List of monuments to Ludwig van Beethoven

The German composer Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) has been the subject of many monuments, including statues, busts, and other sculptures. The first, a bust by Franz Klein, was commissioned by Johann Andreas Streicher and created in 1812 while the composer was still alive.[1] After Beethoven's death in 1827, his hometown, Bonn, immediately began planning a monument for the following year,[2] though a cholera outbreak delayed this.[3] Due to finances given by Robert Schumann, Charles Hallé, George Thomas Smart and especially Franz Liszt, a monument was eventually erected in 1845; it was by Ernst Julius Hähnel, who beat Friedrich von Amerling in a design competition.[2][4] The monument's height and simplicity were criticized, although the reliefs surrounding the base were met with public approval.[4] The statue's depiction of a figure standing with their legs slightly apart on a decorated base was popular at the time and later inspired Theodore Baur's c. 1895 statue in the Library of Congress.[5]

Bust of Beethoven by Hugo Hagen

Despite this, the Beethoven monuments that followed Hähnel's, while retaining a high pedestal,[6] began depicting the composer in a less simplistic and increasingly heroic light.[7] The most significant representative of this, and the most famous Beethoven monument from the second half of the 19th-century, was Kaspar von Zumbusch's intensely allegorical 1880 monument in Beethovenplatz, Vienna.[8] Vienna had intended to erect a monument for Beethoven since his death,[2] but serious action to do so only began in the 1870s, when a competition for a design was held and Zumbusch's winning design was created with financial support from Liszt and Johannes Brahms.[9]

In the early 20th-century, the glorified depictions of Beethoven reached their peak, with god-like representations such as Max Klinger's monument, unveiled at the Vienna Secession (1902),[10] and Fidus's unexecuted design for a 'Beethoven temple' (1903).[11] The 20th-century also saw a brief return to the simplistic style of the 19th-century, such Robert Weigl's statue at the Library of Congress (1910) and Hugo Uher's statue in Karlovy Vary (1929).[12] Also at this time, Antoine Bourdelle and Naoum Aronson, both students of Auguste Rodin, began creating busts of the composer.[13] Bourdelle was especially prolific, with more than 20 of his busts surviving.[13] As the century progressed, ideas on depicting Beethoven became largely ununified, and were often especially allegorical, such as Theodor von Gosen's monument in Alameda Central, Mexico City (1921).[14] In 1926, Berlin hosted a monument competition in preparation for the composer's 100th anniversary the following year; the entire competition was controversial and was eventually canceled due to criticism from the press and the inability for the committee to form a consensus.[15] There had been submissions from famous sculptors including Ernst Barlach, Georg Kolbe and Peter Breuer, although Kolbe and Breuer eventually had their designs constructed in 1948 and 1938 respectively.[15] After World War II, experimentation in depicting Beethoven increased even further, exemplified Klaus Kammerichs's 3d reproduction of Joseph Karl Stieler portrait (1986) and Markus Lüpertz's controversial abstract depiction (2014).[16][17]

A large number of busts reside in the Beethoven House, a museum and cultural institution based in Bonn that studies Beethoven's life and legacy, including ones by Fernando Cian (first quarter of the 20th-century);[18] Pierre Félix Masseau (1902);[19] Aronson (1905);[13] Wilhelm Hüsgen (1920–27);[20] Eduard Merz (1945/46);[21] Lewon Konstantinowitsch Lasarew (1981);[22] and Cantemir Riscutia (1998).[23]

