Music Day

Bonn - trip 3, week 2

House on the left is Beethoven's birthplace

Ludwig von Beethoven lived in several locations in Bonn, but only one remains - the house in which he was born. This has become the Beethovenhaus museum, featuring instruments, manuscripts, correspondence, etc. This summer there is a special exhibition on the relationship between Leonard Bernstein and Beethoven. We watched a recording of the entire performance of the 9th Symphony "Ode to Freedom" conducted by Bernstein in Berlin shortly after the wall came down. He changed the word "Freude" (joy) to "Freiheit" (freedom) in the lyrics. Other interesting artifacts are Beethoven's last piano, his childhood viola, and a letter from a copyist that Beethoven defaced with derogatory descriptions following a disagreement - Ludwig was a hard man to work with!

Schumanns' grave

Next stop was Robert and Clara Schumann's house, which is today mostly the City of Bonn's music library. There is a Schumann society that keeps up a collection of artifacts in a few small rooms upstairs.

Finally, we walked through the Alter Friedhof (Old Cemetery) on our way back to the carpark. The Schumanns are interred here, along with Beethoven's "best friend" - his mother Maria Magdalena.

P.S. the Copa América is also on now - Canada drew Uruguay 2-2 in the bronze medal game but ultimately lost the shootout.