The bronze statue of Ludwig van Beethoven on the Münsterplatz was unveiled in 1845, with Queen Victoria and her consort Prince Albert attending the ceremony. It was one of the first public monuments to a composer ever erected in Germany — fitting for a city whose greatest claim to fame is his birth.
The statue shows Beethoven in mid-thought, papers clutched under his arm and head slightly bowed. It anchors the south side of the Münsterplatz and is surrounded by tables from the surrounding cafes in summer. Together with the Beethoven-Haus a few streets away, it forms the symbolic core of Bonn's identity as the composer's hometown.