Beethoven spent about 15 summers in Baden, a spa town outside of Vienna. Guest Isabella Bilka — from the Beethovenhaus Baden — discusses why Beethoven repeatedly visited Baden and its influence on his work.

TRANSCRIPT

Hello from Baden, Austria. I'm at the Beethovenstein, or Beethoven Stone, one of Beethoven's supposed favorite resting places on his long nature walks here. Beethoven spent roughly 15 summers in Baden, and I'm going to the Beethovenhaus Baden to discuss its significance to him…

Why did Beethoven come to Baden?

Baden is a spa town and we have the sulphur springs, which are very healthy. You can either drink them or bathe in them. A lot of times, doctors prescribed him to come to Baden to get to the spas.

And the other reason is that Baden was the residence of the emperor for the summer. So a lot of people who, would meet and greet like it is today — so, he could he could get a few connections here.

So, those are the two main reasons he came here.

So it was like a win-win situation for him. For his health and to be around his patrons, right? And he came to Baden quite often.

Yes. Quite a few times, actually. He also enjoyed the nature very much. So he loved to wander around in our wineries in the vineyards. They're very famous.

He really enjoyed the climate because it contributed to his well-being. And, in Baden, there are actually a lot of paths that are named after Beethoven. So you can wonder in the footsteps of Beethoven, if you like.

And there is one very nice story that shows us what an eccentric he actually was. So he wandered around and he forgot the time because he was very inspired in nature — and he accidentally wondered about 20 kilometers to Wiener Neustadt. It was very bad weather later on, so his hat flew away. And we all know he had this very funny and wild hairdo because he wouldn't want to suit up for anybody.

When he arrived in Wiener Neustadt, it was late at night. He was popular at this time. He wanted to get like to get a room to stay in. But he was that bad looking — he started to knock on the windows and saying, ‘Let me in. Let me in! I’m Beethoven! — and people thought he was a drunk. They were like, of course, you’re Beethoven. Yeah, no. And they threw him into prison, actually.

When he was there, he was like, ‘I’m Beethoven! You can't do that!’ because he was a bit of, you know…

One man, the master, the chief of the orchestra, had actually met Beethoven at one time. So he went there, identified him, and they knew it was actually Beethoven. They sent him back to Baden with their apologies. [Laughter]

So having spent a lot of time here, what compositions did he write in Baden?

In this very room, he actually wrote major parts of the Ninth Symphony.

We do have to give credit to Vienna in the Landstraße where he finished it, so we do have to share the credit. But, actually, he wrote major parts here.

So, in this apartment, in this very house — he stayed at a few places in Baden, actually — but in this house, he wrote parts of the Ninth Symphony. And he stayed here in the years 1821, 1822 and 1823. And, as we know, the first performance of the Ninth Symphony was in 1824, so he was quite far with his work.

It's interesting to see the vast range of works he was working on: the Ninth Symphony, but also the lighter Wellington Sieg and also the late string quartets, the Missa Solemnis…

Yes, Missa Solemnis for the archduke, of course.

Les Adieux – and it's quite interesting because Les Adieux was with the coming of the Napoleon troops. And then there's Wellington's Victory. So that's like both of them.

We're sitting in this room, which is part of the apartment of his living quarters when he would stay here. Could you tell us a little bit about what rooms he had and what's special here?

Yes. So what's very special is that this is actually the restored original. Layer by layer, they scratched off the wall and tried to figure out what was the original.

So he had this candy pink with all of these palm leaf-like ornaments, which is very typical for the time. So as I mentioned — the Biedermeier — it's very organic. It's very close to nature which is, of course, also the epoch of Romantic, you know.

What most people wouldn't think is that he didn't have any instruments here. He just composed here. But he didn't have any instruments, no piano, no nothing. Which again, shows us what kind of genius he was because he heard the music in his head even before he went deaf. Also, the bedroom is restored as it was like in the original, almost.

Even though it's restored, you get an insight. You get to see it through his eyes a little bit.

Yes. And also there are some places where you have this aura. This is what you feel if you come here, you have this — a little bit of a ghost. The spirit of Beethoven. And you always feel that when you come here.