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, Jürgen Nimptsch 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, 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: In the Beethovenhalle and in the chamber music hall of the Beethoven-Haus, but also in churches, in musea and historic industrial buildings as the tram depot in Dransdorf. Moreover a number of politically important sites in Bonn, the former capital, are used as concert venues, among them the Palais Schaumburg – the former Federal Chancellery –, the Villa Hammerschmidt - the Bonn seat of the President of the Federal Republic of Germany - and one of the former debating chambers of the Bundestag. In 2010 the Beethovenfest had a concert in the chancellor bungalow for the first time. Also buildings of global players as Telekom and Deutsche Post are used as venues: the Telekom-Forum and the Post Tower Lounge.

Bonn celebrated the Day of German Unity and North Rhine Westphalia Day from 1 to 3 October 2011 under the motto “Freedom. Unity, Joy. Move more+.”. All of the German states presented themselves together with the federal government and many other partners in Bonn, the city of Beethoven’s birth. The official celebrations on 3 October formed the highlight of the three-day festival. In honour of the Deutschlandfest, the Beethovenfest Bonn 2011 put on four very special concert experiences: Next to the concert with the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq two concerts with the Beethoven Orchester Bonn and one with the  Dohnányi Orchestra Budafok, the orchestra from the Bonn’s twin town in Hungary, Budafok.

» http://www.bonn.de