Tischstanduhr aus Beethovens Besitz - Anonyme Fotografie

Today, a lot of people think that the daily life of Ludwig van Beethoven took place in a rather poor or humble surrounding. Also, according to several contemporaries of the composer, the furnishing of his apartments was actually not important to him. However, a number of preserved objects from Beethoven´s last apartment in the house "Schwarzspanierhaus", tell a different story.

Not only did the composer possess a number of nice pieces of furniture like the big secretaire and the travel writing desk, which now are both in the Beethoven-Haus, but he also possessed various decorative and precious accessories. Among them was a silver chalice, a silver salt and pepper container with a gold-plated interior, and two Biedermeier-like grandfather table clocks. One of those clocks is preserved in the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn, the other one is in Vienna. While the Viennese clock appears to be relatively simple, the casing of the Bonn clock, which is shown here, is designed quite costly. It stands on a base with bronze lion's paw feet, and it is surmounted by a small ivory bust which reminds of the portraits of Roman empresses.(S.B.)