Genealogy studies | Beethoven Music Research Center www.lvbeethoven.org

The Enigma of Minona von Stackelberg: Was She the Illegitimate Daughter of Ludwig van Beethoven?

ew version of the article that originally appeared in French in the A.B.F. journal, and earlier on the website www.lvbeethoven.com

Therese Brunsvik de Korompa (1775–1861)

A life shaped by music, pedagogy, and silent devotion

The eldest daughter of Count Anton Brunsvik and Anna von Seeberg, Therese was born in 1775 into one of Hungary’s most influential noble families. Raised between the estates of Martonvásár and Korompa, she received a refined education and soon distinguished herself for intelligence, sensitivity, and a strong reformist spirit.

In 1799, together with her mother and her sister Josephine, she entered the Viennese salons where she met Ludwig van Beethoven. A deep friendship grew between them, nourished by mutual esteem and a shared educational ideal. Therese was briefly his pupil, and in 1810 Beethoven dedicated to her the Sonata in F‑sharp major, Op. 78.

Her correspondence and diaries — invaluable historical sources — reveal not only her bond with Beethoven but also the central role she played in protecting and supporting her sister Josephine, especially during the most difficult years of her life.

A passionate advocate of Pestalozzi’s educational principles, Therese devoted herself to early childhood education and to the promotion of women’s rights. She founded the first kindergartens in Hungary and fought for social equality in Budapest. She never married, but became a spiritual mother to many children, including the mysterious Minona, Josephine’s daughter, whom she raised with love and discretion.

Therese died in 1861, leaving behind a legacy of pedagogical innovation and a unique testimony to the inner world of Beethoven and his circle.

Josephine Brunsvik de Korompa (1779–1821)

The countess who loved Beethoven — and paid the price of her nobility

Born in 1779, the second daughter of Count Anton Brunsvik and Anna von Seeberg, Josephine grew up amid the splendor of Hungarian aristocracy and the constraints of a strict upbringing. Gifted with grace, intelligence, and deep musical sensitivity, she entered the Viennese salons in 1799 with her mother and sister Therese, where she met Ludwig van Beethoven.

Between them arose a bond that was profound, passionate, and tormented. Josephine was his pupil, muse, and confidante. After her marriage in 1800 to Count Joseph Deym — a union of convenience rather than affection — the correspondence with Beethoven ceased, only to resume intensely after Deym’s death in 1804. Their letters, filled with longing and sorrow, reveal a relationship that challenged social conventions and the rigid boundaries of class.

Widowed and mother of four, Josephine found herself torn between her love for Beethoven and the legal and familial pressures that prevented her from marrying a man of non‑noble birth. Her life was marked by imposed choices, including a second, unhappy marriage to Baron Christoph von Stackelberg, with whom she had additional children.

In 1813, Minona was born — a mysterious child never officially acknowledged. Therese, ever devoted, took her in and raised her. The circumstances of Minona’s birth — and even her name, an anagram of “Anonim” — have long fueled the belief that Beethoven was the father.

Josephine died in 1821, worn down by illness and a life of renunciation. Today she emerges as a woman divided between duty and passion, nobility and freedom, motherhood and an impossible love.

Adam (Ádám) von Stackelberg (1787–1841)

The Baltic baron who became Josephine’s second husband

Adam von Stackelberg, born in 1787 into a Baltic noble family, belonged to the cosmopolitan world of the imperial aristocracy that moved between Vienna, Livonia, and the courts of Central Europe. Young, polished, and ambitious, he quickly entered diplomatic and military circles, where he distinguished himself for elegant manners and a taste for social life.

In 1810 he met Josephine Brunsvik, already widowed from Count Deym and mother of four. Their marriage, celebrated the same year, was welcomed by both families: a “suitable” union that promised Josephine renewed social stability and offered Stackelberg a stronger position in Viennese and Hungarian society. Reality, however, proved very different.

Often absent due to travels and appointments, Stackelberg soon revealed an unsettled character and little inclination toward family responsibilities. His relationship with Josephine’s children was strained, and the couple’s financial situation deteriorated rapidly. Letters and diaries by Therese Brunsvik describe growing tensions, misunderstandings, and an emotional estrangement that became irreversible.

