Exhibitions

50 years ago, on 28 May 1956, the Zurich Beethoven admirer Dr. h. c. Hans Conrad Bodmer (1891-1956) died. He succeeded in amassing the largest private Beethoven collection ever. He bequeathed it in its entirety to the Beethoven-Haus in his will. This was one of the greatest acts of patronage in the field of music ever. At the time, people rightly spoke of a second foundation of the Beethoven-Haus Association. The house's already impressive collection had tripled in size in one fell swoop. We would like to honour the personality of this outstanding collector and patron of the fine arts and Beethoven research with a presentation of his collection. What was only accessible to a few selected artists such as Alfred Cortot or Wilhelm Backhaus during his lifetime is now increasing the knowledge of Beethoven and honouring the memory of H. C. Bodmer in the Beethoven-Haus (and in its digital archive on the Internet).

Brief Guide
Petit Guide