Ludwig van Beethoven, Brief an Cajetan Giannattasio del Rio, Wien, wohl 27. Februar 1816, Autograph

In January 1816 Beethoven was appointed guardian of his nephew Karl, his dead brother's son. So as to separate the child from his mother (who had also wanted the guardianship, but had lost the court case), Beethoven sent Karl to Giannattasio del Rio's boarding school at the beginning of February. Up till then Karl had lived with his mother and the child naturally missed her. Beethoven disapproved of his sister-in-law Johanna van Beethoven and cast serious doubts on her character. As far as possible he wanted to deny her contact with her own child. On 11 February Giannattasio asked Beethoven for a power of attorney to be able to send away the mother Johanna van Beethoven, as the child Karl always cried for her after she had visited. On 15 February Beethoven petitioned the Landrecht(kind of tribunal) to keep her from visiting him. This was granted on 20 February. This meant that Johanna was only allowed to see her son with Beethoven's prior agreement outside of the school. In this letter Beethoven tells Giannattasio of the court's decision and once again makes the most of the opportunity to make disparaging remarks about the child's mother.