In 1813, Minona was born — the most enigmatic child of the Brunsvik family. Stackelberg never recognized her as his own, and shortly thereafter abandoned Josephine entirely, relinquishing any role in the household. The separation left Josephine in a state of material and emotional fragility, while Therese assumed responsibility for the children.

After leaving the family, Stackelberg continued his career through various administrative posts and travels in Eastern Europe. He died in 1841, far from the Brunsvik circle — an elegant yet elusive figure, more spectator than protagonist, but nonetheless decisive in shaping Josephine’s fate and the still‑debated story of Minona’s birth.

Therese Brunsvik and the Birth of Minona

In her memoir Mein halbes Jahrhundert, Therese von Brunsvik declared not only that she was the “godmother” of the child, but wrote quite literally: “Das Kind wurde mir förmlich geschenkt” (“the child was literally given to me”). The reason for this statement is clear: since Josephine was not yet legally divorced, Therese wished to prevent Count Christoph von Stackelberg from claiming any rights over this child of love. She also wanted to protect the newborn from the constant conflicts between Josephine and her husband, quarrels that had already deeply affected the other children.

Josephine never kept the secret from her sister. Therese was informed of the pregnancy from the very beginning. In her diary entry of 22 September 1812, she wrote:

“Josephines Kind will ich nicht als das meinige ansehen, sondern es für seine Eltern mit der größten Verleugnung und wie es Pflicht ist, erziehen…” (“Josephine’s child will not be as if it were my own, but I shall raise her for her parents, with the greatest self-denial, as duty requires…”)

As for von Stackelberg, he respected a tacit agreement to stay away from his wife. Therese later noted in her diary: “Wir sahen ihn sechs Monate nicht” (“We did not see him for six months”).

Yet on 4 December 1812, without warning, the count returned briefly to Vienna. His attitude toward Josephine remained unchanged: cold, distant, and devoid of any marital relationship.

Josephine’s Flight and the Birth of Her Child

Josephine, pregnant during this turbulent period, made a drastic decision: as Therese recounts, she “packed clothes and linen and decided to leave the house.” It is unclear whether von Stackelberg remained in Vienna in the following months; however, on 20 March 1813 — shortly before the birth — he drafted a new marital contract. Its final sentence was stark:

“Du bist frey – wie Du selbst mit Dir rechnen willst.” (“You are free — but you must rely solely on yourself.”)

A few days later, Stackelberg apparently left Vienna for good. No one in the Brunsvik household knew where he had gone. He considered himself so far removed from his family obligations that he no longer fulfilled even his duties toward his two elder children, nor did he assist his wife, who was close to giving birth.

On 9 April 1813, Josephine’s presumed natural daughter by Beethoven was born. She was given the name Maria Theresia Minona Selma Arria Cornelia. The name “Minona,” taken from Goethe’s Werther, is unusual; even more striking is its anagram, “Anonim,” suggesting a deliberately concealed identity.

Mystery Within Mystery

Anyone who speculates about Beethoven’s possible paternity can only add mystery to mystery. It must be remembered that the child was born in absolute secrecy, and that only Therese von Brunsvik stood by Josephine during those sorrowful hours.

At the beginning of 1814, Christoph von Stackelberg suddenly returned to Vienna and immediately went to the police to denounce his wife, alleging a “danger to the morality of their children.” His likely intention was to force Josephine to follow him to Estonia. She refused, choosing to remain in Vienna. The authorities, believing his accusations, entrusted the couple’s three daughters to Stackelberg.

Josephine’s Collapse

It is undeniable that the severe nervous breakdown that struck Josephine was directly linked to these painful events. With a broken and powerless heart, she watched as Stackelberg took away her three young daughters. She might have wished to fight for them, but she no longer had the physical or emotional strength to resist.

While Therese cared for the children from Josephine’s first marriage to Count Joseph Deym at the Deym castle in Hacking Zinzendorf, Josephine remained in the Deym residence in Vienna, ill and devastated. In this state of profound sorrow and isolation, she refused to see anyone — not even Beethoven, one of the dearest presences in her life.

