The Guevara Lock of Beethoven's Hair
Guide to the Exhibit
October 23, 2000 - April 20, 2001
by Patricia Stroh, Curator
©2000. May not be reproduced without permission
For an enlargement of this image, click here.
1. The Guevara Lock of Beethoven's Hair
Purchased at auction,
Sotheby's, London, December 1, 1994
A short history
March 27, 1827: Cut from Beethoven's head by Ferdinand Hiller after Beethoven's death on March 26, 1827
1883: Given to Hiller's son Paul as a birthday gift on May 1, 1883
1911: Examined by a conservator in Cologne and resealed in a locket with a wooden frame, with Paul Hiller's inscription placed underneath the glass backing
?-Oct. 1943: Property of an unknown Jew, possibly a member of the Hiller family
Oct. 1943: Given to Dr. Kay Alexander Fremming, a doctor living in Gilleleje, Denmark, as payment or as a gift for his assistance to Danish Jews escaping to safety in Sweden during World War II
Dec. 1, 1994: Sold by the Fremming family at a Sotheby's auction in London to four members of the American Beethoven Society (Ira F. Brilliant, Caroline Crummey, Alfredo Guevara, and Thomas Wendel) for £3,600
Dec. 1995: Under laboratory conditions, the locket is opened and 160 of the 582 hairs are extracted for Guevara to keep. Also found inside the locket is a fragment of the original authentication document and the conservator's statement from 1911
1996 :The remaining 422 strands, along with the frame and documents from inside the locket, go to the Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies. Scientific testing begins on a few strands from Guevara's share of the hair
October 17, 2000: The book Beethoven's Hair by Russell Martin is published by Broadway Books. Results of scientific testing are announced.
2. Portrait of Beethoven by Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, 1823
Reproduction from Ludwig van Beethoven, ed. by Joseph Schmidt-Görg and Hans Schmidt. Bicentennial edition 1770-1827 (Bonn: Beethoven-Archiv; Hamburg: Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft, c1972)
Breitkopf & Härtel, publisher of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony among many other works, commissioned this portrait from Waldmüller (1793-1865), a well-known Austrian painter.
Anton Schindler described the circumstances:
"There were unfavorable portents to this plan: urgent work to be finished and persistent eye trouble, and ill-humor in consequence. After a long delay, the first sitting was at last arranged. Waldmüller conducted himself deferentially and much too timidly, a demeanor which, with Beethoven, usually led to no success whatever ... Even though Waldmüller made great haste in sketching the head and in roughing, the master, who was deep in thought, found he was taking too long; he left his seat now and again, pacing sulkily up and down the room or going to his writing-desk in the next room. The roughing was not yet finished when Beethoven made it plain that he could bear it no longer. When the painter had left, Beethoven's anger erupted and Waldmüller was called the most miserable of daubers-because he had made him sit facing the window. He stubbornly refused to admit any argument in defense. There were no more sittings. The painter finished the portrait from his imagination, because, as he replied to my remonstrances, he could not do without the contracted fee ..."
Breitkopf & Härtel still had the painting hanging in their offices in Leipzig during the Allied bombings in 1945. The original painting was destroyed, but fortunately a copy made by the artist himself has survived and is now in a private collection in Brussels. Painted four years before Beethoven's death, this authentic portrait's depiction of the brown hair streaked with gray appears true to the hair in the Guevara Lock of Beethoven's Hair.
3. Death mask by Joseph Danhauser (1827)
Reproduction in plaster
The painter Joseph Danhauser (1805-1845) made a plaster mask of Beethoven's face shortly after Beethoven's death. His brother Carl recorded the story:
"On March 26 [1827] early in the morning while we were still asleep, Ranftl knocked on our door and brought in the news that Beethoven had died in the night."
"Since we had a plaster in our firm, my brother Joseph, who in the course of his studies of heads had been prompted to try that sort of work, immediately struck on the idea of taking a death mask of the departed great man. We dressed quickly, had the horses harnessed and since the stucco worker Hofmann had arrived in the meanwhile, we took him along with us in the carriage."
"It was still early in the morning as we arrived at the dead man's house, and we could find no one who could tell us anything. Finally, a woman let us go upstairs, and as we arrived at the landing we found an open entrance hall; the door leading to the next room was ajar, so we lifted the latch and went in. A bed stood against the main wall of this room, and in this bed lay Beethoven's body."
"Since during the dead man's illness his beard had grown very thick, we sent the plasterer to fetch a barber, who shaved him clean. The barber's apprentice said that he could never use the razor again after he had shaved a dead man with it. I bought it from him."
"In the meanwhile we had cut off two locks from the temple where it grew thickly, as a memento of the celebrated head, and then we went to work. My brother, who knew less about this kind of work than the plasterer, was glad to have him help, and so we soon obtained a good cast which we brought home with great care; for my brother, a painter, had conceived the idea of trying his hand at modeling and at producing a bust of Beethoven. He went right away to work and actually succeeded in making a bust of the master ..." [From H.C. Robbins Landon, Beethoven: a documentary study]
The earliest known extant cast of the death mask was given by Danhauser to Franz Liszt in 1840 and is now in Vienna at the Historisches Museum der Stadt Wien. Another cast is at the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn.
4. Ludwig van Beethoven: Occasional Essays
(Ludwig van Beethoven: Gelegentliche Aufsätze)
by Ferdinand Hiller.
First edition (Leipzig: Leuckart, 1871)
Ferdinand Hiller (1811-1885) was a German conductor, composers, teacher and a close friend of Felix Mendelssohn. At the age of thirteen he began musical studies with J.N. Hummel in Weimar, and in 1827 he traveled with Hummel to Vienna to visit Beethoven on his deathbed. An excerpt from his reminiscences of this visit follows:
"On March 13th, Hummel took me to see Beethoven for the second time. We found that his condition had deteriorated considerably. He lay in his bed, seemed to be suffering great pain and at times uttered a deep groan; nevertheless, he spoke freely and vigorously. He seemed to be deeply concerned with his failure to enter the married state. Already during our first visit he joked about this with Hummel, whose wife he had known as a young and beautiful girl. This time he said to him, smiling: 'You are a lucky fellow: you have a wife, she looks after you, she is in love with you-- but I'm a poor bachelor!' -- and he sighed deeply. Also, he begged Hummel to bring his wife, who had been unwilling to face in his present state a man whom she had known at the height of his powers ..."
"When we stood beside his bed once more on the 20th, it was certainly clear from his remarks how greatly this attention had pleased him; but he was extremely weak and spoke only softly, in clipped sentences. 'I rather think I shall soon be setting out on the upward journey,' he whispered after our greeting. Similar exclamations occurred frequently; but, in between, he spoke of his plans and hopes, neither of which, unfortunately, were to be realized. Speaking of the noble conduct of the Philharmonic Society and praising the English, he said that it was his intention to leave for England as soon as his condition had improved. 'I wish to compose a grand overture and a grand symphony for them.' And then, too, he wished to visit Frau Hummel (who had come with her husband) and go to Heaven knows how many different places. It did not occur to us to write down anything for him. His eyes, which during our last visit had still been quite lively, were now drooping and only with difficulty could he sit up from time to time. We could no longer deceive ourselves: the worst was to be feared."
5. Beethoven's Hair, by Russell Martin
(New York: Broadway Books, 2000)
Martin's book recounts the riveting tale of the Guevara Lock of Beethoven's Hair and how it traveled from Beethoven to the Hiller family and then to Nazi-occupied Denmark during World War II, on to Sotheby's in London, and reached its final destination at the Beethoven Center in 1996. The book also reveals preliminary results of scientific testing on a few strands of the hair, including DNA and trace metal analysis.
For an enlargement of this image, click here.
6. Note of authentication
Originally placed on the back of the locket
Translation:
This hair was cut off of Beethoven's corpse by my father, Dr. Ferdinand v. Hiller on the day after Ludwig van Beethoven's death, that is, on 27 March, 1827, and was given over to me as a birthday present in Cologne on 1 May 1883. Paul Hiller
Ferdinand Hiller was not the only visitor who wanted a lock of hair as a remembrance of the composer. Beethoven's young friend Gerhard von Breuning reported that
"On March 29 I went with my father to Beethoven's dwelling and wanted to cut off a lock of his hair. Father had not allowed me to do this before the lying-in-state ended, in order not to spoil his appearance; but now we found that strangers [sic] had already cut off all his hair." (Memories of Beethoven, ed. Maynard Solomon, Cambridge Univ. Press, 1992).
7. Fragment of original authentication document
Also found inside the locket when it was opened in 1995 was this fragment of paper with writing on one side, backed by a French newspaper. We believe this to be a piece of the original authentication document. Although not much of the text remains, you can make out the words "Beethovens" and "abgeschnitten" ("cut off").
8. Conservator's Document (1911)
When the locket was opened in 1995, discovered inside was this statement by Hermann Grosshennig, a restorer of art objects in Cologne, who in 1911 examined and reframed the hair. He notes that the hair was newly sealed to keep it dust free ("neu beklebt damit staubfrei") and maintained in its original state ("Urzustand erhalten"). On the back of his document is a pencil drawing of how the hair was to be coiled inside the frame.
"Neu beklebt
damit staubfrei.
Urzustand erhalten
ten. Coln d. 18/ 12 1911.
H. Grosshennig
Langgasse 6."
Beethoven's Last Visitors
1. Beethoven on his deathbed (Beethoven auf dem Sterbelager)
Reproduction of an engraving by J. Adé, based on a drawing by Wilhelm von Lindenschmit (date unknown)
This original drawing was probably by Lindenschmit the Younger (1829-1895), whose father was also a well-known historical painter. His paintings on musical subjects include Hall of Fame of German Music (1740-1867) [Ruhmeshalle der deutschen Musik (1740-1867)], which depicted the most famous German musicians surrounding a platform on which sat Bach, Handel, Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven, among others. In Beethoven On His Deathbed, the man holding Beethoven's hand appears to be J.N. Hummel, but the young man in the back of the room is likely meant to be Gerhard von Breuning, the son of Beethoven's childhood friend Stephan.
2. Portrait of Ferdinand Hiller
From the Stadtmuseum, Dresden
Reproduced in Robert Schumann: A Biography in Word and Picture by Georg Eismann (Leipzig: VEB Edition, 1964)
Ferdinand Hiller (1811-1885) was a conductor, composer, and teacher who began his music studies in Frankfurt and by the age of ten was already performing in public. It was as J.N. Hummel's student that Hiller met Beethoven during the last days of the composer's life. At the age of seventeen he traveled to Paris to pursue his music career and became close friends with Berlioz, Chopin, and Liszt, and after returning to Germany, with the Schumanns, Brahms, and Wagner. He led an active musical life of composing and performing and eventually took the post of Kapellmeister in Cologne, where he remained until his death. Although a few of his songs and piano works are still performed, Hiller is primarily remembered as a performer and teacher who was influential in the musical lives of the leading musicians of his day.
3. Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837)
Original engraving (artist and date unknown)
Hummel was one of the greatest composers and fortepianists of his time, both friend and rival of Beethoven. A child prodigy, he studied with Mozart and like Beethoven learned composition from Albrechtsberger, Salieri, and Haydn. In 1804 he left Vienna to serve as Kapellmeister of Prince Esterhazy's court orchestra, but returned in 1811 to focus on composition and performance in Vienna's theaters. In 1813 he married the singer Elisabeth Röckel (1793-1883), who Beethoven knew and was very fond of. Elisabeth was the sister of Josef August Röckel, the tenor who sang the role of Florestan in the 1806 revival of Beethoven's opera Fidelio. Hummel's relationship with Beethoven was occasionally strained; Beethoven was said to have taken offense to Hummel's criticism of his Mass in C. However, the friendship persevered, and in 1814 Beethoven enlisted Hummel as the percussionist for a performance of hisWellington's Victory, with this delightful letter:
"Most charming Hummel! Please conduct this time too the drum-rolls and cannonades with your excellent Kapellmeister's and Master of the Ordnance's baton-Please do so. If you would like me to cannonade you sometime, I am at your service, both body and soul. Your friend, Beethoven."
Hummel left Vienna in 1816, and became court conductor in Weimar two years later. His sense of loss at Beethoven's death was strongly felt. When hearing of Beethoven's grave illness, he and his wife rushed to Vienna from Weimar with Ferdinand Hiller in tow to pay their last respects. They kept some momentos of that final meeting, including the last quill Beethoven used and a lock of his hair (now in the Beethoven-Haus, Bonn). Hummel served as a pallbearer at the funeral and he performed at the memorial concert, improvising themes from Beethoven's works on the fortepiano.
The Body Exhumed
1. The exhumation of Beethoven's body from the
Währinger Cemetery in Vienna in 1888
Reproduction of a woodcut from the Wiener Tageblatt
(artist unknown)
Beethoven's body was disinterred twice in the 19th century, first in 1863 in order to better preserve the body by placing it in a metal casket within a bricked-in vault. The second exhumation occurred on June 22, 1888, when the bodies of Beethoven and Schubert were moved from the Währinger Cemetery to memorial tombs in the Central Cemetery in Vienna, where they remain today. During the second disinterment, the casket was opened and scientists were allowed twenty minutes to examine and measure the bones. The illustration shows a crowd surrounding the casket, and indeed, select people were invited to attend the ceremony.
2. Original invitation to the exhumation of Beethoven's body
on June 22, 1888
The invitation is addressed to a city official, Carl Vaugoin. It reads:
P.T. [Praemisso titulo]. The administration of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde honors municipal councilman Mr. Carl Vaugoin with an invitation to the reburial service of Ludwig van Beethoven's body on June 22, 1888. The P.T. funeral guests are kindly asked to wear dark clothing and appear at precisely 4 o'clock in front of the burial hall in the Central Cemetery (procession to Gate II).This invitation card serves as proof of identity for participation in both the funeral procession and the memorial service. Printed by J.B. Wallishausser, Vienna.
3. Beethoven's Gravestone at the Währinger Cemetery in Vienna
Reproduction of an engraving (artist and date unknown)
Six months after Beethoven's burial in the Währinger Cemetery, this stone was erected at the grave site. In 1852, the Beethoven biographer Alexander Wheelock Thayer visited Vienna to make a pilgrimage to the composer. He reported on this visit in Dwight's Journal of Music:
"One pleasant morning, with an autograph or two, and a rare print of Beethoven after his death in my hand, which I just succeeded in obtaining, I stepped into an omnibus for Währing. Just before starting, three gentlemen entered. We had not ridden far when I touched my hat to one of them, and said, 'Excuse me, sir, perhaps you can tell me if I am right; I wish to visit Beethoven's grave?' He seemed pleased, and with true German kindness said he would see that the driver left me at the right place."
"This led us into conversation, and as my speech, like the apostle Peter's, soon betrayed me, I had to tell them that I was from America, -- from America, that distant, barbarous land where there is neither science nor art -- in the opinion of so large a portion of the German people. The idea of one from America being there bound on a pilgrimage to the grave of Beethoven, interested them exceedingly. They examined my autographs, and a little lock of gray hair, which an admirer of Beethoven had given me; congratulated me upon their acquisition, and expressed their regret that such things should be allowed to leave Vienna. One of the gentlemen, a middle-aged, fine looking man, himself a composer, and who had known Beethoven well, assured me that my memorials of the composer were genuine-an assurance however which I did not need. This gentleman was the brother of Franz Schubert! Our acquaintance was soon cut short, to my sorrow, by our arrival at the cemetery-the 'Währinger Friedhof.'"
"The Währinger Friedhof, which may contain some four or five acres, lies upon the gentle slope of a ridge which rises a mile perhaps from the outer barrier of Vienna ... The path which leads to the monuments I sought is the outer one of the left side of the enclosure on entering. ... On the left, almost hidden by the foliage of a small willow was the single word in gilded letters, sunk into the granite block, BEETHOVEN."
"The monument, about eleven feet in height, is placed against the wall of the enclosure, and is supported by a few course of brick built up from the tope of the wall. Nothing can be more simple. A pedestal inscribed with the name merely, from which rises a modest obelisk, adorned with a harp, surmounted by a blazing sun, and, near the top, with the serpent emblem of eternity, enclosing a butterfly. In front of this monument lies a large granite slab and beneath this repose the remains of Ludwig van Beethoven ..."
"I have seldom been more affected by tender and sorrowful emotions than during my two visits to the'grave of Beethoven. Some person had been there and laid upon it a wreath of 'immortals," how fitting a tribute! There it lay undisturbed, and I felt almost as if guilty of sacrilege, when, after plucking of the clover and other leaves, which grew around the slab, I ventured to add a loose sprig or two from the wreath of 'immortals.'"
