Beethoven's hair.

[Agnes Selby]

I have been asked to write an article for "Quadrant" about the
provenance of Beethoven's hair in Denmark. Who was the person
who gave the lock of Beethoven's hair to Dr. Fremming?

I have written to the Beethoven Center and have yet to receive
a reply. Does anyone know of any leads I could follow?

Many thanks.

Regards,
Agners Selby.

[Hofrat]

Dear Agnes;

It is of my understanding that it is not known who gave the hair lock to Dr. Fremming. Nor is it known how or when that person received it since the hair lock was always in the possession of the Hiller family from the moment that Ferdinand Hiller cut it from Beethoven's head.

[Michael]

This article appeared a few years before the book "Beethoven's Hair" was published. As Hofrat says, the identity of whoever gave the locket to Fremming is still unknown, although some possibilities are mentioned in this short item:

Beethoven's hair linked to WWII Danish Jews, says San Jose expert
LESLIE KATZ

Bulletin Staff


Who could ever imagine that more than a century after Ludwig van Beethoven composed his greatest masterpieces a snippet of his hair would help preserve a Jewish life during World War II?

As strange as it may sound, that story took place 50 years ago, when a Jew in Nazi-occupied Denmark gave a framed bit of Beethoven's hair to the Dane who helped that Jew escape to safety in Sweden.

Now a group of Beethoven aficionados is searching for the grateful Jew's identity as they piece together the fascinating path traveled by the German composer's lock.

"The concept of Beethoven, who was a great lover of liberty, being instrumental in helping to save a Jew's life is inspirational," said Ira Brilliant, who founded the Beethoven Center at San Jose State University in 1985 and is now leading the effort to untangle the story of the strands.

The Jewish twist to that tale unfolded after Brilliant and Dr. Alfredo Guevara, an Arizona urologist and another Beethoven aficionado, together purchased the hair remnant for $7,300 at a 1994 auction at Sotheby's in London. They wanted to know the artifact's background before donating it to the Beethoven Center, so Brilliant asked Sotheby's to forward a request for information to the consignor of the lock.

A month later, Brilliant received a letter from Thomas Wassard Larsen, a young man living in northern Denmark. Larsen's family owned the snippet for half a century.

Larsen told the story of his grandfather, Dr. Kay Alexander Fremming, who during World War II practiced medicine in Gilleleje, a small Danish fishing village separated from Sweden by only 10 miles of water.

In the letter he explained how Fremming, like several of the doctors practicing in Gilleleje at the time, was involved in the remarkably successful underground movement to rescue Jews.

One of those Jews gave him the strands, either as payment or merely as thanks.

Fremming's family held onto the hair as a keepsake since the war and was finally forced to sell it for economic reasons, the letter said.

Who was the Jew who gave the valuable relic to Dr. Fremming, and how did he or she acquire it?

Brilliant theorizes that the individual may have been one of three sons of a German named Paul Hiller, who died in 1934. Hiller's father Ferdinand was a noted 19th century Jewish composer and conductor whose own music teacher, Johann Hummel, also taught Beethoven.

It is documented that shortly before Beethoven's death in 1827, Hummel took the German-born Ferdinand Hiller -- then a teenager living in Vienna and one of Hummel's favorite pupils, according to Brilliant -- to visit the ailing composer.

Hiller, in fact, visited Beethoven several times during the composer's last days.

Beethoven died on March 27, and the next day Hiller visited the composer's deathbed. This time, he snipped a lock of the musician's hair to keep as a tangible reminder. "That was done by other people too," Brilliant explained. "It was a sort of custom then."

Hiller kept the lock until 1883, two years before his own death, when he gave the hair as a 30th-birthday present to his son Paul, a journalist.

From the time Paul Hiller died in 1934 until the hair resurfaced in Gilleleje in 1943, the lock's whereabouts are unknown.

Those nine years are of particular interest to Brilliant, a retired commercial real estate developer who lives in Phoenix and who is Jewish. The Jewish angle to this saga, he said, "was sort of a bonus when we bought the hair. We had no idea of its origin."

Since beginning to unlock the history of the hair a year ago, Brilliant, Guevara and a team from the Beethoven Center have been busily checking into German, Swedish and Danish sources in hopes of locating information on the grateful Jew.

"We are interested in tracking the whole story down so we can put it into the center," Brilliant said. "Hopefully, we'll have a complete story in 1996."

To date, the researchers have located the names and birthdates of Paul Hiller's sons and are currently trying to determine where they lived in 1943. Should it emerge that one fled to Denmark to escape Hitler, Brilliant said it is "95 percent" likely it was he who passed the hair on.

The researchers have also located Fremming's wife, but she is senile and unable to offer any information. They have, however, contacted a Gilleleje church pastor who has offered a number of leads, including one that led them to a man in Sweden who reportedly possesses a list of all refugees who escaped Denmark during the war.

Meanwhile, to further broaden their knowledge of the hair and the man from whose head it grew, Brilliant and Guevara last month took the sample to a team of forensic specialists at the University of Arizona Medical Center in Tucson.

When the wood-and-glass frame was unlocked, the team found that the hair had been shellacked into place on a piece of dark cardboard. Once the strands are separated from the cardboard, they can be counted, measured and weighed. For now, though, the forensic specialists estimate that the curly wisp is four to six inches long and comprises some 125-150 strands, among which can be discerned dark brown, light brown and gray hairs.

