Josephine Brunsvik

Countess Josephine de Brunsvik Korompa, 1799 Josephine Countess Deym of Stritetz (* March 28, 1779 in Bratislava, † March 31 1821 in Vienna) was a Hungarian nobleman. She was one of the main female characters in the life of Ludwig van Beethoven, who at least fourteen partly wrote to her in 1804 bis 1810/11 passionate love letters, in which he only including " Angel", "My All" and as his " beloved " and called her " eternal fidelity " swore. Since they are " the only woman [ is ] that has been shown to consistently and passionately loved Beethoven", holds a number of musicologists Josephine for the addressee of the famous three-part letter to the "Immortal Beloved" on 6/7 Juli 1812.

Childhood and first marriage

Josephine's father Anton Brunsvik (1745-1792) died at the age of 47, leaving behind his wife Anna, née Baroness Wankel Seeberg ( 1752-1830 ), four children: Josephine, Therese ( 1775-1861 ), Franz ( 1777 - 1849) and Charlotte ( 1782-1843 ). The family lived in a castle in Martonvásár in Budapest.

The children enjoyed an education by private teachers, studied classical languages ​​and literature. All four were found to be talented musicians: Franz was a good cellist, the girls were distinguished from the piano - especially Therese. Everyone admired the music of Ludwig van Beethoven, who had established himself during the 1790s - years as a pianist in the Austrian capital Vienna. Franz later he dedicated the F minor Piano Sonata, Op 57 ( Appassionata ), Therese F sharp major Sonata, Op 78

On May 3, 1799 Anna brought her two daughters, Therese and Josephine to Vienna, where Beethoven gave them piano lessons. About the first acquaintance of the two sisters with Beethoven Therese wrote decades later as a very old woman in her memoirs: " The Immortal, dear Louis van Beethoven was very friendly and so polite as he could be ... He was busy, but stayed instead of a hour from 12 until often 4 to 5 clock ... The superior man must himself have been satisfied, because by 16 days it was not a single time out. ". Like several other men also Beethoven must have fallen in love at first sight in Josephine. About six years after the first meeting he confessed Josephine, he then must suppress his spontaneous love for her. She herself wrote to him - also later, in her widowhood - of their " enthousiastische [n ] soul " for him, even before she had met him personally.

At the urging of his mother, who wanted a wealthy husband of equal rank for her daughter, Josephine married but on 29 July 1799 in Martonvásár the considerably older Count Joseph von Deym (* April 4, 1752 in Wognitz in Bohemia; † January 27, 1804 in Prague), who had also instantly fell in love at their first meeting in Vienna on 5 May 1799 in it. The " Hofstatuarius " Deym had in Vienna on the Red Tower, a large gallery building with numerous halls were filled with plaster and wax casts of famous antique statues from Italy, which had Deym removed during his stays there itself. After initial, predominantly financial difficulties, the Deym marriage developed, despite the significant age difference to a happy relationship. Beethoven was a regular " steadfast visitors of the young Countess " continued Josephine's piano teacher and gave her free lessons. For Deym he composed pieces for a musical clock. He also participated in a series of house concerts in Deymschen Palais, where many of his latest compositions - like most violin sonatas and probably among other things the Piano Sonatas, Op 31/1 and 2 - were performed.

In her brief marriage to Deym Josephine gave birth to four children:

• Victoire ( Vicky ) ( born May 5, 1800 Vienna, † February 2nd 1823 in Vienna)
• Friedrich ( Fritz) ( May 3, 1801 in Vienna, † January 23, 1853 in Vienna)
• Carl ( born July 27, 1802 in Nußdorf whether the Traisen, † May 18 1840 in Nagysurány )
• Josephine ( sephine ) ( born February 24, 1804 in Vienna, † June 25, 1821 in St. Pölten ).

