The neighbouring buildings (Bonngasse 18 and 24 to 26) accommodate a research centre (Beethoven archive) comprising a collection, a library and publishing house, and a chamber music hall.

In order to preserve spacious museum rooms, the floor plans of the main house were changed and an office for the association, plus a library and a flat for the janitor were installed.

In order to preserve the character of Beethoven's birthplace in its contemporary environment and to protect the building, the association bought the neighbouring house number 22 in 1893.

It combines the attributes of different subdued peoples: The dark skin colour and feather ornaments and pipe refers to the indigenous nations of Central- and South Africa and North America.

In World War II, senior building officer Theodor Wildemann, who later served as the association's chairman, in made sure that the collection was brought to an underground shelter near Siegen, avoiding any war-related losses or damages.

Due to the help of janitors Heinrich Hasselbach and Wildemans, who were later awarded the German Federal Cross of Merit, and Dr. Franz Rademacher from the Rhenish National Museum, the bomb did not cause a disaster.

In 1767, court singer Johann van Beethoven (1740–1792) moved into the garden wing of the house at Bonngasse 20 after marrying Maria Magdalena Keverich (1746–1787) from Koblenz/Ehrenbreitstein.

[6][7] Johann's father, bandmaster Ludwig van Beethoven (1712–1773), the composer's grandfather, moved into a flat located in the house diagonally opposite.

The child was named after his grandfather Ludwig van Beethoven (1712–1773), a reputable court bandmaster, singer and wine merchant, who was also his godfather.

The baptism celebration took place in the neighbouring house Im Mohren at the residence of Beethoven's godmother Anna Gertrud Baum, née Müller.

Nowadays a diorama on the ground floor clarifies the distance and location between the city center of Bonn, the Bonner Münster, the electoral castle, the marketplace and the Bonngasse.

In 2015, the British Artist Mark Alexander (b.1966) created a series of work titled Credo I - V, to commemorate 245th anniversary of Beethoven's birth.

The studio for digital collections where visitors see and read and partially even explore by listening all the digitised documents as well as manuscripts and first prints of compositions, letters and pictures[19][20] is now located on the other side of the Bonngasse, where the shop and the lecture hall are found.

Since 2010 chamber music ensembles can also participate in these classes, where famous artists study and perform Beethoven compositions with young musicians during public rehearsals.

In addition, the students have access to the corresponding manuscripts, can discuss themes on philology, music history and performance techniques with the staff of the Beethoven-Haus and can obtain advice on how to interpret Beethoven's compositions.

Since 2013, the Beethoven-Haus also organizes mentoring supported by Bonn Rotary Club and Foundation Arp e. V. Young musicologists and musicians have the chance to promote their academic or artistic studies.

Until spring 2015 the Villa Wasmuth was his studio, where he created a work cycle of five paintings after the famous Beethoven portrait by Joseph Karl Stieler.

Children who play an instrument meet several times a year at the chamber music hall to study and perform adaptations of Beethoven compositions.

The site contains information on topics such as Beethoven's family, his friends and school career, his daily routine, his illnesses, the social and political situation at that time and so on.

[39] Thanks to bequests, purchases and gifts from individuals (such as Herbert Grundmann, Hans Klingemann, Freiherr von Geyr, Hanns J. Eller, Dr. Klaus Steltmann) the library grew significantly.

Its reading room and reference library are popular with users from all over the world who enjoy working and studying at a historic quartet table at which Beethoven himself might have played.

[44] Besides working on the complete edition, the Beethoven archive staff is also reviewing the composition directory published by Georg Kinsky and Hans Halm in 1955.

[45] Publishing selected manuscripts as facsimile editions fulfils the intentions of the Beethoven-Haus founders: collect and maintain original documents, prepare them under scientific aspects and make them available for researchers and the public.

v. Brunsvik, or to the Immortal Beloved), Beethoven's diary 1812–1818 or the register his Bonn friends gave the composer as a farewell gift upon his departure to Vienna in 1792.

As Beethoven's handwriting is oftentimes hard to decipher and as the preserved letters are spread all over the world, this task constituted a particularly challenging endeavour.

They aimed not only at reconstructing the birthplace "as it was when Beethoven was young" but also at setting up a collection comprising all his compositions as manuscripts and printed editions, his letters, pictures and other beloved items as well as all literature about him, i.e. everything that allows the recipient to explore the composer.

Charity concerts under the direction of Joseph Joachim and supported by renowned musicians raised enough money to maintain the buildings and pay for the association's activities.

[citation needed] On 10 May 1893, during the second chamber music festival, the Beethoven-Haus was opened as a memorial site and museum for Beethoven's life, work and impact.

The statute from 1896 describes its purposes as follows: Maintain the memory of Ludwig van Beethoven by means of a museum and a collection, events, musical performances, prizes and scholarships, as well as Beethoven-Haus publications.

[60] Nevertheless, as part of the 2006 initiative "Invest in Germany – Land of Ideas", former German president Horst Köhler awarded the Beethoven-Haus a prize for its innovative combination of museum, research site and new media.