Guided tour: Beethoven’s Mechelen

We tend to associate the great classical composer Ludwig van Beethoven with Für Elise and Germany. But if ‘van Beethoven’ doesn’t sound very German, it’s because the composer had Flemish roots. In fact, Ludwig’s grandfather, Lodewijck, grew up in Mechelen! 

As you walk the streets of Mechelen with your guide, you can see the 18th-century city through Ludwig’s eyes. You will discover places and buildings frequented by the Van Beethovens on a daily basis. What would Lodewijk recognise if he were to return to the city of his birth today? On this walk, the story of this famous family is presented in the wider context of the Burgundian capital of the Netherlands.