While she was still pregnant with sephine, Count Deym died suddenly on January 27, 1804 in Prague from pneumonia. Before he died, he transferred Josephine bequeathed the guardianship of the children and the assets. Shortly after Deym death was received by the Emperor in Vienna, the young widow with her ​​older children and comforted her: " Do not cry, your children are my children "

Widowhood

The summer of 1804 spent the widowed Josephine and her sister Charlotte in a country home in Hietzing at Schoenbrunn Palace Park, where she was but a nervous fever seriously ill and return to the city. After her health had stabilized again in the winter, Beethoven came more and more often to class to her, towards the end of November already every two days, and it developed an increasingly close relationship between the two. Between 1804 and 1809 Beethoven Josephine wrote a series of passionate love letters, of which fourteen are obtained. Only in 1957 were published thirteen of them; another fragment is preserved only in a copy of Josephine came along later. All these letters have in tone and word choice clear similarities with Beethoven 's famous letter to the " Immortal Beloved " of July 1812. That this love did not remain one-sided, showing among other things, excerpts from a letter from Josephine, in which they " possession of the noblest of their I 's " guaranteed him and a further letter from her, probably in 1805: "My heart you have long, dear Beethoven if you this insurance can be fun, as you receive them - from the purest heart. " Beethoven wrote her in the same year: "For a long - long - time - may our love be - it is so classy - on mutual respect and friendship founded ... o let me hope that her heart long - will strike and for me - mine only - stop beating - when it no longer beats. " During this time Beethoven wrote for Josephine the song " An die Hoffnung " op 32 as well as a lyrical minuet, Andante Favori WoO 57 for piano (originally the second movement of the Waldstein Sonata Op 53 ), the opening motif in the opinion of Massin and Harry Goldschmidt the name " Jo- se- phi - ne " chanted.

The love between Beethoven and Josephine, who sought to keep both a secret, however, was viewed with extremely suspicious from the start of the class-conscious family Josephine. The longer the connection, the greater is the pressure on Josephine to end relationship with Beethoven. Josephine even put the stormy urging Beethoven's limits because it was aware that it was impossible for her not least for legal reasons, to marry the non-noble Beethoven: Since according to the law then the woman with the marriage her husband followed in his stand, they would have their have to give nobility and thus lost the guardianship of her aristocratic children. It informed Beethoven indirectly also; in winter 1806/ 07 she wrote to him almost desperately: " This preference which you granted me the pleasure of your dealings, could have be-ing the most beautiful jewelry in my life You loved me less sensual - that I can not satisfy these Sensual Love - angry on me - I would have to violate sacred band, I would request your hearing - you believe - that I, through the fulfillment of my duties, most suffering -. , and that certain noble motives guided my actions "

In the fall of 1807 finally gave Josephine the pressure of their noble family gradually withdrew from Beethoven: you only let himself deny, if he wanted to visit them. In this Beethoven extremely hurtful and traumatizing experience could be the passage " ... but never hide yourself from me " later in his letter to the " Immortal Beloved " refer in July 1812.

Second Marriage

To find a suitable tutor for her two school-age sons, Josephine went in the summer of 1808 along with her sister Therese and her two sons Fritz and Carl on a long journey, including to Yverdon, where she met the famous pedagogue Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi. There, she also met the Estonian Baron Christoph von Stackelberg ( December 4, 1777, Reval - November 7, 1841, Tallinn ), who offered himself, to accompany the four upon their return to Hungary via Geneva, southern France, northern Italy and Croatia. As the small group had arrived in December 1808 in Geneva, Josephine suddenly became seriously ill. From later diary notes by Therese von Stackelberg and a letter of 1815 suggests that Josephine then succumbed Stackelberg overtures: When the two sisters and Josephine's sons returned in the summer of 1809 along with Stackelberg to Hungary, Josephine was pregnant. Baron Stackelberg - Aliens of lower noble rank and Protestant - was rejected by the class-conscious Brunsviks. Josephine's first child with Stackelberg was

• Maria Laura, * (?) In December 1809 in Vac ( Vac today ), † January 7, 1843 in Hosszufalu, Transylvania.

The child was born out of wedlock. Only with reluctance gave mother Anna finally their written consent to the marriage, not least because Stackelberg had been repeatedly threatened, otherwise adjust the education of children Deym. Josephine's marriage with Stackelberg finally took place in Gran on 13 February 1810. The marriage between Josephine and Stackelberg was unhappy from the start. The second child of this marriage,

• Theophile, born November 30, 1810 in Vienna, † September 6, 1828 in Tallinn,

Came exactly nine months after the wedding to the world. After Josephine was again ill. For the year 1811 there is evidence that they made ​​it a point not to stay in the same room with Stackelberg. In addition, both strong differences of opinion when it came to the education of the children had. The collapse of the marriage and to complete financial ruin led the purchase of a large rule on 22 May 1810 in Witschapp and Lessonitz in Moravia. The couple, who took over the rule on July 1, 1810, will not be able to fully fund the purchase price of 2,000,000 florins; after inflation losses and by all instances contested, but eventually lost lawsuit against the owner of the lands Josephine saw himself deprived of most of their assets.

