The Beethoven-Haus Mourns the loss of Prof. Dr. Christine Siegert

We are deeply saddened by the news that our esteemed colleague Prof. Dr. Christine Siegert passed away on August 3, 2026, at the age of 55, following a severe illness.

Christine Siegert dedicated her life to scholarship. From September 1, 2015, she served as Head of the Research Department at the Beethoven-Haus Bonn (Beethoven-Archiv and Verlag Beethoven-Haus), significantly shaping the department through her professional expertise, her interest in practice-oriented research, and her work ethic. Before joining the Beethoven-Haus, she studied music education, musicology, Romance studies, and philosophy at the University of Music, Drama and Media Hannover and at the Université de Picardie Jules Verne in Amiens. She received her doctorate in Hannover in 2003 with a dissertation on Luigi Cherubini and subsequently worked as a research associate at the Joseph Haydn Institute in Cologne. In 2010, she was appointed junior professor at the Berlin University of the Arts.

Her tenure of more than ten years encompassed significant projects at the Beethoven-Archiv, including Beethoven in the House (2020–2023) and The Publisher’s Craft (2021–2024), as well as international conferences such as With Beethoven in Exile (2018), Beethoven Perspectives (2020), Musicology after Beethoven (2021), and Unheard, Unimagined Miraculous Secrets of Sacred Art (2020)—marking the 200th anniversary of Beethoven’s concerts of May 1824.

Her unwavering commitment to the new complete edition (Neue Gesamtausgabe)—particularly the edition of the Ninth Symphony (2020) and, right up to the end, the edition of Leonore (1805)—along with her openness to new scholarly topics and forward-looking research approaches (such as Das Bonner Beethoven-Haus 1933–1945 and Beethoven and His Music in Nazi-Occupied European Countries), consistently provided vital impetus. Christine Siegert was held in high international regard well beyond the Beethoven-Haus, as evidenced by the numerous honorary positions she held. Most recently, these included President of the State Music Council of North Rhine-Westphalia, Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of the State Institute for Music Research (SIM), Chair of the Working Group for Rhenish Music History, and member of the Directorium of the IMS (International Musicological Society).

In Christine Siegert, we lose a defining figure of our institution and a valued colleague. Her legacy will live on in the work of the Beethoven-Archive, in her publications and research projects, and, above all, in our memories.

Our thoughts and deepest sympathies go out to her family and all those close to her.

On behalf of the Board, the Scientific Advisory Board, and the staff of the Beethoven-Haus Bonn

Malte Boecker, Director

Prof. Dr. Ulrich Konrad, Member of the Executive Board and Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board

Bonn, 5 August 2026