The Genius of Beethoven

They were "sold, lost or destroyed, " Limb says, "so every theory on his hearing loss is really speculative.(Alsop) According to Beethoven's biography (Schlosser), .
             Assistant pathologist at the Museum of Pathology in Vienna, Johann Wagner completed the autopsy on Beethoven on March 27, 1827. Although the original document has been lost, a copy was preserved. He wrote: ".the ear cartilage is of a huge dimension and an irregular form. The scaphode dimple, and above all the auricle, were vast and had one and a half times the usual depth." In a study by Professor Maurice Porot and medical doctor Jacques Miermont in their book Beethoven et les Malentendus, 1986, they state: "In particular, we will never know the state of the ossicles." .
             However, according to Beethoven's writings, which include dates and symptoms, they write: ".This is about the beginnings of deafness in a young man, without previous inflammation of the ear, and without hearing problems in the family, a progressive devolution, without improvement despite various remedies prescribed by his doctors."(Schlosser) The two authors diagnose: "either neurolabyrinthitis, or otospongiose or labyrinthitis."(Schlosser) Concerning the probable cause, they speculate: ".the great cause of deafness at the time: syphilis," but it's never been proven that ".Beethoven would have been hit by syphilis by the end of his adolescence. " Today, according to Limb, the most widely believed theory is that Beethoven suffered from "inflammation of the inner ear following a form of meningitis, probably a typhus meningitis that we really don't see to much of today.(Alsop) Other theories claim Beethoven suffered from otosclerosis, which is an abnormal growth of the bone in the inner ear. .
             Careful tracking of Beethoven's correspondence indicates he began losing his hearing around 1798. Within three years, he was believed to have lost 60 percent of his hearing.