1812

After many grueling battles between spouses Stackelberg left probably in June 1812 his wife and family, although there was Josephine in great financial difficulties. Stackelberg was reportedly found comfort in prayer after the separation. Recently discovered diary entries Josephine, presumably in June 1812 show that she was about to go to Prague. From this point on there are in Josephine's records and those of its sister Therese significant gaps. Perhaps some pages were later removed by an unknown hand. In Josephine's diary at any rate " four leaves neatly cut out with scissors. " Are the surviving records set just two months later again.

Meanwhile, Beethoven traveled from Vienna to Prague, where he met the woman on July 3, 1812 in his famous on 6 / 7 he July 1812 letter written in Teplitz his " Immortal Beloved " is called.

It seems that it was Josephine's main concern in the late summer of 1812 to retain the custody of their four - Deym children. Probably at this time, she managed to negotiate a new modus vivendi with her in the meantime apparently again returned husband. However Stackelberg prevailed in this new marriage contract that he could leave Josephine at any time if she was not complying with the contract. Maybe he did this later in connection with the birth of Josephine's seventh child,

• Minona, born April 8, 1813 in Vienna, † February 21, 1897 in Vienna,

The exactly nine months after Beethoven had met in Prague his " Immortal Beloved " came into the world. It is therefore always the thesis have been prepared that not Stackelberg, but Beethoven Minonas biological father was. Interestingly, gives the name Minona read backwards ' Anonim '.

Separation

After a long separation, the exact period has not yet been determined, Stackelberg was released in May 1814, to his children - to bring to the Baltic States - including Minona. Josephine resisted, whereupon Stackelberg called the police on the scene and the three young children forcibly tore itself because of alleged neglect. As it turned out later, Stackelberg but did not take the children to his Estonia, but it was from a clergyman in Bohemia in custody.

Josephine, alone and ever more sickly, presented in September 1814 a dubious mathematics teacher named Karl Eduard von Andrehan - Werburg: one ( called Andrian ). She fell whose charismatic influence, became pregnant and gave birth in the autumn of 1815 hidden in a hut her eighth child,

• Emilie, born September 16, 1815 in Gießhübl (?) / Vienna Woods, † September 6, 1817 in Vienna.

End of April 1815 was Stackelberg, who had made through the death of a brother an inheritance, once again surfaced in Vienna to take Josephine to his Estonian goods. Due to her pregnancy, the Stackelberg apparently remained unknown, and their obligations to their children Deym but they did not want to follow him, especially since their marriage was largely destroyed. Stackelberg Josephine wrote a long letter in which he drew a very mixed picture of her character from his perspective.

Shortly after Josephine had brought her last child, Emilie to the world, they announced their father Andrian for the position of tutor. Andrian then took with his daughter and brought her up alone. Two years later, on September 6, 1817, Emilie died from measles. The chain of dramatic events continued unabated: On December 29, 1815 Dean Franz lyre wrote from Trautenau Josephine, he had her three young daughters in his custody, Stackelberg, however, have long been sent out of money. Josephine and Therese - happy to hear after almost two years back some of the children - loaded as much money together as they just might raise, and sent it to the lyre, who proposed shortly afterwards, the children back into the care of her mother to return. Just in the moment when Josephine could hope to finally see her children, dipped the end of September 1816 Christoph von Stackelberg's brother Otto on in Trautenau to bring the kids finally moved to Estonia.

Marie -Elisabeth Tellenbach believes circumstantial evidence to have found that Beethoven and Josephine sporadically directly or indirectly after 1812 had contact with each other. Busy is now that both Josephine and Beethoven were staying in the summer of 1816 in Baden, where they could have met. It seems that they were planning to spend a few weeks in the autumn of 1816 together in the northern German spa town of Bad Pyrmont. Josephine was a passport granted on 3 August by the Austrian State " in the bathroom to Pirmont " and Beethoven wrote, also in August 1816 in his diary: " not to P - t, but by P. - dissuade, as the best to make sey. " " P. " could be the abbreviation for" Pepi ", the nickname of Josephine, have been.

The end

End of 1819, Christoph von Stackelberg came again to Vienna and finally also brought the abducted children, so Josephine could see it again. About the now six year old Therese Minona later wrote in her memoirs: " Strangely, the child had developed. Without being beautiful, she was greatly impressed and so their older sisters, that we always called the governess. It turned out later that she had the most genius among sisters. " Josephine had let the kids quiet. She knew that she was no longer cope with the burden of educating these children.

