Ceremonial Unveiling of the Beethoven Monument

August Wilhelm von Schlegel was also one of the “fathers” of the Beethoven monument and it was he who made the crucial suggestion to set it up on the Münsterplatz square. The unveiling ceremony and Bonn’s first Beethoven Festival in 1845, organised by Franz Liszt, were “a unique event in the history of music”. 
 
The ceremony was not without its awkward moments. Beethoven monument turned its back on the most important guests, King Frederick William IV of Prussia and the British Queen Victoria, who
had taken their places on the balcony of the Fürstenberg Palace, now the main post office. Alexander von Humboldt saved the day by remarking that Beethoven had always been a rude fellow. Even more embarrassed was the fact that, during the toasts at the festival banquet in the “Goldene Stern”, Liszt snubbed the French contingent led by Berlioz and nearly caused a riot. Also, the Spanish dancer, Lola Montez, the famous mistress of the popular tragic-romantic King Ludwig I of Bavaria, made a scandalous guest appearance by dancing wildly on the tables. The king was later forced to end his affair.