Andreas Jakob Romberg was born on April 27th. 1767 in Vechta. His father was a musician and from him Andreas learned the violin. He made his first public appearance at the age of six. Besides touring around Europe with his cousin Bernhard, who was a cellist, they joined the Munster Court Orchestra.
Together they joined the court orchestra of Prince Elector Maximillian Franz in Bonn in 1790. Here he meets the three years younger Beethoven. The two Rombergs moved to Hamburg in 1793 because of the French revolutionary army and joined the Hamburg Opera Orchestra. Here Andreas' first opera 'Der Rabe', was premiered in 1794.
In 1795 the two Rombergs set out on a concert tour of Italy, including a stop in Vienna. Andreas married Anna Magdalena Ramcke in 1800.
After a couple of years in Paris (from around 1801), Andreas settled in Hamburg again where he became a central figure in the city's musical life. In 1815 he succeded Louis Spohr as court music director to Duke August in Gotha, Thuringia. Here he died on November 10th. 1821.