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	The '''van Beethoven family''' was a family which included a number of musicians, only one of whom was a notable composer: the world-famous ].

	==Origins of the surname==
	The exact origins of ]s surname are unknown, various theories have been proposed. The Meertens Institute, an authoritative body on Dutch surnames, notes it as being a derived from a toponym,<ref>See Meertens ''Nederlandse Familienamen Databank'': </ref> supported by the '']'' "]"<ref>]) 'van-namen zijn bijna zonder uitzondering van aardrijkskundige oorsprong' ('van'-names are almost without exception of topographical origins.]</ref>, which could point towards the village of ], in the Dutch province of ].{{Fact\|date=October 2007}} Other theories are that it derives from an old spelling variant of ], a region in the Eastern Netherlands, while others claim 'Beethof' ''(plural: Beetho'''ven''')'' was a poetical term for a kind of public orchard.<ref></ref> The name seems to have died out in the Netherlands, as it was not noted in the most recent ], but some people still bear the name in the ] part of ]. In Germany the name disappeared in ], when the last great great grandchild of '''Karl van Beethoven''' (Ludwigs brother) died<ref>All other decendants of Karl van Beethoven (great great great grandchildren) use the name 'Weidinger'.</ref>.

	==Ancestors of Ludwig van Beethoven==

	*'''Jan van Beethoven''' (born ] - died ?) his place of birth or residence are unknown, but is likely to have been the area currently included within the Belgian province of ], possible ], as most of his descendants lived there and in the province of ] until they relocated to Bonn in the ], now ]. It is unknown whom he married but has been recorded to have had at least one child
	*'''Marck van Beethoven''' (born ] - died ?) married ''Anna Smets'' (born ] - died ?) had at least one son.

	*'''Aert van Beethoven''' (born ] - died ]/9) married ''Josyne van Vlesselaer'' (born ] - died ]).

	*'''Hendrick van Beethoven''' (born ] - died ]) married ''Josyne Cathlyne van Boevenbeeke'' (born ] - died ]).

	*'''Markus van Beethoven''' (born ] - died ]) married ''Sara Haesaerts'' (born ] - died ]).
	*'''Cornelius van Beethoven''' (born ] - died ]) married ''Catharina van Leempoel'' (born ] - died ]).

	*'''Michiel van Beethoven''' (born ] - died ]) married ''Marie Louise Stuyckers'' (born ] - died ]). Michiel was a master ] in ]; he also dealt in lace and property speculation. He was the last direct ancestor of Ludwig van Beethoven to marry a ] wife.<ref name=Flemish>R. Capell, '''Beethoven''', in ''Music & Letters'', Vol. 19, No. 4 (Oct., 1938), pp. 375-390</ref>

	*'''Lodewijk van Beethoven''' (born ] 5th ], ] - died ] 24th ], ]) married ''Catharina Maria Josepha Poll'' . He was first in the Van Beethoven family to take up a professional interest in music. Ludwig was named in his honour, "]" being German variant of the ] 'Lodewijk'. Lodewijk moved to ] just before or after the birth of his son, possibly making him the last Van Beethoven born in the ], and the first Van Beethoven to marry a ] wife. On November 2nd 1727, when he was 16 years old, he was appointed vice-conductor of the church choir of Saint Lambert Cathedral in ]. There the Archbishop of Cologne is said to have seen him work and took him to ] where he was appointed a ] in the court choir with a salary of 400 ] a year. On September 17th ] he married a local girl from Bonn called Maria-Jozef Poll. They had three children, of which only ] reached maturity.

	*''']''' (born ] - died ]) married ''Maria Keverich'' (born ] - died ]). He was the only one of 3 children to survive, and became a tenor in the court chapel at Bonn and married the 21 year old ] Maria Keverich on November 12th ]. He had 3 sons, one of which was ], and of which only one, Karl van Beethoven, had any children.

	==Beethoven's Flemish ancestry==
	Despite his surname, Ludwig van Beethoven was only a quarter ]<ref name=Flemish/><ref name=Flemish2>Ernest Closson and Gustave Reese, '''Grandfather Beethoven''', in ''The Musical Quarterly'', Vol. 19, No. 4 (Oct., 1933), pp. 367-373</ref><ref name=Flemish3>TF Howell, '''Beethoven's nationality''', in ''The Musical Times'', 1915. "The chief hereditary character of Beethoven was Flemish, and all else was what we now label German."</ref>; indeed, his grandfather Lodewijk was the last van Beethoven to be fully Flemish. Most of van Beethoven's most recent family came from what is now Germany, mostly the ] ] area. Ludwig is considered to be German, and people occasionally spell his name as 'von Beethoven', which is incorrect. The last German of the Lodewijk van Beethoven line to bear the name Van Beethoven was '''Karl Julius Maria van Beethoven'''.

	The ]s were especially interested in Beethoven's background: ''"After making sure that Beethoven had no suspicious racial or national tinge of the non-Germanic in his background (clear evidence of his Flemish ancestry was denied in a series of articles), the masters of the Nazi propaganda and cultural machinery promoted his works as the essence of Germanic and Aryan strength".''<ref>Lewis Lockwood: ''Beethoven: the Music and the Life'' (W.W.Norton, 2005) p.419</ref>

	Beethoven himself showed less interest in his ancestors' Flemishness, unless - as ] suggests- it played a role in his composing incidental music for ]'s play '']'', ''"which tells of the eponymous hero, a sixteenth-century Flemish aristocrat, who is arrested and condemned by the Spanish conquerors"''. Solomon writes: ''"The subject had great resonance for Beethoven as an expression of his faith in the 'bon prince' and in the ideals of national liberation and individual freedom - perhaps also because it intersected with his own Flemish ancestry".''<ref>Maynard Solomon: ''Beethoven'' (Schirmer, 2001) p.273-4</ref>

	==Descendants of Ludwig van Beethoven==
	] never married and most likely never had any children. Hence a direct family connection to Beethoven is impossible today. One of his 2 brothers however did have children. None of their descendants bear the name van Beethoven.

	==Notes==
	{{reflist}}

	==External links==
	*
	* by Herbert Antcliffe in ''The Musical Times'', Vol. 77, No. 1117 (Mar., 1936), pp. 254-255 - Article explains how "A certain Ludwig (Lodewijk) van Beethoven was born at Malines as the son of Michiel and the grandson of Cornelius and of Catherina Leempoels..."

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Latest revision as of 19:44, 20 April 2008

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