Bonn, Germany

Location: Bonn, Germany
Date visited: April 2013

One of the highlights of our trip was Beethoven House. He only lived there the first few years of his life, but it's the only Beethoven residence in Bonn still standing, so it's been turned into a museum. We sprung the extra 2 Euro for the audio tour, which was good because all of the signage was in German and we would have had no idea what we were looking at. The whole place was fascinating. There were a lot of the original instruments, as well as more personal things like ear trumpets. The audio tour also let you hear what the instruments actually sound like when playing Beethoven's music. The most heartbreaking part was when they played Beethoven's music as he would have heard it at various points in his life. "Ode to Joy" was basically unrecognizable, it was so muffled. The entire experience was pretty unforgettable.

I am unreasonably proud of my "many faces of Beethoven" page. I like how he looks all grumpy in all the pictures except the Beethoven who wants to give you a hug.