Josephine’s Death and Minona’s Fate

This tragedy shattered Josephine completely. Her suffering was indescribable, and already weakened by grief for her daughters, she died on 31 March 1821 at the age of forty‑two, officially of “exhaustion.” At that very time Beethoven was suffering from a severe attack of jaundice that brought him close to death; all work on the symphony that would become the Ninth was halted. While little Minona found refuge with her aunt Therese at the Hacking‑Hütteldorf estate, the composer entered a period marked by worsening health and the painful legal struggle over his nephew Karl — a conflict that began in 1817 and culminated in the boy’s suicide attempt in 1826.

Taken to Estonia at eighteen months, Minona saw her mother again only years later, when she was brought to Josephine’s bedside as her condition deteriorated rapidly. She was six years old when Stackelberg returned her and her siblings, Theophile and Maria Laura, to Vienna. They had barely fulfilled their filial duties before their father forced them all back to Estonia.

When Therese saw Minona again — now six years old — she immediately noticed how unlike she was to the other children Josephine had had with Stackelberg. She could not fail to see it: Minona was, after all, her “secret.” Therese wrote in her diary:

“Merkwürdig hatte sich das Kind entwickelt. Ohne schön zu sein, war sie stark und imponierte dermaßen ihren älteren Schwestern, daß wir sie immer die Gouvernante nannten. Es zeigte sich auch später, daß sie das meiste Genie unter den Schwestern hatte.” (“The child had developed in a remarkable way. Though not beautiful, she was strong and impressed her older sisters so much that we always called her the Governess. It later became clear that she had the greatest talent among the sisters.”)

Minona, Music, and the Unspoken Secret

Minona lived for some time in Tallinn, where she studied music. She became an excellent pianist and also studied composition; many of her works were published during her lifetime.

It is said that Therese von Brunsvik eventually confided the truth of the story to a nephew — long after Beethoven’s death. The nephew later reported that in 1870 Minona appealed in vain to a distant relative of her mother’s family, asking him to hand over the correspondence between Josephine and Beethoven.

Author’s Note

I have been able to locate only two works attributed to a “Mlle. Stackelberg.” A more thorough investigation is needed to determine the true extent of Minona von Stackelberg’s musical output.

The two surviving Ecossaises are conventional pieces. The first, for solo piano in E‑flat major, is a lively, typical example of the genre. The second, in the unusual key of B‑flat minor, also bears the title Ecossaise and was published by Kühnel in Leipzig. It appears, however, to have been arranged by Friedrich Heinrich Himmel (1765–1814).

Thus, although attributed to a “Mlle. Stackelberg,” this work cannot be by Minona, born in 1813 — unless one assumes an extraordinarily precocious genius.

The Lost Letters and Minona’s Legacy

The letters Minona sought throughout her life remain untraceable. They seem to lie buried in a vast family archive, only recently made partially accessible to scholars. Lacking direct documents, Minona had to rely on vague recollections and on her aunt Therese’s diary when trying to uncover her origins.

From the few portraits and rare photographs that survive, Minona appears as a strong‑willed woman, bearing — especially in old age — a striking resemblance to the master from Bonn. Like her presumed father, she lived her entire life alone. The same fate befell her Deym half‑sisters Victoire and Sophie, and her Stackelberg half‑siblings Theophile and Laura Marie.

After the death of her stepfather in 1841, Minona returned to Vienna, settling in the still‑standing Palais Cavriani in the former Oberen Bräunergasse, now Habsburgergasse No. 5. She formed a close friendship with the owner, Count Luigi Cavriani (1758–1839), and his wife, both passionate music lovers, as were the Count and Countess de Bánffy, their intimate friends.

Minona’s proud temperament — perhaps inherited from her illustrious parent — manifested itself throughout her life. When the family’s financial situation later became precarious, she would often say:

“Das bin ich meiner Herkunft schuldig!” (“My only fault is what I have inherited.”)

