Germany: Beethoven's house in Bonn reopens to celebrate the composer's 250th birthday To celebrate the 250th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven's birth, the composer's home in Bonn reopens to the public as a museum after extensive renovation, on the day most widely believed to be his birthday. The museum includes an exhibition with scores and instruments as well as the notebooks he used to communicate after going deaf in 1801 -- 26 years before his death. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES