Here are ten interesting facts about the ancestors and family of the musician Ludwig van Beethoven.
1. The family name Beethoven originally was Biethoffen, meaning beet-garden in English.
2. The ‘van’ in the name is not to be mistaken with ‘von’, which was used only by European nobles.
3. The Beethoven family were not nobles, although Ludwig van Beethoven for many years in Vienna tried to sell his ‘van’ as a ‘von’. All this despite the fact that all his life he detested nobility.
4. The Beethoven family originally is not German, they have their roots in Belgium in a small village close to Louvain.
5. Beethoven’s grandfather was a gifted, respected musician and bass singer, later became the Kapellmeister (musical director) at the Court of Bonn.
6. The famous grandson kept a portrait of his grandfather in his room, all his life. Both were called Ludwig.
7. Beethoven’s grandmother was an alcoholic, she was treated in a monastery (contemporary rehabilitation center). This weakness with alcohol was passed on to Johann (her son) and in some degree even to Ludwig van Beethoven.
8. Johann van Beethoven was a mediocre singer and musician, a heavy drinker and abusive father. Regularly, upon arriving home drunk late night, woke up the young boy to practice piano. He would punish the child for every mistake he made.
9. Beethoven’s parents had seven children, only three lived through infancy. Ludwig, as the oldest, and two younger brothers Karl and Johann.
10. Beethoven became a guardian of his brothers in his teenage years. After Beethoven’s mother died, Johann (his father) became a full time alcoholic unable to provide for the family. At this point, the teenager Beethoven asked the Elector of Bonn to remove his father from Bonn and give half of his salary to him. This money and his own modest salary covered their living.
