Now Beethoven gets taken down

Now Beethoven gets taken down

News

norman lebrecht

January 05, 2022

This is the plinth on which Beethoven’s statue has stoodin Bonn’s Münsterplatz since 1845.

The town never paid a penny towards it – all the money was raised by Liszt – and the upkeep has been generally neglectful.

The statue is now so corroded that it has been take down for at least six months of restoration.

Don’t go to Bonn before the summer if you’re looking for Beethoven.

Comments

  • Peter San Diego says:

    They should perform Liszt’s Beethoven Cantata when the statue is re-erected.

  • Tiredofitall says:

    Reportedly, the statue was completely restored in the years 1963-65. Not surprising, since it weighs over 3 tons and removing it for cleaning and structural checks is a Herculanian task.

  • Amos says:

    A very misleading headline given what is happening in the American South with confederate statues. No the world doesn’t revolve around what goes on in the US but the headline clearly implies something other than the need for refurbishing.

    • Suzy O'Shea says:

      So true Amos,

      Including the free pass that the vandals who tore down Colston’s statue in Bristol got from the court yesterday. This will spread like wildfire!

  • Gustavo says:

    Generally not worth going to Bonn: there is no proper concert hall!

    • Musiclover says:

      There is,but it’s being renovated since couple of years. The Beethoven Orchestra (which is actually very good) is playing concerts in the opera house and in couple of other halls,but of course you are right and one can’t call them a “concert hall”.It’s a pity,cause an orchestra of such level deserves a nice venue.

    • weihan says:

      But less embarrassing than cologne
      s.

  • Word-shooter says:

    Uuuuuu…. you had me there for a moment with that heading…

    I was waiting to shoot at some woke fools, who want to erect some BLM idiocy, in it’s place.

    Not this time… but I’m ready to stand my ground.

    • Gustavo says:

      You mean a statue of Roberto Blanco?

    • Amos says:

      Great to know you are on alert and available at a moments notice. For now feel free to continue preparing for the International Online Dungeons & Dragons Tournament. Best of luck.

    • Sue Sonata Form says:

      The cleaning of the statue is mostly because it has turned green!! (Oh, I thought that was fashionable!!)

      The same colour as the woke activists who want statues removed.

      • Amos says:

        It sounds like you have experience with statue restoration. Would you mind letting us know which of your statues required similar treatment?

  • Minnesota says:

    Masterful click-bait headline.

  • In Britain, it would get taken down because some students thought Beethoven had slaves 🙁
    (Wouldn’t need to be true)

    • Sue Sonata Form says:

      I would willingly have been his slave if I’d lived in Vienna in the 1820s!!

    • John Borstlap says:

      But there is enough evidence of suffering from a supressing urge: treating his housekeepers badly (throwing plates at them), bullying copiists, humiliating Schindler all the time, even offending nobility, and torturing audiences with much too long and complicated pieces.

  • Corno di Caccia says:

    I nearly choked on my cheese and biscuits when I saw this headline in my news feed. I’m glad of the explanation. I wasn’t planning to visit Bonn this summer but thanks for the advanced warning.

  • Peter says:

    For a rare spirit like Beethoven, statues are a waste of money.
    His music will stand for all time,
    a monument to his genius.

    • Sue Sonata Form says:

      Liszt paid for that statue and organized its construction. He was a very philanthropic individual and we owe him a debt of gratitude for keeping Beethoven alive for the people of Bonn, at the very least, during the 19th century.

  • Elmar B says:

    It s a pity. I have lived in Bonn for 5 years and the Beethoven Statue is one of the markers downtown along with the beautiful university palace
    Hope it will be restored since this man was the greatest ger.a composer

  • “Don’t go to Bonn before the summer if you’re looking for Beethoven.” Nah, it’s just a game of Haydn seek.

  • Maria says:

    At least not being thrown into the river and court cases as we have had in Britain because our history is somewhat ‘inconvenient!’ for the woke.

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