City of Bonn

As a shareholder in the Beethovenfest Bonn, the city has a two-thirds interest in the non-profit private limited company, with Deutsche Welle holding the other third. The Mayor of Bonn, Bärbel Dieckmann also chairs the supervisory board of Internationale Beethovenfeste Bonn gGmbH.

Bonn is the city where Beethoven was born. Many areas in Bonn still hold memories of probably the most famous composer in the world. Ernst Julius Hähnel’s monument to Beethoven, which was unveiled on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the composer’s birth in 1845, stands in Bonn's Münsterplatz. The first Beethovenfest, a three-day music festival organized by Franz Liszt, also took place to mark the occasion. The Beethoven-Haus, Beethovenhalle, the house in Rheingasse where Beethoven’s family lived, Schlosskirche, the old cemetery and “La Redoute” in Bonn-Bad Godesberg all still hold memories of Beethoven’s life in Bonn.

During the Beethovenfest, Bonn well and truly becomes the city of Beethoven. The composer is everywhere to be seen - in shop windows and on banners, flags and posters. But, of course, his presence is also felt musically. Beethovenfest concerts are held in many different venues in Bonn and its surroundings.

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