Fact Sheet on the Beethoven Skull Fragments
The existence of the fragments was first announced in 1987 by Dr. Hans Bankl and Dr. Hans Jesserer in a chapter in their book on Beethoven's illnesses (Die Krankheiten Ludwig van Beethovens, Vienna: Verlag Wilhelm Maudrich). In the chapter they wrote that:
The bones were given to Dr. Romeo Seligmann in 1863 during the first exhumation of Beethoven's body;
One fragment comes from the occipital bone; one comes from the left parietal bone;
"the actual origin of the bone pieces in question is with greatest probability Beethoven's skull."
(An English translation of this chapter appears in the new issue of The Beethoven Journal.) Dr. Bankl and Dr. Jesserer did not announce the owner or the location of the bones in 1987.
Since 1863, the bones have been passed down through four generations of the Seligmann-Kaufmann family:
Dr. Romeo Seligmann in Vienna (physician and first professor of the history of medicine at the University of Vienna): 1863-1892
Albert Seligmann in Vienna (his only child and an artist and art critic): 1892-1945
Ada Rosenthal (Albert's cousin), Thomas Desmines (her son), and Alma Kaufmann (her daughter), mostly in Vence, France: 1945-1993
Paul (Alma Kaufmann's son) and Joan Kaufmann of Danville CA: 1993-present
The exact circumstances surrounding the gift of the fragments to Dr. Seligmann in 1863 are not known. Dr. William Meredith, director of the Beethoven Center, theorizes that Dr. Gerhard von Breuning, who knew Beethoven when Gerhard was a teenager, was the most likely person since he was responsible for the 9 pieces of the skull during the 1863 exhumation. Furthermore, he did not believe in 1886 that the skull should be reburied when plans were being made to exhume Beethoven a second time in 1888 to move him to the Central Cemetery in Vienna.
By 1863 the skull was fragmented into 9 medium-sized pieces. The fragmentation was caused by the 1827 autopsy performed by Dr. Wagner the day after Beethoven died. The top of the skull was cut off and the temporal bones were removed for study. The temporal bones were not buried with Beethoven in 1827 and have been lost since the 1830s-40s.
The Kaufmanns were located in 1999 by Russell Martin, author of Beethoven's Hair, who was hoping to locate the skull fragments so that DNA analysis could be done to authenticate the fragments and the Guevara Lock of Beethoven's Hair.
The Beethoven Center began working with the Kaufmanns in 1999 to sort out the history of the bones, initiate DNA testing, and enable researchers to continue investigations into the degree of lead poisoning Beethoven suffered from at the time of his death. The fragments have been studied at the Argonne National Laboratory's APS facility in collaboration with the Pfeiffer Treatment Center in Illinois. Their findings are scheduled to be released in early December 2005. DNA testing on material taken from one of the fragments is not yet completed and no confirmative results have been obtained to date.
The fragments and documents related to their history are on long-term loan to the Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies at San José State University.
Once the initial round of scientific testing is completed, a committee will discuss the possibility of organizing an exhibit on the Beethoven and Goethe treasures inherited by the Kaufmanns. The Beethoven part of the exhibit will explain the testing and the science, as well as the history of the fragments. The fragments will not be on exhibit until a future date. The Goethe portion of the exhibit will explore the rich connections between Romeo Seligmann and the Goethe's daughter-in-law Ottilie and her sons.
The history of the fragments is the subject of the current double issue of The Beethoven Journal (vol. 20, 2005). The first extensive article on the history of the fragments is available in a version with limited illustrations on the Center's web page: www.sjsu.edu/depts/beethoven
Questions concerning the fragments should be directed to:
Dr. William Meredith
Director, The Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies
408-808-2056