The protagonists of this story, reinterpreted with the help of AI

The protagonists of this story, reinterpreted with the help of artificial intelligence, are not meant to replace history, but simply to bring these figures closer to us.

Stackelberg Minona von (1813-1897)

Brunswick Thérèse (1775-1861)

Brunswick Josephine e Charlotte (1782-1843)

Brunswick Josephine (1779-1821)

Stackelberg Adam Christoph Freiherr von (1777-1841)

Further information

Bibliography

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Johann Peter Keverich (1734-1807) Beethoven’s Only Uncle

Presented at “Musicology after Beethoven. XVII International Congress of the German Musicological Society (GfM)” by James F. Green

We know very little about some of Beethoven’s relatives, records are scant and while Beethoven himself was a busy letter writer it seems none of his relatives were. Beethoven had only one Uncle, his mother’s brother who, because he became a celibate priest, had no children. Beethoven never had a single first cousin. Johann Peter Kewerich was born in Ehrenbreitstein on 31 May 1734. The third child and second son of Johann Heinrich Kewerich and his wife Anna Klara Westorff. Beethoven’s mother, Maria Magdalena, born in 1746, would be their sixth and last child. The house in which they grew up still stands in Ehrenbreitstein.

I should like to mention something about Johann Peter Kewerich’s name. His father was named Johann and he had two brothers who were also named Johan, that is: Johann Jakob and Johann Balthasar. His paternal grandfather was also named Johann and he had an uncle named Johann Moritz Westorff and many cousins named Johann.. After his sister married, he got a brother-in-law named Johann, first it was Johann Leym and after his death a second brother-in-law named Johann van Beethoven. Essentially the name Johann was treated like as a prefix like Mister. It seems very probable to me that to avoid confusion and keep everyone straight within the family, he must have been called by his middle name, Peter. His sister and parents would have called him Peter and Beethoven would have called him Uncle Peter.

After settling in Bonn when she married Johann van Beethoven, Maria Magdalena made multiple visits to her relatives in Ehrenbreitstein and Koblenz, trips on which her son Ludwig often accompanied her. By then her mother and father were dead and her brother Peter would have been her closest relative there. Unfortunately, written records are missing for the connection between the nephew Ludwig and his uncle Peter.

Sappiamo molto poco sui parenti di Beethoven; i documenti sono scarsi e mentre Beethoven fu un assiduo scrittore di lettere, sembra che nessuno dei suoi parenti lo fosse. Beethoven ebbe un solo zio, il fratello di sua madre che, essendo diventato sacerdote e quindi celibe, non ebbe figli. Beethoven non ebbe mai un cugino di primo grado. Johann Peter Kewerich nacque a Ehrenbreitstein il 31 maggio 1734. Terzo figlio e secondogenito di Johann Heinrich Kewerich e di sua moglie Anna Klara Westorff. La madre di Beethoven, Maria Magdalena, nata nel 1746, sarebbe stata la loro sesta e ultima figlia. La casa in cui sono cresciuti esiste ancora e si trova a Ehrenbreitstein.

Vorrei fare una precisazione sul nome di Johann Peter Kewerich. Suo padre si chiamava Johann e aveva due fratelli che si chiamavano anch’ essi Johan, ovvero Johann Jakob e Johann Balthasar. Anche il nonno paterno si chiamava Johann che aveva uno zio di nome Johann Moritz Westorff, nonché molti cugini di nome…. Johann!. Dopo che la sorella si sposò, acquisì un cognato di nome Johann, prima Johann Leym e dopo la morte un secondo cognato di nome Johann van Beethoven. A farla breve, il nome Johann era usato comunemente come un nomignolo, come dire “Mister” (Signor). Sembrerebbe molto probabile che, per evitare confusione e riuscire a fare ordine all’interno della famiglia sia stato semplicemente chiamato con il suo secondo nome, Peter. Sua sorella e i genitori lo avrebbero chiamato Peter e Beethoven lo avrebbero chiamato “zio Peter”.

