In Half Term, CBC and I travelled to Germany for our holiday. CBC LOVES a nomadic holiday- a few days here and there before moving on. It's fun but does end up with lots of travel and can be more expensive. (especially when you only book the accommodation at 5am of the morning you are travelling)
Our first day, he had his Garden Design course so we didn't travel till afternoon and we were driving so after we travelled on Le Shuttle through the Eurotunnel which ended up being an hour and a half delayed, we ended up in a small town near Brussels around 10pm local time. We stayed in a B&B which was pleasant but simple and then departed the next morning. We drove for several hours through Belgium and then Germany and decided to stop off in Bonn as we wanted to visit Beethoven's birth house museum.
We parked in a multi-storey carpark off the main street in Bonn and walked to the museum.
Here it is.
I was SO happy to be in Germany as I hate being that tourist who doesn't speak the language or does so badly. I did A level German and adore speaking German even though I have forgotten a lot in the 26 years since I stopped speaking it regularly. It was so nice to be able to communicate in the language. CBC, who doesn't speak German, was very relieved.
You download an app to your phone that will play you audio about each exhibit which is really handy.
The museum is divided into different exhibitions and rooms.
- Beethoven perceived by his contemporaries
- Bonn in times of transition
- Work and Everyday life
- Network. Friends
- Network. Patrons
- Network. Loved ones
- The Artist and his Work
- Blow of fate
We started off in the room with images of Beethoven himself.
I loved the Beethoven bust by Franz Klein, 1812.
It was an authentic representation of the composer. He used a plaster cast of Beethoven's face. The composer allowed the plaster cast to be taken twice after a panic the first time when he thought he mgiht suffocate. The only part that was formed later was the eyes as these were obviously closed for the cast.
Two of his friends from the Streicher family commissioned this work of him. They owned piano factory and they had busts of favourite composers such as Schiller and Haydn and Andreas Streicher who was also a respected composer.
This small miniature was by Christian Hornemen from 1802, Danish painter, during his stay in Vienna. He used the finest paintbrush onto ivory. This shows Beethoven, 31 year old, the first high point of his career where he was truly feeling and perceived as successful. He had fashionable look- he was the desired guest of every Viennese salon. He apparently wasn't usually this well coiffed. He was often described as being scruffy and didn't like having to dress up.! He was fond of this small portrait. He gave this to Stefan Von Broining, a childhood friend, as a peace offering after a fierce argument.
The most famous portrait of Beethoven. By Joseph Stieler. He was a highly regarded portraiture of the time. Beethoven sat 4 times for this portrait. It was unusual for Beethoven to sit still for any length of time so this is quite special. It's the best depiction of him. This is only portrait that actually shows him composing. He holds the Misse Solemnis score in his hand. He had a serious discussion with Stieler to discuss which work and which page should be depicted. He chose the Credo.
The forest background expresses Beethoven's love of nature. Stieler created an idealised image of Beethoven.
For me, this portrait is the most famous image of Beethoven I know so to stand in front of it was pretty special!
The Credo depicted. Have a listen as you read on.
I was very excited to see Beethoven's viola! I didn't know he played the viola! He played this instrument from the age of 19. He was a violist with the royal court orchestra. He was also the organist for this ensemble. He got to know and play most of the well known repertoire of the day through this job. He began music aged 5 with his father Johann on violin. His father was very strict and told him off for poor playing, at least according to a family friend so it's hard to know how mcuh was true. We know that Beethoven's first concert was aged 7 in Cologne by his dad. He began organ lessons and then violin with good teachers, sought by his father. He also attended Elementary school but not secondary school as apparently he wasn't very good at languages or maths!
This is the parts of the organ he played at the time.
This model of the city of Bonn at this time was really interesting to look at and from a child's view, looks incredible.
One thing I loved was seeing Beethoven's manuscripts before they were copied by a copywriter for publishing. I found it all very scruffy and hard to read so I am glad that wasn't my job!
One thing that many know about Beethoven was that he lost his hearing completely by the end of his life. This is extremely difficult for anyone this happens to. For a musician, this is and must have been utter torture.
Here was a collection of his various ear trumpets. The museum taught us that he tried many quirky treatments for hearing loss. He also had conversation books where his friends would write replies to things he said. It seems like he was very grumpy and rude!
Another score.
Here's the exterior garden.
I haven't shown you everything, just a few little highlights.
There was a lovely listening room for his Juvenilia with earphones and a lovely chill out room where there are sometimes live performances. They played a recording of his Moonlight Sonata with a screen that highlighted the notes on the original handwritten score.
We loved the museum but were now very hungry.
We found a patisserie round the corner.
I ate this wonderful chocolate and hazelnut mousse!
Here's a massive dummy in the shop of Beethoven!
After this, CBC ended up buying one of two little souvenirs. I ended up buying a lovely little leather violin keyring in a gift shop opposite which I plan to wear on my belt as a cute little charm! This was my only holiday souvenir.
We had a bit of a panic with the machine in the carpark as it wouldn't accept our payment but had taken the card and the money. Curiously, it had a 'call for help' button on it. I called it and in my German, I tried to explain it had taken our money and now wouldn't give anything back! Miraculously, they managed to make it work remotely and all fine!
It was now time to drive to Frankfurt! We found bargain hotel in Frankfurt called Hotel Cult. We paid £46 for the night in a double room including amazing buffet breakfast. We found free parking on the street. I'm not too fond of the overly stodgy and meaty traditional German fare and I didn't want this for a whole week so I looked up something local and that night, we walked down the street to a lovely family run Vietnamese restaurant for dinner where vegetables were plentiful!
I should state something gutting I realised on the day we there. Originally, we had been planning to stay in Darmstadt as that was near the location we needed to be the next day. I discovered that THAT very day, in DARMSTADT, was the famous German Doctor Who convention, Timelash, which I have wanted to attend for a few years and Paul McGann, the Doctor Who actor I have always wanted to meet was there. I was literally going to be in the town on the day of this German convention! Sigh...another time.
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