Monuments

Monuments to Ludwig van Beethoven

Image	Type	Location	Date[lower-alpha 1]	Sculptor	Ref(s)
	Bust	Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Austria	1812	Franz Klein	[1]
	Statue, bronze	Münsterplatz Bonn, Germany	12 August 1845	Ernst Julius Hähnel	[2][4][24]
	Bust	Vienna, Austria	15/23 June 1863	Anton Dominik Fernkorn	[25]
	Statue	Beethovenplatz Vienna, Austria	1 May 1880	Kaspar von Zumbusch	[8]
	Bust and monument	Central Park New York, New York United States	22 July 1884	Henry Baerer	[26][27][28]
External image Ferdinand Freiherr von Miller's bust, on the Tower Grove Park website	Bust	Tower Grove Park St. Louis, Missouri United States	1884	Ferdinand Freiherr von Miller	[29]
	Bust, plaster	Beethoven House Bonn, Germany	c. 1890	Unknown (based on a sculpture by Josef Danhauser)	[30]
	Bust	Library of Congress Washington, D.C. United States	1892	Hugo Hagen	[31]
	Bust, bronze	Prospect Park New York, New York United States	20 October 1894	Henry Baerer	[32]
	Statue	Naples, Italy	1895	Francesco Jerace	[33]
	Statue	Library of Congress Washington, D.C. United States	c. 1895	Theodore Baur	[5]
	Bust	?[lower-alpha 2] Last seen in Lincoln Park Chicago, Illinois United States	1897	Johannes Gelert	[34]
External image Thomas Crawford's statue, on the Digital Commonwealth Massachusetts Collections Online	Statue	New England Conservatory of Music Boston, Massachusetts United States	1900	Thomas Crawford	[35]
	Bust	Garden of the Beethoven House Bonn, Germany	First quarter of the 20th-century	Fernando Cian[lower-alpha 3]	[18]
	Bust, bronze and marble	Garden of the Beethoven House Bonn, Germany	1902	Pierre Félix Masseau	[19]
	Statue, marble	Vienna, Austria	1902[lower-alpha 4]	Max Klinger	[36][37]
External image Thomas Crawford's statue, on the Digital Commonwealth Massachusetts Collections Online	Statue, marble	Boston, Massachusetts United States	After 1902	Max Klinger	[38]
	Bust	Garden of the Beethoven House Bonn, Germany	1905	Naoum Aronson	[13]
	Sculpture, bronze; with marble base	Leipzig, Germany	1907	Max Klinger	[39]
	Statue	Library of Congress Washington, D.C. United States	1910	Robert Weigl	[12][40]
	Bust and monument	Golden Gate Park San Francisco, California United States	6 August 1915	Henry Baerer	[41]
	Mask	Garden of the Beethoven House Bonn, Germany	1920–27	Wilhelm Hüsgen?[lower-alpha 5]	[20]
	Statue, ?	Alameda Central Mexico City, Mexico	1921	Theodor von Gosen	[14]
	Relief	Malá Strana Prague, Czech Republic	March 1927	Otakar Španiel	[42]
	Bust	Martonvásár, Hungary	1927	Jànos Pàsztor	[43]
	Statue, bronze; with granite base	Monument to Ludwig van Beethoven Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic	29 September 1929	Hugo Uher	[44]
	Statue	Budapest, Hungary	1932	János Horvay	[45][46]
	Statue	Pershing Square Los Angeles, California United States	14 October 1932[lower-alpha 6]	-	[47]
	Relief, ceramic	Rostock Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany	1934	Paul Wallat	[48]
	Monument	Alter Zoll Bonn, Germany	1938	Peter Breuer	[49]
	Bust	Garden of the Beethoven House Bonn, Germany	1945/46	Eduard Merz	[21]
	Statue(s)	Frankfurt, Germany	1948	Georg Kolbe	[50]
	Bust	Redoute, Bad Godesberg Bonn, Germany	1955	Franz Rotter	[51]
External image Cypriano Fernandes's statue, on site dedicated to Beethoven	Statue	Siolim Goa, India	1 May 1976	Cypriano Fernandes	[52]
	Bust	Garden of the Beethoven House Bonn, Germany	1981	Lewon Konstantinowitsch Lasarew	[22]
	Monument	Beethovenhalle Bonn, Germany	1986	Klaus Kammerichs after Joseph Karl Stieler	[16]
	Statue	Naruto, Tokushima, Japan	1997	Peter Kuschel	[53]
	Bust, bronze	Garden of the Beethoven House Bonn, Germany	1998	Cantemir Riscutia	[23]
	Monument	Stadtgarten Bonn, Germany	30 March 2014	Markus Lüpertz	[54][17]
	Statue(s)	Martonvásár, Hungary	31 December 2014	Nagy János	[55]

Selected Bourdelle works

Antoine Bourdelle made many busts of Beethoven.