Maria Magdalena, quando sposò Johann van Beethoven si stabilì a Bonn e fece molte visite ai suoi parenti a Ehrenbreitstein e Coblenza. Durante questi viaggi fu spesso accompagnata dai figli, Ludwig compreso. A quell’ epoca la madre e il padre erano già morti e suo fratello Peter sarebbe stato il parente più stretto. Sfortunatamente, mancano documenti scritti per connettere il nipote Ludwig e lo zio Peter.

This house which you see here is now a house-museum and contains an interesting display of things relating to its occupancy by the Kewerich family and their famous grandson.

La casa natale dei Kewerich è adesso una casa-museo e contiene un’interessante esposizione di oggetti relativi alla sua occupazione da parte della famiglia Kewerich e del loro famoso pronipote.

This illustration shows the typical garments of a Carmelite priest in the 1790s. They wore a heavy coarse brown tunics while indoors and over that when they ventured out they wore natural colored or off-white linen hooded cloaks over the tunics.

Questa illustrazione mostra gli abiti tipici di un sacerdote carmelitano attorno al 1790. Indossavano una pesante e ruvida tunica marrone mentre erano all’interno del convento. Quando si avventuravano fuori indossavano mantelli con cappuccio di lino color naturale o bianco sporco sopra le tuniche.

Nothing is known about why Johann Peter would have chosen to the religious life for himself. It has been reported that his mother was a very pious woman who came from a religious family, the Westorffs. Many members of the Westorff family chose the spiritual life and entered religious orders including her own brother Johann Moritz Westorff. He became a Carmelite priest known as Father Beda. Priests, monks and nuns of the various Carmelite orders take new names upon entering the religious life as a way of forsaking their former secular life and connections. It was probably this uncle that influenced Johann Peter to enter the Carmelite order. Father Beda would have been Beethoven’s great uncle.

After ordination Johann Peter took the name of Father Hubertus. The Carmelite Order is still regarded as an extremely strict order today also suggests the religiosity of his Kewerich parents. The cloister at Koblenz to which Johann Peter seems to have been connected for a very long time followed the more relaxed rules of the Discalced order of Carmelites and not the harsher form of the Ancient Observance of Carmelites. He would have been permitted to wear shoes while the stricter order did not.

We don’t know exactly when Peter Kewerich was ordained, but by the 1790s he was so well regarded that he was elected Prior of the Carmelite Cloister in Koblenz. The Carmelites elected their leaders for three year terms and he seems to have had several terms as Prior. He would become the last Prior of the Cloister until it was dissolved in 1802. The invading French army took control of Koblenz and the surrounding area in 1794. At first they turned the monastery into a barracks and began to strengthen and fortify it with battlements. Its strategic usefulness along the edge of the Rhine just below the confluence of the Mosel river made it important. The Cloister in Koblenz was once very reputable and very much liked by the more elegant families; and because of the favorable situation, their church was highly spoken of.

The Monastery was located along the Rhine somewhere between the Electoral Palace and the point of land now called Deutsches Eck. You can see the Palace on the left with its circular enclosing wings and on the far right you can see the point of land where the Rhine and Mosel rivers meet.

Dr. Helmut Prößler relates a story about the French occupation of the Cloister, “After the French had seized the Cloister for the first time and had taken away the valuables, they killed the pigeons and rang the church bells for each pigeon killed with the saber. In the middle of the church they made a fire at which the pigeons roasted and consumed.” Although they were not always considerate of the Cloister they did pay rent for its use By 1802 its benefits as a barracks and a defensive fortification had faded and the priests and others living at the cloister were pensioned off and sent away. As Prior Father Hubertus signed the documents agreeing to the dissolution. At the time of its dissolution it was a very small cloister consisting of 5 priests, 4 lay-brothers and a person listed as a “Josephsman” which was probably some sort of carpenter or handyman. At the time of the dissolution the priests and brothers were so poor that they had to petition the Mayor of Koblenz for money enough to purchase civilian clothes so that they could leave the cloister.

