Musik ist höhere Offenbarung als alle Weisheit und Philosophie.
–Ludwig van Beethoven
The other day I was taking a nice stroll through the Tiergarten (quite literally, the Garden of Animals, which is itself a sight to behold) when I stumbled upon this beast: the Beethoven-Haydn-Mozart-Denkmal. Whoa! Something about the almost clear sky and the clouds that cut across it, something about the lush greens rolled out across this city park, something about the air of old trees and new flowers made the sight of this statue overwhelming.
The statue as we see it now is the product of restoration efforts that were only completed in 2007. The ten meter high statue was originally erected in 1904, and established by Rudolf and Wolfgang Siemering, in honor, of course, of the three composers: Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. Reconstruction became necessary after the destruction of Berlin in the Second World War. Many of the 145 individual parts making up the statue had to be restored due to bullet holes and other damage. Some parts that were entirely lost, e.g., Mozart's nose (his poor schnoz!), had to be recreated from images in old postcards and historical photos. Nevertheless, the statue stands today, beautiful as ever. So, go and pay homage to these musical brutes.