Josephine's life ended in increasing suffering temporary financial difficulties and loneliness. To the dismay of the bedridden mother sons Fritz and Carl went from his marriage to Deym the military, the second Deym subsidiary sephine had gone to the English Miss to St. Pölten, the three daughters from her marriage to Stackelberg were in Estonia, sister Therese left Josephine, brother Franz refused to send more money and mother Anna accused of being to blame for their misfortune.

On March 31, 1821 died Josephine Countess von Brunswick; she was buried in the Währinger cemetery in Vienna. A memorial stone was denied her by her family. In the same year, Beethoven composed his last two piano sonatas, Op 110 ( ungewidmet ) and Op 111 ( dedicated in Austria Archduke Rudolf, Antonie Brentano in England ). Both sonatas are - among other things because of the references to the Andante favori - interpreted by the musicologists Marie -Elisabeth Tellenbach and Harry Goldschmidt Requiem Sonatas for Josephine, with Tellenbach other hand, focuses on op 110, Goldschmidt, op 111. Exactly six years later, Breuning and Schindler also selected on the Währinger cemetery, " where he always stayed like " a tomb for Beethoven.

Decades after Josephine's death her ​​sister Therese is listed as Siebzigerin in her diary: " Beethoven! yet it is like a dream, that he was the friend, the confidant of our house - a beautiful spirit! why it took my sister Josephine not to her husband as a widow Deym? You would have been happier than with St [ ackelberg ]. Mother Love it certain - to waive own happiness "; and she remembered: " I was happy Beethoven's intimate, intellectual handling so many years! Josephine's house and heart friend! You were born for each other and both were still alive, they would have united themselves. "

Tracks in the music?

Officially Beethoven Josephine has devoted only a single work, which she has also yet to share with her sister Therese: the Six Variations on "I think your " WoO 74 for piano. Would you, therefore, the official factory dedications Beethoven's rise to the only measure of his appreciation, Josephine would look sloppy treated as the most peripheral female characters in Beethoven's life. It was not least the almost complete absence of official inscriptions, which - in addition to a series of cover-ups and document destruction by the Brunsvik family - greatly helped that Josephine was the longest time in the Beethovenbiographik almost non-existent.

This only changed when the early seventies of the 20th century, the basic musicological study of the French couple Brigitte and Jean Massin appeared: especially in the written for Josephine " lyrical minuet ", the Andante Favori WoO 57, the biographical significance only through the publication of fourteen love letters had become manifest in the fifties to Josephine ("- here you - you - Andante -"), they believe a semantic cipher for " Jo- se- phi - ne " to have found. This approach, which will also open up the music as a biographical document was developed in the aftermath of Harry Goldschmidt and Marie -Elisabeth Tellenbach on. Metamorphoses of " lyrical minuet " - and thus references to Josephine - they believe in the complete works of Beethoven over decades, to prove to the late work.

Specifically, they see in the field of instrumental music tracks of the ' lyrical minuet ", etc. in the following works:

• From Josephine's widowhood: Piano Sonata No. 22 in F major ( first movement ), Op 54; Violin Concerto in G major, Op 61 ( second movement ); Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor ( " Appassionata " ), Op 57 ( first movement )
• From the period 1807-1812: " Quartetto serioso " F minor, Op 95 (III and IV set)
• From the period after 1812: Violin Sonata in G major, Op 96 ( first movement ); Piano Sonata No. 29 in B flat major ( " Hammerklavier" Sonata ), op 106 ( second movement ); Piano Sonata No. 31 A flat major, op 110 ( first movement ); Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op 111 ( Second sentence: " Arietta "); " Diabellivariationen " C major, op 120 ( 33 Variation: " Tempo di Menuetto " ), and finally in the " trifles ", Op 126 ( # 3 and # 6, both E-flat major )

In the field of vocal music they see biographical references to Josephine, among others in the following works:

• In the opera " Leonore " Op 72 (later Fidelio ); the song cycle "On the distant beloved", Op 98, and among other things, the songs " An die Hoffnung " op 32 / op 94; "When the mistress wanted to dispose of" WoO 132; "Resignation " WoO 149 and " evening song under the starry sky " WoO 150

So throughout the references seem to be that Brigitte Massin collectively referred to as the " permanence Josephine in Beethoven's work ."