Question: Which Romantic era composer began their career first, Ludwig van Beethoven or Franz Schreker? 
Context: Wilhelm von Lenz (born 20 May 1809 in Riga - died 7 January 1883 in Saint Petersburg) was a Baltic German Russian official and writer.  Wilhelm von Lenz was a friend of many mid-century Romantic composers, including Franz Liszt, Frédéric Chopin and Hector Berlioz, Lenz's most important and influential work was an early biography of the German composer Ludwig van Beethoven, entitled "Beethoven et ses trois styles" (1855), written in response to the disparagement of Beethoven by Alexander Ulybyshev in his "Nouvelle biographie de Mozart" (1843).  Lenz promoted the idea (already suggested by earlier figures such as François-Joseph Fétis) that Beethoven's musical style be divided into three characteristic periods.  Lenz's periodisation, with minor changes, is still widely used today by musicologists in discussing Beethoven's compositions. Ludwig van Beethoven ( , ; ] ; baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist.  A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential of all composers.  His best-known compositions include 9 symphonies, 5 piano concertos, 1 violin concerto, 32 piano sonatas, 16 string quartets, his great Mass the "Missa solemnis", and one opera, "Fidelio". Ludwig van Beethoven the Elder, also Ludovicus van Beethoven and Lodewijk van Beethoven (January 5, 1712 – December 24, 1773) was a professional singer and music director, best known as the grandfather of the composer Ludwig van Beethoven. The Beethoven "Gesamtausgabe" is the first collected edition of the works of Ludwig van Beethoven.  Its full title is "Ludwig van Beethovens Werke: vollständige kritisch durchgesehene überall berechtige Ausgabe" (which roughly translated means "Ludwig van Beethoven's Works: complete, critical, thoroughly revised, authorized edition").  It was published between 1862 and 1865, with a supplementary volume appearing in 1888. Franz Schreker (originally "Schrecker"; 23 March 1878, Monaco – 21 March 1934, Berlin) was an Austrian composer, conductor, teacher and administrator.  Primarily a composer of operas, Schreker developed a style characterized by aesthetic plurality (a mixture of Romanticism, Naturalism, Symbolism, Impressionism, Expressionism and Neue Sachlichkeit), timbral experimentation, strategies of extended tonality and conception of total music theatre into the narrative of 20th-century music. Ludwig van (full title: "Ludwig van: A report"; German: "Ludwig van: ein Bericht") is a black-and-white German film by Mauricio Kagel.  Filmed in 1969, it was first screened the following year.  The work was commissioned by Westdeutscher Rundfunk for the bicentennial celebrations of the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven in 1970.  The film examines the reception of the composer and his works and how he has become a consumer product of the culture industry.  The soundtrack is an arrangement of fragments of Beethoven's works, modified as if heard by the deaf composer himself; it is distinct from Kagel's 1970 composition "Ludwig van".  Prominent contemporary artists including Dieter Roth, Stefan Wewerka (), Robert Filliou, and Joseph Beuys were involved in the design.  According to "Gramophone", "at first it’s a laugh a minute ... then Kagel's film turns dark". Baron Hans Guido von Bülow (January 8, 1830February 12, 1894) was a German conductor, virtuoso pianist, and composer of the Romantic era.  One of the most famous conductors of the 19th century, his activity was critical for establishing the successes of several major composers of the time, especially Richard Wagner and Johannes Brahms.  Alongside Carl Tausig, Bülow was perhaps the most prominent of the early students of Hungarian virtuoso pianist, conductor and composer Franz Liszt – therein performed the first public performance of Liszt's Sonata in B minor in 1857.  He became acquainted with, fell in love and eventually married Liszt's daughter Cosima, who later left him for Wagner.  Noted for his interpretation of the works of Ludwig van Beethoven, he was one of the earliest European musicians to tour the United States. Ludwig van Beethoven is a series of sculptures of Ludwig van Beethoven by German-American sculptor Henry Baerer.  Versions are displayed in Central Park in New York City, Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, and Prospect Park in Brooklyn.  The sculpture in Central Park was dedicated on July 22, 1884.  It includes two bronze statues, including a bust of Beethoven and an allegorical female figure on a polished Barre Granite pedestal. Anne Schwanewilms (born 1967, in Gelsenkirchen) is a German lyric soprano.  She studied gardening before training in Cologne as a singer with the German bass Hans Sotin.  She is particularly associated with performing the works of Richard Wagner, Franz Schreker, Alban Berg, and Richard Strauss.  She sang the lead role of Carlotta in Franz Schreker's "Die Gezeichneten" at the Salzburg Festival in 2005, recorded and subsequently published on DVD by Opus Arte. Ferdinand Ries (28 November 1784 [baptised] – 13 January 1838) was a German composer.  Ries was a friend, pupil and secretary of Ludwig van Beethoven.  He composed eight symphonies, a violin concerto, eight piano concertos, three operas, and numerous other works in many genres, including 26 string quartets.  In 1838 he published a collection of reminiscences of his teacher Beethoven, co-written with Franz Wegeler.  The symphonies, some chamber works—most of them with piano— his violin concerto and his piano concertos have been recorded, demonstrating a style which is, unsurprising due to his connection to Beethoven, somewhere between those of the Classical and early Romantic eras.
Answer: Ludwig van Beethoven