The Beethovenhalle's own Facebook channel (opens in a new tab) is not the only place where the municipal building management provides insights into the construction site. With the regular reports, you can also get an idea of the construction progress here.
More articles from the 2024 Advent calendar
October 9, 2024: Construction site concert by the Beethoven Orchester Bonn
September 23, 2024: Unveiling of the Fassbender mural
September 18, 2024: Video documentation of the work on the Italian glass mosaic on the exterior facade of the restaurant
September 9, 2024: Thank you video for the Open Monument Day 2024 in the Beethovenhalle
September 3, 2024: Memories of the fire in 1983
41 years ago, on the night of July 31, 1983, there was a fire in the Beethovenhalle. The fire damaged large parts of the concert hall's stage. WDR recently retrieved its historical TV footage from the archive and produced this report (opens in a new tab).
The traces of the fire can now be seen once again during the restoration of the Beethovenhalle. The back wall of the stage was particularly badly damaged. However, the acoustic cladding at the back was omitted during the restoration at the time - something that changed the basis for the acoustics for decades. This is now being corrected. The restoration of the stage stairs also reveals which steps were replaced at the time: among other things, the typical brass screw points are missing.
August 26, 2024: The first ventilation system goes into operation
June 2024: The historic doors to the concert hall
65 years old and on the way to the future!
The doors of the concert hall must open and close automatically.
For more comfort - but above all for fire safety.
The restored hall door made of Macassar veneer with original bronze fittings has passed the first test:
Monument protection and fire safety go hand in hand in the Beethovenhalle Bonn.
April 2024: The early bird catches the worm
The final pieces of the puzzle for the smoke extraction technology - the two fans that remove smoke from the concert hall in the event of a fire - were installed above the roof on April 11, 2024.
This completes the work at this point and the copper roof can be completely closed. The mobile crane was delivered early in the morning and those present were greeted with a sensational view of the sunrise.
2023
October 2023: Dismantling of the scaffolding in the Great Hall has begun
At last! After six years, it is once again possible to look up at the historic stucco ceiling!
This is how long the 14,400 cubic meters of scaffolding stood in the Great Hall, serving both as safety scaffolding for the work in the roof space and as working scaffolding for the restoration of the acoustic ceiling. It is now being dismantled from top to bottom and, piece by piece, the concert hall is being restored to its full size.
Another milestone on the way to completion!
September 2023: The sample axle is hanging!
Still hidden behind the scaffolding, you can already get an idea of what the Great Hall will eventually look like again.
Freshly restored, parts of the historic wood panelling on the walls are back from Berlin, where they are being refurbished in the workshop of a company specializing in the restoration of wooden objects.
We set up an initial axis to test the exact assembly process. The trades work together to ensure that everything fits and sits correctly and that important supply lines for the electrical, media and ventilation technology are in place. The ventilation nozzles, which fit perfectly behind the openings, were the biggest challenge that had to be mastered. If they are later painted dark, they should disappear into the shadows as inconspicuously as possible.
August 2023
Now that the large appliances are in place, the connection work in the roof continues.
The pipes that make the ventilation units functional are now being installed over an area of 1,100 m². To do this, 170 meters of spiral ducts have to be connected with 150 fittings. The diameter of the largest pipes is 1.25 meters. The delivery of the silencers to be installed took two articulated lorry loads. 60 ducts for the media technology extend from the top of the roof space down into the acoustic ceiling. Here, one floor below, work is already in progress on the 8 to 30 cm diameter opening ends through which the microphones and cables of the trusses for loudspeakers and spotlights will be routed in future. Hardly any of the complex fire protection sleeves will be visible below. They are carefully adapted to the shape of the Rabitz ceiling and plastered in by the plasterers.