The exact date of Beethoven's birth is unknown, but as he was baptised on the 17th Dec 1770 and the custom was for this to take place within 24 hours of birth, it is likely that he was born on 16th December 1770 in Bonn. Most of the information that we have of Beethoven's early years comes down through an account known as the'Fischer manuscript' which was written by Gottfried Fischer and his sister Cäcilie Fischer who both lived in the house known as the Fischerhaus in the Rheingasse, where the Beethoven family also had lodgings intermittently from 1776-1786.

When the Beethoven monument was unveiled in Bonn in 1845, the Fischers were still living in the Rheingasse. From their account, we learn that Beethoven attended elementary school in the Neugasse, he then went to the school attached to Bonn cathedral and subsequently to a school in the Bongasse.

His father, Johann (a Court Tenor) gave him instructions in piano, Violin and possibly Viola. His first public concert was 0n 26th March 1778 when he was aged 7 (the same day he was to die 49 years later). Realising the boy's talents and his own limitations as a teacher, Johann found other tutors for Ludwig and the most notable of these was C.G.Neefe who was responsible for introducing Beethoven to the music of J.S.Bach.

In 1782 Beethoven was assisting Neefe as deputy court organist and his first work, a set of variations on a march by Dressler was published. Soon he was playing the Viola in the court orchestra, gaining invaluable knowledge of orchestral music and the art of writing for the orchestra.

Beethoven had first visited Vienna in 1787 with the intention of studying with Mozart. Barely had he arrived when he was summoned back to Bonn to his dying mother. In 1792 a second visit is arranged, this time to study with Joseph Haydn (Mozart having died in 1791). Beethoven may not have know it at the time, but Vienna was to remain his home for the rest of his life.

It was as a pianist rather than a composer that the young man first began to make an impression, with the virtuoso technique and dramatic improvisations.

Beethoven was also meeting many influential people, particularly amongst the aristocracy - in this he was aided by the 'van' in his name, which many mistook to represent nobility (as with the German 'Von').