Statuary of Ludwig van Beethoven

Image	Location	Date[lower-alpha 7]	Sculptor	Ref(s)
External image Antoine Bourdelle's study, on the Smithsonian Institution website	Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Washington, D.C.	1889[lower-alpha 8]	Antoine Bourdelle	[56]
	Musée Ingres Montauban, France	1891	Antoine Bourdelle	[57][58]
	Musée Ingres Montauban, France	1901–02	Antoine Bourdelle	[59][60]
	Musée d'Orsay Paris, France	1903	Antoine Bourdelle	[61]
External image Antoine Bourdelle's bust, on the Metropolitan Museum of Art website	Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, New York	c. 1926	Antoine Bourdelle	[62]
	Musée Ingres Montauban, France	1927–28	Antoine Bourdelle	[63]
External image Antoine Bourdelle's statue, on the Princeton University Art Museum website	Princeton University Art Museum Princeton, New Jersey	1929	Antoine Bourdelle	[64]

Unexecuted

Proposed statuary

Sketch	Date[lower-alpha 9]	Sculptor	Remarks	Ref(s)
	1840s	Friedrich von Amerling		[2]
	c. 1840	Gustav Blaeser		[7]
	c. 1840–45	Friedrich Drake		[6]
	c. 1890	Emil Eugen Sachse		[7]
	1903	Fidus	Draft for a Beethoven temple	[11]
	1926	Ernst Barlach	Submission for Beethoven monument competition	[15]

See also

• Beethoven Frieze

Notes

1. For public monuments and statues the date the work was unveiled is given if available; for other works the year of creation, or approximation of, is given.
2. The monument was stolen in 1970; only fragments remain.
3. The portrait bust based on a sculpture by Fernando Cian and is assumed to have been done by Cian himself
4. Unveiled at the Vienna Secession
5. Wilhelm Hüsgen is the presumed creator of the mask.
6. Installed to honor William Andrews Clark Jr., founder of the Los Angeles Philharmonic
7. Date the statue was unveiled
8. A study
9. Date the statue was unveiled

References

General

• Comini, Alessandra (2008). The Changing Image of Beethoven: A Study in Mythmaking. Santa Fe, New Mexico: Sunstone Press. ISBN 978-0-86534-661-1.

