(Reported by Schindler. In the lawsuit against his sister-in-law (the
mother of nephew Karl) Beethoven had been called on to prove that the
“van” in his name was a badge of nobility.)
182. “You write that somebody has said that I am the natural son of the
late King of Prussia. The same thing was said to me long ago, but I have
made it a rule never to write anything about myself or answer anything
that is said about me.”
(October 7, 1826, to Wegeler.)
[“I leave it to you to give the world an account of myself and
especially my mother.” The statement had appeared in Brockhaus’s
“Lexicon.”]