Ludwig van Beethoven, Denkmal in Mexico City, 1930 - Plastik von Theodor von Gosen, Fotografie, Mexiko-Stadt, um 1930

In the decade between 1920 and 1930, the general admiration for Ludwig van Beethoven was at its peak. One of the reasons was the 100th anniversary of the composer's death in 1927. The monuments that had been created during that time, distinguish themselves through a big variety in their concepts and their style. What almost all of those monuments had in common was the fat that now, they less wanted to honor Beethoven as a person, but rather his music. In this respect, there had been a number of different approaches with Beethoven's artistic performance as the chief motive and they only marginally incorporated the depiction of the composer.

The Beethoven monument of Theodor von Gosen (1873-1943) in Mexico City is an example of such an approach. The allegorical motives, which had been attached to the area of the pedestal as commonly done in the 19th century, had been made the chief element of the depictions. On a high platform, there is a genius with wings, and a figure - the suffering human soul - is begging him for salvation on its knees. The mask of the composer, which is attached to the pedestal of the monument, indicates that Beethoven's music leads to salvation.(S.B.)