Exhibitions

Beethoven and the widely ramified Brentano family are connected through various points of contact and diverse stories. Their relationships open up new perspectives on the composer. They show Beethoven as an artistic personality between classical and romanticism who inspired many others, but also as a person who cultivated friendships and valued family life.

The writer Bettine Brentano was a colourful figure with many facets. She admired Beethoven enthusiastically and sought his company. However, her accounts of him are highly stylised and literary. With a trilogy of letters, she shaped an image of Beethoven that continues to have an impact today. Her brother Clemens Brentano was also deeply impressed by Beethoven's music and was inspired by it to write poetic reflections. Beethoven first became acquainted with the siblings' half-brother Franz Brentano through his wife Antonie, with whom he already had a close friendship and felt a deep connection.

In the few years from 1810 to 1813, personal exchanges, creative impulses and emotional closeness intensified, as evidenced by compositions, letters, musical dedications and memoirs. They provide deep insights into the private and artistic worlds of the protagonists of this exhibition.