Beethoven is defaced by climate activists

Beethoven is defaced by climate activists

News

norman lebrecht

August 08, 2023

Local media have reported that the statue to Ludwig Van Beethoven in his birthplace, Bonn, has been attacked at nioght by climate activists.

Three other statues were similarly addressed, so it’s nothing personal.

Beethoven had no connection to Big Oil.

 

Comments

  • A.L. says:

    This is utterly pathetic and part and parcel of an anarchist left hellbent in destruction, of culture, of anything they can get their hands on. These individuals are, sadly, given free rein and the evidence can be found just about everywhere one cares to look. For instance, take a look at the increasing number of cities and towns covered in graffiti. Etc.

    • Clem says:

      Cool down. It’s rather ironical that while these obnoxious activists are trying to save the planet from a very real armageddon, you come up with the oldest and most repetitive of all imagined armageddons: The Utter And Total Decline Of Good Manners In Our Depraved Society.

    • Sue Sonata Form says:

      YES!!! And this includes the magnificent city of Vienna. Have you looked at one of the “Walk though Vienna” videos posted on YouTube lately? We lived there 12 years ago and simply will not return to see the way the place has been vandalized.

      Put (green) Left governments into power and they’ll enable the very worst behaviours. It’s always a race to the bottom for them. It’s all predicated on one notion; “If I can’t have it neither can you”.

      • Des says:

        Sue UK has had a right wing government for decades and it is buggered UK 100%. London is appalling.

      • Dargomyzhsky says:

        It’s surprising that this site seems such a bastion of the hard right.

      • Bob the Builder says:

        Your political opinion misses an important point. Right wing governments eg Franco, Spain, Hitler Germany, Peron, Argentina also carried out cultural vandalism. Try to provide clear evidence before commenting.

    • Dargomyzhsky says:

      Grow up. It’s entirely clear which side Beethoven would take!

  • MMcGrath says:

    There’s no stopping morons and vandals.

    • HReardan says:

      While I agree in terms of the here and now with you, I disagree in principle. Society and governances have the wherewithall to put a stop to this, but everyone that is willing is imbued with fear of retribution. Until we grow a pair this will continue.

      • SlippedChat says:

        Society and governances have the wherewithal to put a stop to global heating, but everyone that is willing is imbued with fear of retribution. Until we grow a pair, global heating will continue.

  • Pianofortissimo says:

    Billy: ‘Ten years of hard labor in a Chinese salt mine would be a suitable punishment for those vandals.’

    Cousin Gilda: ‘Billy, don’t be so cruel, they are well-intentioned, they’re trying to save the planet!’

    Uncle Ernst: ‘Kids, be kind! Let SD readers think for themselves.’

  • IP says:

    Yes, and did you read the news about the XR activist who butchered her boyfriend, thus putting the end of a beautiful friendship marked by heroin, cocaine and cannabis abuse?

    • Stephen says:

      XR’s policies would kill everyone else, if implemented, either through hypothermia or starvation, so I’m sure she thought she was just making a good start.

  • Earth is round says:

    Here’s a nice conspiracy theory which might actually be true: the people doing these kinds of actions are impostors hired by Big Oil companies. Here’s how it might go. Shell or any oil company hires X to defile public monuments or art. The locals are outraged, and in the next election vote for a politician who believes climate change is a hoax and has condemned climate activists as dumb and childish. That politician proceeds to strike down policies that could help transition faster to renewable energies. Result, Shell continues to prosper. Would be great business acumen!

    • Sue Sonata Form says:

      What kind of mental contortion would lead anyone to make such a comment. It’s a shell game about blame and the pea is the brain of the person making the observation.

    • Genius Repairman says:

      Earth is Round I get you!

  • HB says:

    Beethoven would understand.

  • Singeril says:

    And I’m sure they wonder why more people don’t sympathize with their cause.

    • Peter San Diego says:

      There are plenty of people who sympathize with their cause while also condemning their tactics.

  • Doc Martin says:

    The culprits should be condemned to listen to the Grosse fuge for eternity.

  • Tamino says:

    The idiocy of these kids is frightening. Speaks badly for our post-enlightenment decadent education systems in the western world.
    Beethoven’s carbon footprint for sure was much smaller than that of any of these virtue signalling confused kids of today.

    If these lost souls and brains could just channel their energy to first of all becoming more knowledgeable, and then act enlightened and meaningful, wouldn’t that be wonderful for everybody?

    • Dave says:

      Virtue-signalling is probably not the first thing on their minds, unlike many on this site. If this is what they feel they need to do to try to prevent the destruction of the planet’s eco-systems, I’m not going to criticise. If the eco-destruction continues apace, there will be nobody left in 100 years’ time – possibly much sooner – to appreciate Beethoven or any other great art.

      • christopher storey says:

        Perhaps, Dave , you could explain to us all how attacking Beethoven’s statue prevents ” the destruction of the planet’s eco-systems”?

        • Dave says:

          Please could you explain to me how any of this was about “attacking Beethoven’s statue”? My German’s pretty good, and I see no reference to an attack in the linked article.

          At least it gets people talking about in places like this website. Recently we’ve had people disrupt various cultural and sporting events to raise awareness of the issue. Putting a blindfold and a placard on a statue or two is hardly in the same league even as gluing themselves to public property or chucking orange powder at sportspeople, but it’s got the denizens of Slipped Disc all offended. That’s not helped by a clickbait headline – why am I surprised? – using the word “defaced”; I was expecting to read about this in the German press article, but no, it’s blindfolds and placards, pretty harmless, I’d say.

  • Gerry Feinsteen says:

    They’re obviously blaming Beethoven for having 200+ years of printed works—imagine all of the trees torn down so the aristocracy could listen to his fancy schmancy music.
    These kids see The Bible, Symphony No. 9, The Waste Land, and 1984 as the same category of Earth-killers. (They’re okay with Little Red Book, because it’s ‘little’ and Mein Kampf because that’s providing a framework for their ‘struggle’). To them, spilling paint on public streets will recalibrate society’s sense of value.
    Little Greta is coming for you, JK Rowling.

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