This is why Beethoven is so popular in Japan

In 1897 German soldiers landed in China. They built a naval port in the Bay of Kiatchou, from which they wanted to increase German influence in East Asia. In their luggage: the music of Ludwig van Beethoven.

When World War I broke out in 1914, Japanese soldiers captured the German base and took almost five thousand prisoners. The Japanese believed that the war would end quickly. The prisoners were housed in temples and public buildings.

Since the prisoners did not have to work, they devoted themselves to sport - and music. The violinist Paul Engel even founded his own chapel in the Marugame Temple Camp.

On 10 December 1916 there was even a whole symphony concert in the camp. The program included Beethoven's 2nd piano concerto.

When it became clear that the war would last longer, the Japanese moved their prisoners to larger camps. The picture shows the entrance to the Bando camp, where about a thousand prisoners were held. Because the place was far away from a large port, the danger of escape was low.

The commandant also administered the camp in a humane and liberal manner. There was lively contact between German and Japanese soldiers and the rural population. Sports and music were used to get to know each other's culture.

The soldier Paul Engel gave music lessons in the camp and was also allowed to teach Japanese pupils outside the camp twice a week.

When new prisoners entered the camp, the old inmates printed a guide to help the new arrivals get started. In it they talked about two orchestras with 45 musicians each, two brass bands and two choirs with 60 singers each.

During the approximately 32 months of captivity in Bando, more than one hundred concerts, chamber music, song and entertainment evenings took place. Beethoven was on the program at more than half of the "serious" symphony concerts.

More than 80 men spent months rehearsing Beethoven's "Ode to Joy". On 1 June 1918 the time had finally come and the Ninth Symphony was played in Barrack 1 of the Bando camp - for the first time in Japan.

On 30 December 1919 the captivity of the German soldiers ended. From Kobe, they left Japan and reached Wilhelmshaven almost two months later.

The concert programs and scores of the German soldiers have remained in Japan. Through performances outside the camps they spread throughout the country.

Only in the 1960s did the former prisoners resume contacts with Japan. In 1972, they founded the "Deutsches Haus Naruto" as a museum and place of remembrance. Every year on 1 June, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony is played here - as a sign of international understanding.