What cities in Germany and Austria would you recommend in order to visit commemorative sites, concert halls and museums related to Beethoven's life and master works? Would also welcome suggestions for tour guides (private or group) in related cities and classical concert venues.
We are a family of five adults with very, very fundamental knowledge of classical music. The duration of our trip would be about 8 or 9 days.
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
As far as I'm aware, Beethoven spent almost his entire life only in Bonn and then Vienna. Just about every German city has a Beethovenstrasse, but these obviously have no actual link with the composer.
I know his birth house remains in Bonn, which is now a museum (have only seen it from the outside). There is a museum dedicated to him in Vienna, but all I know about it is that the location is quite a bit outside the city center. If my memory serves me correctly, there's a monument to him in the Stadtpark.
If you have any interest in Haydn, Schloss Esterhazy in Eisenstadt, not far from Vienna, is worth a visit. The performance hall here post-dates Haydn's residency, but the palace contains plenty of Haydn-related artifacts and exhibits (plus, the massive wine cellar makes you appreciate how much the nobility drank back in those days). I think you can also tour Haydn's nearby private residence, but I didn't explore this.
Posted by
Green Bay
21166 posts
Well, there is the Beethoven Festival in his birthplace of Bonn. Concerts in both March and September.
https://www.beethovenfest.de/en/program/all-concerts/calendar/
If you stop at the Tourist Office, near the train station, they can give you walking tour map of Beethoven sites in Bonn. There might be guided tours available in English. This is the 250th anniversary of his birth.
And be sure to stock up on Haribo at the company store.
Posted by
Boise, ID, USA
2302 posts
Beethoven is buried in Vienna (the cemetery is outside the city). Also, Heiligenstadt, on the edge of Vienna, was an important site for Beethoven, and there is a small museum there as well as the ones in Vienna itself.
Posted by
Southeast US
4046 posts
Did you see this NY Times article posted by steven from White Plains, NY in the Austria forum?
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/24/travel/vienna-bonn-beethoven-250th-anniversary.html
Posted by
OP
Bedford, MA
4 posts
Thanks to readers for your advice and suggestions. Looks like Bonn and Vienna are the key cities to research for Beethoven sites. Michael Cooper's NYTimes article will be very helpful. We visited Vienna in 2017 and enjoyed it immensely. There was so much more to see there. Now we'll have to see how prolonged and where the Coronavirus runs its course.
Posted by
Magyarország / Rep of Texas
20255 posts
Beethoven had better been all you need to have a good trip if you are going to Bonn.