- There’s no record of when Ludwig Van Beethoven was born. He is said to have been baptized on Dec 17th, 1770 in Bonn, Germany, but there is no data about his actual date of birth.
- Beethoven wasn’t born deaf. By the age of 26, he started losing his hearing ability and by the time of his death, he was completely deaf. It is also a saddening fact that he couldn’t hear some of his own genius compositions.
- Beethoven dropped out of school at an early age. Due to financial problems at home, it is said that his father stopped him from attending school. He was forced to earn and to take up the financial responsibilities of his family.
- Beethoven had a tragic love life. He first fell in love with a woman named Julie in 1801, but couldn’t marry her because of class discriminations and that he was a commoner. He later fell in love with a woman named Josephine whom he gave piano lessons to. But this time again, their relationship ended because of her family’s denial.
- Beethoven composed some of his best symphonies during the last 10 years of his life and was completely deaf at that time.
- Beethoven was forced by his father to learn music. Along with him leaving school, he also took up the post of Assistant Court Organist by replacing his father. At such a young age, he also received an annual pay of 150 florins.
- Beethoven and Mozart are said to have met in Vienna in 1787. It is also believed that the former had been inspired by Mozart’s musical genius during his early days. However, there’s no evidence to prove both these facts.
- One of the fun facts about Beethoven is that his portraits that we see today are based on a life mask that was taken during his lifetime.
- Beethoven died at the age of 56.
- Beethoven’s last words were “It’s a shame, a shame—too late”. Apparently, he’d referred to his bottle of wine that was getting delivered.