Beethoven’s first grave in Vienna in what used to be a cemetery in the village of Währing. He was first exhumed in 1863 to have his remains placed in a new casket, during which his remains were extensively documented, and then in 1888 he was exhumed a second time and moved to his final location in the Central Cemetery. (Photo credit: William Meredith)
The Mödling Beethoven museum contains a charming room that reproduces what it may have looked like when Beethoven lived there. (Though it is accurate in many details, his quill pens did not retain the feather portion. His last quill pen is in the collection of the Beethoven Center in the Betty Hummel Collection.) (Photo credit: William Meredith)
Original photograph of the Zumbusch monument dated 1887, seven years after the dedication of the monument (Verlag v. Römmler & Jonas, K.S. Hof-Photogr., Dresden; from the collection of William Meredith). For an illustration of the dedication, see: https://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno?aid=niz&datum=18800509&seite=8&zoom=33
Zumbusch’s suffering Prometheus with the eagle (the emblem of Zeus) who eats his liver every day, which then regrows every night. Beethoven’s ballet The Creatures of Prometheus, Opus 43, was one of his most successful early works (performed 27 times in 1801 and 1802), and he reused some of the music in his famous Prometheus Variations,Opus 35 (now known against Beethoven’s wishes as the Eroica Variations), and in the famous Eroica Symphony, initially dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte. The famous bass theme is indebted to Beethoven’s second fortepiano duel with Daniel Steibelt (see my article in Selected Essays). (Photo credit: William Meredith)
The other eight putti are in pairs. These two are on the back next to the swan. These two symphony-children, one with a panpipe and one with a fruit and flower garland, clearly represent the pastoral tradition of the symphonies, especially the Pastoral Symphony itself. For an excellent discussion of this monument, see Alessandra Comini’s The Changing Image of Beethoven. (Photo credit: William Meredith)
Zumbusch’s pair of putti, one a warrior and one holding a torch against the ground, related to warfare and thus referencing the Eroica Symphony (and the vanquished Napoleon who so angered Beethoven that he struck his name from the symphony). There are also, of course, warfare images in the Ninth, especially in part of the text of the final movement: “Gladly, as His suns fly through the heavens’ grand plan, Go on, brothers, your way, Joyful, like a hero to victory.” (Photo credit: William Meredith)
Zumbusch’s putto next to the eagle that consumes Prometheus’s liver, shrinks away from the sight, closely holding the hand of his companion putto. (Photo credit: William Meredith)
Postcard of a drawing for a painting by Schulz-Curtius with an inscription on the front: “The most lifelike picture of Beethoven known to me, Eduard Hummel [1814-1892], son of J. Nep. Hummel [and Elisabeth (Betty) Röckel Hummel]), who saw the composer before his death. Wiesbaden. 1878.” Eduard was 13 when Beethoven died. Betty Hummel’s lock of Beethoven’s hair is at the Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies at SJSU in a frame with a lock of Goethe’s hair, Beethoven’s last quill pen, and locks of hair from her family and royalty.
The small but delightful Beethoven museum in Mödling, a suburb of Vienna, is in this apartment building. Beethoven’s rooms were on the top floor on the left and overlooked a stream. (Photo credit: William Meredith)
The Beethoven Museum in Baden, which was recently re-imagined and is well worth a visit. (Photo credit: William Meredith)
Colored engraving of the Rauhenstein ruins in the Valley of Helen outside of Baden, one of Beethoven’s favorite locations (from the collection of William Meredith). On July 30, 1826, Beethoven’s nephew went to the ruins and tried to commit suicide with pistols to free himself from Beethoven’s control. A “Beethoven Walk” goes up to the scenic ruins today. (Photo credit: William Meredith)
City view of Vienna: “Vienne Capitale d’Autriche Evesché Université et residence de l’Empereur” (originally colored engraving by Chereau, Parism ca. 1770; from the collection of William Meredith)
One of the two greatest monuments to Beethoven is that created by Kaspar Clemens Zumbusch (unveiled in 1880), who also created the massive 66-foot-high monument to Empress Maria Theresa (unveiled in 1888). Beethoven’s monument is only 22 feet tall, but in some ways is more impressive as a piece of art in which every aspect symbolizes the composer’s life and music. Even at 22 feet, we have to look up to Beethoven. Below him on the right is a sculpture of the wreath-bearing goddess Nike, who offers the wreath to Beethoven (and to us) as a symbol of victory. On the opposite side is the eternally-suffering Prometheus, punished for bringing fire to mankind. The nine putti (cherubs), which represent the symphonies, are especially charming. The one on the front holds a classical-era lyre, perhaps a reference to the great musician Orpheus, and is balanced on the back of the monument by a swan, perhaps a reference to the Ninth Symphony as the composer’s swan song. (The other greatest monument is also in Vienna: Klimt’s “Beethoven Frieze.”) (Photo credit: William Meredith)
Zumbusch’s putto (cherub) with the turtle-shell lyre of classical Greece on the front of the monument.. This is the only putto with wings. According to some Greek stories, Apollo gave Orpheus his first lyre. Orpheus is of course the great musician who could move all of nature with his playing and even persuade the furies of the underworld to release his wife. The second movement of Beethoven’s Fourth Fortepiano Concerto most probably depicts Orpheus calming and persuading the furies and Orpheus leading Euridice back towards earth before she turns back too soon (see Owen Jander’s essential research). For an ancient Greek example of this type of lyre, see: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/ object/G_1816-0610-501 (Photo credit: William Meredith)
Zumbusch’s swan on the back of the monument, which may be a reference to the Ninth Symphony as found in the funeral oration of Franz Grillparzer (“Resounding symphony, ‘Freude, schöner Götterfunken,’ the swansong.” See: http://www.lvbeethoven.com/Bio/BiographyFuneralOration.html ) (Photo credit: William Meredith)
Closeup of the marvelous helmet and head of the warrior putto. (Photo credit: William Meredith)
Inscription on the back of the Eduard Hummel postcard: “After the sketch of a picture of the historian-painter Schulz-Curtius. Published by J.N. Schulz- / Curtius & Son. Wiesbaden.”(I would like to thank Dr. Julia Ronge, Beethoven-Haus, for assisting with these transcriptions.)
![Postcard of a drawing for a painting by Schulz-Curtius with an inscription on the front: "The most lifelike picture of Beethoven known to me, Eduard Hummel [1814-1892], son of J. Nep. Hummel [and Elisabeth (Betty) Röckel Hummel]), who saw the composer before his death. Wiesbaden. 1878." Eduard was 13 when Beethoven died. Betty Hummel's lock of Beethoven's hair is at the Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies at SJSU in a frame with a lock of Goethe's hair, Beethoven's last quill pen, and locks of hair from her family and royalty.](https://beethovenscholar.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Eduard-Hummel-front-pdf-1.jpg)
