Early life

Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany on 16th December, 1770. His parents were Johann van Beethoven and Maria Magdalena Keverich who got married in 1767. They had 7 children but only 3 survived infancy: Ludwig, Kaspar Anton Karl and Nikolaus Johann, (generally known as Johann) the youngest.

His grandfather and father were both singers 

in the state choir.

No one is really sure about Beethoven's birth date.

It was customary for baptisms to take place within 24 hours of birth so it is likely he was born on 16 Decemberbecause Beethoven was baptised in the church of St Remigius, Bonn on 17 December. 

The date of his birth is not recorded.

Beethoven was the grandson of Ludwig van Beethoven who lived between 1712–1773. He was a professional singer and music director from the town of Mechelen in the Austrian Duchy of Brabant (in what is now the Flemish region of Belgium) who had moved to Bonn at the age of 21.

Ludwig had one son, Johann (1740–1792), who was a musician, teacher, and singer who sang in the chapel of the Archbishop of Cologne.

His grandfather's name was also Ludwig

As a child Beethoven he was taught by his father to play the piano with ambitions to become the next Mozart.

Johann, his father, was an alcoholic who often beat Ludwig. 

 He forced his son to practice day and night to reach the same level of genius as Mozart. 

Neighbors of Beethoven remembered the small boy standing on a bench to reach the keyboard, crying, as his father loomed over him.

26 March 1778

Beethoven's first known public performance, in Cologne. His father advertised his age as six years, although he was in fact seven, probably to draw favourable comparisons with the child prodigy Mozart. He played 'various clavier concertos and trios'.

Having left school at age 11 to help with household income, Beethoven never learned how to multiply or divide.