Karl van Beethoven (1806-1858), der Neffe des Komponisten - Fotografie einer Autotypie von 1903 nach einer anonymen Daguerreotypie, wohl aus den 1840er Jahren

In May 1806 Beethoven"s brother Kaspar Anton Karl married Johanna Reiß, the daughter of paperhanger Anton Reiß. At that time the bride was already pregnant. A few months later, on September 1806, her son Karl van Beethoven was born. When the boy"s father died in autumn of 1815, Ludwig van Beethoven took custody of his nephew. As his relationship to the boy"s mother was rather difficult, he tried to exclude Johanna from the custody of her son which resulted in a long lawsuit that went on until 1820.

According to his contemporaries, Karl van Beethoven was a handsome, gifted and musical boy. However, he suffered from the dispute between his mother and uncle. He attended a number of different schools and lived as a boarder at the institute of Cajetan Giannatasio del Rio. Before he began studies at the polytechnic institute in 1825, he stayed with Beethoven for a while and attended the University of Vienna.

Beethoven"s strong affection for the boy, as well as the tensions within his family, put Karl under great pressure. On August 6th, 1826 he tried to shoot himself. The wound, however, proved not lethal, so Beethoven, influenced by his friends, decided his nephew should begin a career in the military. At the end of 1826 Karl joined the Infantry Regiment No. 8 of Archduke Ludwig in Iglau. There, his life was well-regulated. He started as a second lieutenant, later became an officer. In 1832 he quit the service, married and worked as a tenant on a manor in Niklowitz. Four years later he moved back to Vienna where he continued leading a regular middle-class life. (S.B.)

Daguerreoptype usually results in the image being reversed. Therefore, the nephew actually looked like this.