Skull fragments, presumed to be from Ludwig van Beethoven, have been returned to Austria, where the legendary 19th century German composer died. Experts hope these fragments could help them figure out the reason behind his hearing loss and death.
US businessman Paul Kaufmann donated the fragments to the Medical University of Vienna. “This is where the bones belong, back in Vienna,” he told reporters.
Kaufmann inherited the fragments in 1990, he found them in a safety deposit box at a bank in the French Côte d’Azur.
“There were many valuables, including a box with ‘Beethoven’ scratched on it,” he said.
Kaufmann’s great uncle, Austrian doctor Franz Romeo Seligmann, who partook in an exhumation of Beethoven’s body for research purposes in 1863, is presumably the one who acquired these 10 fragments, according to a report by Agence France Press (AFP).
The Jewish family passed the fragments on from a generation to another, and moved them from one country to another while escaping the Nazis.
These fragments preserved in a glass frame, which are the only known ones so far, are of “great value,” Austrian coroner Christian Reiter confirmed.
After the analyses aimed at confirming the authenticity of the fragments, whose results are expected within six months, the scientists are planning further research to look into the diseases Beethoven suffered from.
The musician wrote a letter to his siblings in 1802, expressing his desire to announce and describe his illness after his death.
Beethoven died in March 26, 1827, aged 56 years, but the reason of his death remains unclear.
In 2005, a group of US scientists announced that tests on the skull fragments showed he died from lead poisoning, which may have also been responsible for his digestion problems.
Beethoven used to drink from wine goblets made of lead. Also, some medical treatments at the time used heavy metals like lead and mercury.
