For city guide Rudi, Beethoven is and remains one of them: “Without his grandfather from Mechelen, there was no such thing as Ludwig” (Mechelen)

City guide Rudi De Mets at the statue of Beethoven on the Haverwerf. “If his Mechelen grandfather had not moved to Bonn, there would be no Ludwig,” he says. — © Dirk Vertommen

Mechelen –

“How am I supposed to sell Beethoven now?” It was the first question that flashed through the head of the well-known Mechelen city guide Rudi De Mets (74), now that research has shown that the world-famous composer is not genetically related to his Flemish descendants. “Nevertheless, the links with Mechelen are still very clear,” says De Mets.

Sven Van Haezendonck

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