It is the best office of art, of Beethoven's art in
particular, that it leads ever onward and upward; that it acts not only
on the esthetic and moral sense, but develops the mental faculties as
well, enabling the individual to find a purpose and meaning in life.
* * * * *
Ludwig van Beethoven was born at Bonn, December 16, 1770. He came of a
musical family. His father and grandfather were both musicians at Bonn,
at the Court of the Elector of Cologne. The family originally came from
Louvain, and settled in Antwerp in 1650, from which place they moved to
Bonn.
This old city on the Rhine, frequently mentioned by Tacitus, older than
Christianity, the scene of innumerable battles from Roman times up to
the beginning of the nineteenth century, has much that is interesting
about it, but is distinguished chiefly on account of having been
Beethoven's birthplace. It was for five centuries (from 1268 to 1794) in
the possession of the Electors of Cologne. The last one of all, Max
Franz, who succeeded to the Electorate when Beethoven was fourteen years
of age, and who befriended him in various ways was, in common with the
entire Imperial family, a highly cultivated person, especially in music.
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