As support, Father Hubertus got a pension from the State of Nassau that was disbursed to him at a rate of a little more than 37 Gulden per year, paid quarterly. The payment of the two last quarters of the year 1803 on the 9^th of September 1803 and on the 10^th of January 1804 is verifiable in old records. He stayed in the Ehrenbreitstein area. Where he lived exactly, or with whom, we do not know; both his parents and his only sister had by then been dead many years by 1802. He had other relatives in the area, but they were not close relatives; all of his close relatives were gone. He spent his last years of life in Ehrenbreitstein, where he died on the 24^th of September 1807. Father Hubertus was buried in the old Ehrenbreitstein graveyard behind the Church of the Holy Cross.

Non si sa perché Johann Peter avesse scelto la vita religiosa. Ci è stato tramandato che sua madre fu donna molto pia, proveniente da una famiglia religiosa, i Westorff. Molti membri della famiglia Westorff scelsero la vita spirituale ed entrarono negli ordini religiosi, tra cui il fratello Johann Moritz Westorff. Divenne sacerdote carmelitano con il nome Padre Beda. Come d’ uso ancor oggi, sacerdoti, monaci e monache dei vari ordini carmelitani prendono nuovi nomi quando entrano nella vita religiosa, quasi a sottolineare l’ abbandono della precedente vita secolare. Fu probabilmente questo zio che influenzò Johann Peter facendolo entrare nell’ordine carmelitano. Padre Beda sarebbe stato quindi prozio di Beethoven.

Dopo l’ordinazione, Johann Peter prese il nome di padre Hubertus. L’Ordine Carmelitano è ancor oggi considerato come un ordine estremamente severo, il che suggerisce anche la religiosità osservante dei Kewerich. Il chiostro di Coblenza, cui Johann Peter sembra essere stato collegato per molto tempo, seguiva le regole più elastiche dell’ordine dei Carmelitani Scalzi e non la forma più ortodossa dell’Antica Osservanza dei Carmelitani. Gli sarebbe stato permesso, ad esempio, di indossare scarpe.

Non sappiamo esattamente quando Peter Kewerich fu ordinato sacerdote, ma nel 1790 era già così ben inserito che fu eletto priore del chiostro carmelitano a Coblenza. I Carmelitani eleggono i loro capi per tre anni e sembra che abbia avuto diversi mandati come Priore. Sarebbe diventato l’ultimo priore del chiostro, fino a quando l’ ordine non fu sciolto nel 1802. L’esercito francese prese il controllo di Coblenza e dell’area circostante nel 1794. All’inizio i francesi trasformarono il monastero in una caserma e iniziarono a rafforzarlo e fortificarlo con mura. La sua utilità strategica lungo il Reno, appena sotto la confluenza con la Mosella, rese questo luogo strategicamente importante. Il Chiostro di Coblenza un tempo era molto rinomato e molto apprezzato dalle famiglie più in vista della regione; e conseguentemente la chiesa molto frequentata.

Il monastero si trovava lungo il Reno, vicino al palazzo elettorale ed un luogo chiamato Deutsches Eck. Si può vedere nell’ illustrazione il palazzo con le sue due ali circolari che lo circondano e all’estrema destra il punto summenzionato, dove si incontrano i fiumi Reno e Mosella.

Il Dr. Helmut Prößler racconta una storia sull’occupazione francese del chiostro: “Dopo che i francesi si impadronirono del chiostro e dopo che rubarono tutti gli oggetti di valore, cominciarono ad uccidere i piccioni, suonando le campane della chiesa per ogni piccione ucciso con la sciabola. . In mezzo alla chiesa fecero un fuoco, su cui misero ad arrostire questi piccioni mangiandoli in quel luogo sacro». Sebbene non fossero sempre rispettosi del chiostro, pagarono l’affitto per il suo utilizzo. Nel 1802 la sua importanza come come caserma e fortilizio difensiva cessò e i sacerdoti e tutti coloro che vivevano nel chiostro furono mandati in pensione ed allontanati. Come Priore Padre Hubertus firmò i documenti di accettazione allo scioglimento. Al momento della soppressione il chiostro era composto da 5 sacerdoti, 4 fratelli laici e una persona indicata come “Giuseppino” che probabilmente era una sorta di falegname o tuttofare. In quel momento i sacerdoti e i fratelli erano così poveri che dovettero chiedere al sindaco di Coblenza denaro sufficiente per acquistare abiti civili in modo da poter lasciare il chiostro.

