Schwarzspanierhaus Revisited

[lysander]

On Thayer collecting material for his Life of Beethoven.

On March 29th 1860, a party of "five Beethoven enthusiasts" including Thayer and Dr. Gerhard von Breuning(1813-1892), son of Beethoven's lifelong friend Stephan von Breuning, drove through the streets of Vienna, out at the Schottenthor, across the Glacis and to the Schwarzspanierhaus, where Beethoven had died on March 26th, 1827, Thayer reverently recorded this pilgrimage in his "Diary" writing;-

And the strong man (von Breuning), overcome with his emotions, turned away to the window--and we were silent. We passed through the eight rooms, large and small, which belong to the range of apartments, all of which the composer had hired.
Our conversation was in low tones, and there could be but one topic.
The empty rooms, sounding to our steps, became again the abode of the sick man.
We saw him lying there patient and composed, heard him reply to the written questions of doctor, brother or friend, saw the old housekeeper or te servant girl coming at the sound of his bell--in short lived over again with Breuning those last months during the winter of 1827.
We lingered long and then, with touched hearts, left the house and drove to the churchyard at Wahring-but a mile or two away. Spring had not yet come, and the place looked dreary and desolate. But the simple granite monument, with one word, BEETHOVEN upon it, and we clustered around the slab and exchanged thoughts, feeling and recollections upon the Great Soul that once had dwelt in them.
We each took a few of the unfading flowers, in rememberance of the day, and attached the wreath to the weeping willow which shades the grave.

[This message has been edited by lysander (edited March 01, 2003).]

[Peter]

Very interesting - how moving it must have been for Gerhard Breuning who had last seen those rooms as a boy of 13. A shame that the building was demolished and all that remains is a door! There is a photo of the original and the new building on this site in picture gallery 4.

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'Man know thyself'

[lysander]

Originally posted by Peter:
Very interesting - how moving it must have been for Gerhard Breuning who had last seen those rooms as a boy of 13. A shame that the building was demolished and all that remains is a door! There is a photo of the original and the new building on this site in picture gallery 4.

It must have been very emotional for Gerhard Breuning on visiting the Schwarzspanierhaus after all these years, a very beautiful and heartfelt moment for him, almost like being in contact with him again. I would feel the same surge of emotion.
It is a great shame that the house fell into disrepair and was pulled down in 1903-4.

Interestingly the Schwarzspanierhaus - (The House of the Black Spaniards),- was so called because it was originally a monastery for Spanish Monks who wore black robes.
The Monastery was secularized in 1798 and eventually divided into rather elegant flats. The building sadly fell into disrepair and was demolished.

It also intrigues me that in the Fischer house, Beethoven was called "der Spagnol" (the Spaniard), while his playmates nicknamed him "der Spagnol". Ludwig's swarthy complection led Prince Paul Anton Esterhazy to call him a "Moor".
Whether there was Spanish Blood in his veins, as a relic of the Spanish rule in the Netherlands - well who knows!

'B' is said to have an excitable and fiery temperament.

Lysander

[Andrea]

Here is a discription of the Schwarzspanierhaus from the book "Memories of Beethoven" by Gerhard von Breuning:

"It was also a very attractive apartment. The Schwarzspanierhaus, on the Alservorstadt Glacis, facing south, was not at that time surrounded by any of the new buildings that have since been put up, and it had a wide view over the Glacis and the inner city lying just opposite, with its bastions and church towers, left to Leopoldvorstadt and beyond that over the towering trees of the Prtaer and the Brigitteneau, towards the front over the extensive drill grounds of Josefstadt, the imperial stables, Mariahilfervorstadt and other suburbs; the only direction in which the view was cut off was to the right, blocked by the Rothes Haus, where we occupied quarters on the second story with ten windows to the right of the main entrance. The Schwarzspanierhaus, and the attached church, at that time used as a military bedding warehouse, had once been built by Benedictines from Spain, which led to an unusual arrangement of its windows."

[lysander]

That was interesting Andrea, Thankyou

Lysander.