A cursory examination by forensic anthropologist Dr. Walter Birkby revealed the presence of cellular molecules on the hair that would allow for DNA testing. Also scheduled, according to Brilliant, are porosity tests that may reveal nutritional information and toxicological tests that may show whether Beethoven had been taking any drugs for medicinal purposes.

This bit of Beethoven is not the only such relic extant. According to Brilliant, the Library of Congress houses 26 locks of the composer's hair, the University of Hartford in Connecticut possesses two and several more belong to private collectors.

[Agnes Selby]

Beethoven's Hair

Dear Hofrat and Michael,

Thank you for the information. Perhaps a search of museums in Koln
would have revealed the names of people who worked in these
institutions before the war and found it necessary due to their
religion to flee Germany. It has been suggested that it was given to a museum but there is no evidence of such a gift. Seeing that there is also
no evidence that the Hiller descendants escaped to Denmark, who on earth could have taken it there?

Many thanks for taking the trouble to respond to my inquiry.

Regards,
Agnes Selby.

[Hofrat]

Dear Agnes;

Have you read Russell Martin's book "Beethoven's Hair?"

[Agnes Selby]

Beethoven's Hair

Dear Hofrat,
Yes, I have. However, who brought the hair to Denmark
is not clarified by Mr. Martin. It is Mr. Martin's book which prompted the editor of "Quadrant" to ask me to research who may have brought the
hair to Denmark. So far I have had no luck.

Regards,
Agnes.

[Hofrat]

In his book, Russell Martin admits that it is not clear how and when the hair lock passed from the Hiller family to the anonymous fleeing Jewish family. "Quadrant" has given you a very difficult research assignment, requiring lots of leg work and going through various foreign archives. When I read the book, I was able to ask two people who fled Germany through Denmark (both in their 70's). They responded: "Who knows what passed hands during those most trying times. We were running for our lives."

[Agnes Selby]

Beethoven's hair

In his book, Russell Martin admits that it is not clear how and when the hair lock passed from the Hiller family to the anonymous fleeing Jewish family. "Quadrant" has given you a very difficult research assignment, requiring lots of leg work and going through various foreign archives. When I read the book, I was able to ask two people who fled Germany through Denmark (both in their 70's). They responded: "Who knows what passed hands during those most trying times. We were running for our lives."

-----------

It is a task I will not be able to solve. I would think that no one
today is alive who spent the night in the Gilleleje church. Should anyone
still be alive, I agree with you, no one would remember what transpired between Dr. Fremming and the person who feared for his life. Whoever it
was, left Beethoven's hair in the hands of a gentile and a Beethoven lover, thus ensuring that Beethoven's hair was safe. Dr. Fremming did not
reveal the secret of the donor and perhaps he did not even know his name.
Those were difficult times and everyone feared for his life, the Jews as well as
the good samaritans willing to help them.

Regards,
Agnes.

[gardibolt]

A few years ago, Russell Martin gave a talk before presenting the documentary on the hair to the American Beethoven Society conference, and I seem to recall that they had found some additional information not in the book regarding the provenance--there might have been something in the documentary itself too. Have you seen that? But I'd cut to the chase and get in contact with Martin directly if I were you. I can check my notes of that conference to see if I wrote anything useful down but Martin would be more reliable.

[Agnes Selby]

Beethoven

Thank you very much for your interest in this subject.
I did write to Mr. Russell Martin and received a very nice
reply. Unfortunately, neither Mr. Martin nor the Brilliant Centre
managed to find any additional information on the provenance
of Beethoven's hair in the village of Gilleleje. Mr. Martin speculated
in his letter to me that the hair was either a gift to Dr. Fremming
or left with him for safekeeping. As Dr. Fremming had never revealed
the donor's name except to his wife Martha, I am afraid I will never
find out who the donor was.

Kind regards,
Agnes Selby.

[Fidelio]

You too can own a piece.....1/16th of an inch.....on Ebay now.

[Agnes Selby]

Beethoven's hair

Thank you for the information but I will not be availing myself
of the hair.

I am interested to find out who brought the hair to Denmark
and gave it to the doctor in Gilleleje. So far I have not had
any luck.

Regards,
Agnes.

[Fidelio]

As we know, the lock of Beethoven's hair was cut by music composer Ferdinand Hiller, who sealed the hair in an airtight container. Upon his death in 1885, Hiller -- who was Jewish -- bequeathed the hair to his son, and the hair remained in the Hiller family. It is believed one or more of the Hillers later escaped Nazi Germany during World War II, and brought the hair to Denmark. Once there, the hair was later passed to a trusted local doctor during the course of a Nazi roundup of Jews in Denmark.

Have you tried contacting the following:
Russell Martin, author, "Beethoven's Hair": russellmartin@syqarts.net
Larry Weinstein, director, "Beethoven's Hair": lweinstein@sympatico.ca

[Agnes Selby]

Beethoven

Dear Fidelio,

Thank you so much for your advice. I have been in touch with Mr. Russell
Martin and the Beethoven Institute. I will try and contact the other gentleman you suggested.

I am most grateful for your help.

Kind regards,
Agnes Selby.

[Fidelio]

Good luck, do let us know how you get on.