Specific

1. "Beginning and precursors". internet.beethoven.de. Beethoven House. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
2. "The first Beethoven monument". internet.beethoven.de. Beethoven House. Archived from the original on 8 October 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
3. Comini 2008, p. 316.
4. "The Beethoven monument on the Münsterplatz in Bonn". internet.beethoven.de. Beethoven House. Archived from the original on 8 October 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
5. "Further development of the Bonn type of monument". internet.beethoven.de. Beethoven House. Archived from the original on 8 October 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
6. "The time of the great Beethoven monuments". internet.beethoven.de. Beethoven House. Archived from the original on 6 October 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
7. "Beethoven becomes an 'Olympian figure'". internet.beethoven.de. Beethoven House. Archived from the original on 2 December 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
8. "Caspar Zumbusch's Beethoven monument". internet.beethoven.de. Beethoven House. Archived from the original on 8 October 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
9. "Caspar Zumbusch's Beethoven monument - II". internet.beethoven.de. Beethoven House. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
10. "From Apollo to Jupiter". internet.beethoven.de. Beethoven House. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
11. "Beethoven monuments of the Reform Movements in the early 20th century". Beethoven House.
12. "Searching for new forms". internet.beethoven.de. Beethoven House. Archived from the original on 8 October 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
13. "Beethoven depictions influenced by Auguste Rodin". internet.beethoven.de. Beethoven House. Archived from the original on 8 October 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
14. "Beethoven monuments between tradition and modernity". internet.beethoven.de. Beethoven House. Archived from the original on 11 October 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
15. "A Beethoven monument in Berlin". internet.beethoven.de. Beethoven House. Archived from the original on 1 October 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
16. "A time for experiments - I". internet.beethoven.de. Beethoven House. Archived from the original on 8 October 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
17. "Two-headed Beethoven statue causes controversy". classicfm.com. Classic FM. Archived from the original on 21 September 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
18. "Beethoven-Büste - Bronzeguß von Fernando Cian" [Beethoven bust - bronze casting by Fernando Cian]. internet.beethoven.de (in German). Beethoven House. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
19. "Beethoven, Ludwig van". schubertiademusic.com. Schubertiade. Archived from the original on 2 December 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
20. "Beethoven-Maske - Bronzeguß einer Maske von Wilhelm Hüsgen" [Beethoven mask - bronze casting of a mask by Wilhelm Hüsgen]. internet.beethoven.de (in German). Beethoven House. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
21. "Beethoven-Büste - Skulptur von Eduard Merz" [Beethoven bust - sculpture by Eduard Merz]. internet.beethoven.de (in German). Beethoven House. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
22. "Beethoven-Büste - Anonyme Fotografie nach einem Original-Bronzegruß von Levon Lazarev" [Beethoven bust - anonymous photograph based on an original bronze salute by Levon Lazarev]. internet.beethoven.de (in German). Beethoven House. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
23. "Beethoven-Büste - Originalbronzeguß von Cantemir Riscutia" [Beethoven bust - original bronze casting by Cantemir Riscutia]. internet.beethoven.de (in German). Beethoven House. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
24. "Beethoven. Die Denkmäler" [Beethoven. The monuments]. bonn.de (in German). City of Bonn. Archived from the original on 2 December 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
25. "Beethovendenkmal (19, Beethovengang)" [Beethoven Monument (19, Beethoven Walk)]. geschichtewiki.wien.gv.at (in German). Vienna History Wiki. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
26. "Beethoven Statue". centralpark.org. Central Park. Archived from the original on 2 December 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
27. "Ludwig Van Beethoven". nycgovparks.org. The City of New York. Archived from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
28. "Ludwig van Beethoven". centralparknyc.org. Central Park Conservancy. Archived from the original on 6 August 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
29. "Statues & Busts". towergrovepark.org. Tower Grove Park. Archived from the original on 24 September 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
30. "Beethoven-Büste - Gipsabguß nach der Plastik von Josef Danhauser" [Beethoven bust - plaster cast based on the sculpture by Josef Danhauser]. internet.beethoven.de (in German). Beethoven House. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
31. "Ludwig van Beethoven - studied from the death mask [i.e. life mask]". loc.gov. Library of Congress. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
32. "Ludwig Van Beethoven". nycgovparks.org. The City of New York. Archived from the original on 7 August 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
33. An Eminent Italian Sculptor: Francesco Jerace. The Art Journal. London, UK: Virtue and Company. 1899. p. 108.
