Andreas Romberg (1767-1821) was a child prodigy on the violin and made his début in Münster when he was just seven years old. At the age of seventeen he performed his own violin concerto in Paris. In 1790 he performed chamber music with Ludwig van Beethoven at the court in Bonn.



His first opera, "Der Rabe" ("The Raven") was premiered in Hamburg in 1794, and he enjoyed in his lifetime a great reputation as a composer. In 1795 he traveled to Italy and Vienna, where Joseph Haydn organized performances of his compositions.
Shortly after the premiere performance of his cantata "Das Lied von der Glocke" (text by Schiller) in Hamburg in 1809, he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Kiel. In 1815 he became kapellmeister in Gotha, a position he retained until his death six years later.