Per sostenersi, padre Hubertus ottenne una pensione dallo Stato di Nassau, che gli fu erogata in ragione di poco più di 37 Gulden all’anno, pagati trimestralmente. Il pagamento degli ultimi due trimestri dell’anno 1803 il 9 settembre 1803 e il 10 gennaio 1804 è ancora rintracciabile in vecchi atti sopravvissuti. Hubertus rimase nella zona di Ehrenbreitstein. Dove abitasse esattamente, o con chi, non lo sappiamo; entrambi i suoi genitori e la sua unica sorella erano ormai morti da molti anni. Aveva certo altri parenti nella zona, ma non erano parenti stretti; tutti i suoi consanguinei deceduti. Trascorse i suoi ultimi anni di vita a Ehrenbreitstein, dove morì il 24 settembre 1807. Padre Hubertus fu sepolto nel vecchio cimitero di Ehrenbreitstein, dietro la chiesa della Santa Croce.

Kolbenz – Colbenza

This illustration shows the location of the Electoral Palace in Koblenz in the lower right. The Carmelite Cloister would have been located along the Rhine just north of the Palace near the bridge across the Rhine.

Questa illustrazione mostra la posizione del palazzo elettorale di Coblenza, in basso a destra. Il Chiostro dei Carmelitani sarebbe stato situato lungo il Reno, appena a nord del Palazzo, vicino al ponte sul Reno.

This part of the inventory made by the French for the contents of the Carmelite Cloister in Koblenz. Father Hubertus’ signature is clearly seen in the middle near the bottom. This catalog signed father Hubertus as Prior on the 19^th of August 1802.

Questo l’inventario che fecero i francesi circa il contenuto del chiostro carmelitano di Coblenza. La firma di Padre Hubertus è chiaramente visibile al centro, vicino al fondo. Padre Hubertus firmò come Priore il 19 agosto 1802.

Alte Heilig Kreuz Kirche Koblenz Ehrenbreitstein 1890

Unfortunately, the church which saton the side of a hill just a couple of blocks from the house where he grew up, was destroyed in a bombing raid during World War II. Also destroyed was the little church yard where he was buried.

Sfortunatamente la chiesa, che si trovava sul fianco di una collina a un paio di isolati dalla casa in cui crebbe, fu distrutta in un bombardamento durante la seconda guerra mondiale. Distrutto anche il piccolo cortile della chiesa dove fu sepolto.

A modern building replaces the original old church. It was deconsecrated in 2017 and today it is unused while local officials decide how the building should be used.

Un edificio moderno (Di ben dubbio gusto, N.d.A.) sostituì lì antica chiesa. È stato sconsacrato nel 2017 ed oggi è inutilizzato in attesa di trovare una nuova destinazione.

James F. Green was born in Michigan, where he studied fine art and history. He has a post graduate degree in Interior Design from the New York School of Interior Design. Mr. Green has been active in Beethoven research for nearly 50 years. Founder of the Michigan Beethoven Society, he presently serves on the Executive Board of the Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies in California. He is the author of the New Hess Catalog of Beethoven’s Works, which was awarded the Adele Mellen Prize. He has written several articles for European scholarly journals. Besides his Beethoven activities, Mr. Green is an International Award winning Interior Designer and President of Monument Records.

James F. Green è nato nel Michigan, dove ha studiato Belle Arti e storia. Ha una laurea post-laurea in Interior Design presso la New York School of Interior Design. Green si dedica alla ricerca su Beethoveniana da quasi 50 anni. Fondatore della Michigan Beethoven Society, attualmente fa parte del comitato esecutivo dell’Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies in California. È autore del Nuovo catalogo Hess delle opere di Beethoven, vincitore del Premio Adele Mellen. Ha scritto diversi articoli per riviste scientifiche ed europee. Oltre alle sue attività Beethoveniane, Green è un interior designer vincitore di un premio internazionale e presidente dell’ etichetta discografica Monument Records.

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