Germany starts nationwide celebrations for Beethoven’s 250th birthday

The anniversary year of the 250th birthday of composer and pianist Ludwig van Beethoven was officially opened with a festive concert in his hometown, the German city of Bonn on Monday.

About 300 projects, including thousands of events, will be implemented under the brand “BTHVN2020” until Dec. 17, 2020, Beethoven’s 250th birthday, according to the organizer.

In an opening speech, German Minister of Culture Monika Gruetters said that

Beethoven’s music touches, moves, inspires and connects people across all borders, and it is not difficult to bring him mentally into the present day since he was one of the first globally revered mega-stars.

To start into the anniversary year, Beethoven’s birthplace in Bonn, now a museum, will be reopened to the public from Tuesday after a renovation that cost 3.75 million euros (4.18 million U.S. dollars).

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Internationally renowned Chinese composer Tan Dun is scheduled to perform his Beethoven-inspired work “The Nine Project” for the first time in August 2020.

Beethoven lived in Bonn for the first two decades of his life. The German pianist later settled in the Austria’s Vienna where he died in 1827.

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Source: Xinhua – BONN