three other Bonn houses, all since destroyed.

By 14 the younger Ludwig was playing with the court orchestra and at 21 he moved to Vienna to advance his art and career. 

A Beethoven museum
and memorial

The museum complex spans from Bonngasse 18 to 26, encompassing the largest collection of Beethoven's original artefacts, original exhibits, and a collection of documents left by the composer. It includes a chamber music hall of almost 200 seats, where historical instruments can be heard in 40-minute performances on many weekends. The house later known as Im Mohren (No.18) was where Beethoven’s baptism celebration was held.

There are 12 museum rooms, one dealing with Beethoven’s great years and work in Vienna, where he bestrode the imperial city as the musical genius of his age, an artist-magnet. There are also temporary exhibitions and events.

The museum is also a good place to get a sense of the 18th century Bonn, a princely city with a history going back to Roman times.

A local Beethoven society has protected and developed the house since 1889, when there was a threat of demolition. The street-facing front building and the back annexe occupied by the Beethoven family were joined. The combination is now a heritage-listed building. The first museum opened in 1893.

Beethoven the man

Beethoven’s personal papers include love letters. His love interests included piano students, who came from the upper echelons of society, and possibly married women. It is believed his passion went unrequited. A portrait of an early object of his affection, Eleonore von Breuning, is in the house, along with depictions of many people who were close to him and patrons.

Decide for yourself what Beethoven looked like. The museum’s portraits and other drawings at various stages of his life are many. His actual appearance has been much debated. The most famous portrait, by Joseph Karl Stieler when the composer was 49, is controversial.

A bust of Beethoven, made when he was about 40, is considered by many the most accurate representation of his face. A copy of this is on the ground floor of the house.

Beethoven’s death mask and personal effects, including ear trumpets the composer used as his hearing failed, can also be viewed. There is also one of his pianos, built by Conrad Graf towards the end of Beethoven’s life, which might have been easier for the near-deaf composer to hear. A viola he used during his Bonn years and other stringed instruments are also among the collection.

Audio guides are available in multiple languages, providing a comprehensive look into his creative journey.

There is not only the sound of music – many of Beethoven’s quotes are reproduced in the museum.

The museum shop, across the pedestrian street at no.21, sells tickets. An English media guide is available free to ticket holders and app downloads are available, but visitors should bring their own earphones. For concert times, check the Beethoven-Haus website. 

Nearby are the remarkable Namen-Jesu-Kirche and the St Remigius Kirche in Brüdergasse, where the font used for Beethoven's baptism now stands and where he played the organ at the age of 10.

To reach Beethoven-Haus, take tram 62 or 65-7 or bus 529, 537 or 540 to Bertha-von-Suttner-Platz.

Bonn has other memorials to Beethoven, linked by an official Beethoven Walk. These sites include the Beethoven-Denkmal statue at Münsterplatz, the 1950s concert hall Beethovenhalle with a bust of Beethoven sculpted by Klaus Kammerichs, and the grave of Beethoven's mother in Alter Friedhof. The walk can be followed using a pamphlet from the tourist office

Classical music fans will also find Schumannhaus Bonn at Sebastianstraße 182 in Endenich, which has memorial rooms and a music library at the house where Robert Schumann lived his final years and died. Take bus 604-7 to Alfred-Bucher-Straße.

Other Bonn museums include the Haus der Geschichte and LVR-LandesMuseum. For more Bonn travel tips, download Raven Travel Guides Europe’s full Bonn travel guide.