On August 14, 2022, Bonn met its honorary citizen with a true theatrical performance. The musical accompaniment was accompanied by a costume party on the occasion of the official inauguration of the monument to Ludwig van Beethoven (Ludwig van Beethoven, 1770-1827) in the city centre.

Everything is like 177 years ago, when on August 12, 1845, a monument by Ernst Julius Hähnel was presented to the public. The Dresden sculptor portrayed Beethoven staring sternly into the distance, with pen and paper. The opening of the monument then took place in the presence of distinguished guests, including the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm IV (Friedrich Wilhelm IV) and the British Queen Victoria, as well as the composer Franz Liszt.

177 years later, at the inauguration of the restored monument – all the same faces: the Prussian King, Queen Victoria, Liszt. Thus, the current burgomaster of Bonn Katja Dörner (Katja Dörner) appeared disguised as a British queen. And the roles of other high-ranking guests went to actors, staff, professors at the local university, etc. On the occasion of the inauguration of the renovated monument, residents of Bonn and tourists gathered.

Beethoven returned to Bonn’s central square in July after nearly six months of restoration work. The bronze figure of the German composer has been placed in order with great care. Repairing the weather damage, as well as paint residue from sprayers, cost the city €120,000 – twice as much as initially planned. And now, in August, they’ve decided to officially celebrate the classic’s return, and do it as much as possible in the same way as in 1845.

The history of the creation of the Bonn monument to Beethoven

The initiative to create the monument did not come from the citizens of Bonn, but from Heinrich Carl Breidenstein, the first music teacher in the German-speaking space, but the composers Franz Liszt and Robert Schumann boldly took on the implementation of the idea, as well as the translator August Wilhelm von Schlegel. And yet no money was saved for a monument to Beethoven. “They will build a monument to our Beethoven for a few miserable pennies! This is simply outrageous!” wrote Liszt of collecting donations in 1843. “That will not happen!” It was he who secured Bonn’s victory in the competition with Vienna, where the first monument to the composer appeared only in 1880.

Let us add that the present solemn ceremony was planned on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the birth of the great composer and the 175th anniversary of the construction of a monument to him in Bonn. However, the coronavirus pandemic has made adjustments to the schedule. The inauguration of the monument took place after the restoration, although not in the year of the anniversary.