34. "Ludwig van Beethoven Monument, Lincoln Park, Chicago, early 20th century". collections.carli.illinois.edu. CARLI Digital Collections Home. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
35. "Beethoven Statue". necmusic.edu. New England Conservatory of Music. Archived from the original on 18 October 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
36. "Max Klinger (1857-1920)". mahlerfoundation.org. Mahler Foundation. Archived from the original on 24 September 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
37. Hickley, Catherine (3 March 2020). "Topless Beethoven to take centre stage in Leipzig survey of Symbolist artist Max Klinger". The Art Newspaper. Archived from the original on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
38. "Figure of Beethoven". collections.mfa.org. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
39. "Scala Archives – Images details". scalarchives.com. Scala Archives. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
40. "Das Beethoven-Denkmal in Heiligenstadt, um 1910 - Fotografie der Plastik von Robert Weigl". internet.beethoven.de. Beethoven House. Archived from the original on 1 October 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
41. Whiting, Sam (14 February 2015). "Panama-Pacific International Expo: Tracking down the artifacts". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
42. "Bleibt gesund!" [Stay Healthy!]. kozterkep.hu (in German). Radio Prague International. 12 January 2021. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
43. "Beethoven-szobor". kozterkep.hu (in Hungarian). Köztérkép Mozgalom. Archived from the original on 2 December 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
44. "Ludwig Van Beethoven's Monument". karlovyvary.cz. Information centre Karlovy Vary. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
45. Pap, Miklós; Székely, László; Vitéz, András; Aradi, Nóra (1964). Budapest; a guide to the capital of Hungary. Budapest, Hungary: Corvina Press. p. 160. OCLC 80881. At present a statue of Beethoven by János Horvay (1932), and the statue of the “Tyrolese Sharpshooter" by Zsigmond Kisfaludi Strobl (1940), ornament the park
46. "Beethoven szobra a Városmajorban, 1933-35-ös éve". gallery.hungaricana.hu (in Hungarian). Hungaricana. Archived from the original on 2 December 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
47. Harrison, Scott (25 September 2018). "From the Archives: 'Know Your City' No. 4 - Beethoven statue". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
48. "Ludwig van Beethoven". statues.vanderkrogt.net. Statues - Hither & Thither. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
49. "Peter Christian Breuer's Beethoven monument". internet.beethoven.de. Beethoven House. Archived from the original on 9 October 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
50. "Dem Genius Beethoven". frankfurt-tourismus.de. Frankfurt Tourism. Archived from the original on 17 November 2016. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
51. "Beethoven-Büste (von Rotter)". statues.vanderkrogt.net. Statues - Hither & Thither. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
52. Gupta, Sujay (24 September 2017). "Longing and Belonging in the Lanes of Siolim". O Heraldo. Archived from the original on 2 December 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
53. "Treasures of "Naruto-Daiku"". city.naruto.tokushima.jp. Naruto City - Division for Cultural and Exchange Promotion. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
54. "Markus Lüpertz - Beethoven". stiftungkunst.de. Foundation for Art and Culture. Archived from the original on 24 October 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
55. A Szerk (1 January 2015). "Beethoven és a halhatatlan kedves megható története". Librarius (in Hungarian). Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
56. "Beethoven with Abundant Hair (Study for the "Third Sculpture of Beethoven") | Collections Search Center, Smithsonian Institution". Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on 2 December 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
57. "Head of Beethoven | Cleveland Museum of Art". Cleveland Museum of Art. Archived from the original on 4 November 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
58. "Philadelphia Museum of Art - Collections Object: Beethoven with Long Hair". Philadelphia Museum of Art. Archived from the original on 2 December 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
59. "Émile-Antoine Bourdelle. Beethoven. 1901 | MoMA". Museum of Modern Art. Archived from the original on 17 November 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
60. "Buste de Beethoven" (in French). Ministry of Culture. Archived from the original on 21 February 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
61. "Musée d'Orsay: Emile-Antoine Bourdelle Ludwig van Beethoven". Musée d'Orsay. Archived from the original on 3 August 2016. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
62. "Antoine-Emile Bourdelle | Beethoven | French | The Met". Metropolitan Museum of Art. Archived from the original on 16 July 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
63. "Work: Beethoven, Head with Grapes - Emile-Antoine Bourdelle (Museums of Occitanie)". Musée Ingres. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
64. "La Pathétique, 1929". Princeton University Art Museum. Archived from the original on 2 December 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.

External links

• A slideshow of Beethoven depictions from the Deutsches Historisches Museum on Google Arts & Culture