“Their place is here, in Vienna. American businessman Paul Kaufmann welcomed Thursday, July 20 the return of relics linked to the German composer Beethoven, in Austria. These are presumed fragments of the skull of Ludwig van Beethoven. Paul Kaufmann donated it to the Medical University of Vienna, the city where Beethoven died in the 19th century. Experts hope to elucidate the causes of the composer’s deafness and disappearance.
Paul Kaufmann inherited these bones in 1990 to his surprise, discovering them in a bank vault on the French Riviera. “There were many treasures, including this box with the inscription ‘Beethoven’ on the surface,” he recalls.
After analyzes to confirm their authenticity, the results of which are expected within six months, new research will be carried out to try to find out more about the cause of the many pathologies from which he suffered. “That was also Beethoven’s wish. It’s not about keeping a relic in a crate,” said Christian Reiter.
In 1802, the composer had expressed his desire, in a letter to his brothers written in a moment of despair, that his illness be described after his death and made public. Two centuries later, the mystery remains around the exact reasons for his death, which occurred on March 26, 1827 at the age of 56.
These cranial fragments have already been examined with X-rays in 2005 in the United States, suggesting the trail of lead poisoning which would explain in particular the digestive problems from which Ludwig van Beethoven suffered. He used to drink from goblets of this metal. Medical treatments of the time also often used lead or mercury.
A study published in March, based on DNA analysis of strands of her hair, however, shed a different light. She revealed strong genetic predispositions to liver disease, as well as hepatitis B virus infection at the end of her life, two factors that likely contributed to her death, most likely from cirrhosis, aggravated by alcohol consumption. But the researchers unfortunately could not determine the cause of his progressive deafness, which caused so much pain to the author of the 9th Symphony.
