What was the cause of Beethoven's deafness?

Answer 1

Most biographers point to nerve deafness. This is usually caused by long exposure to loud noises. Pete Townshend of the Who has the same condition

Answer 2

No deafness specialists existed at this time: all was waiting to be discovered. So, whilst we will never know for certain the cause of Beethoven's illness, here are some opinions...

The Doctor Wagner made the autopsy of Beethoven on March 27th 1827.

Although the original of his report has been lost, a copy was preserved.

Here is a short extract: "... The ear cartilage is of a huge dimension and an irregular form. The scaphoïde dimple, and above all the auricle, were vast and had one and a half times the usual depth...".

One hundred years later, Doctor Marage brought up Beethoven's deafness at the conference of the French Academy of Sciences on January 9th and 23rd 1928, as well as December 2nd 1929.

He thought that Beethoven's deafness was due to a labyrinthitis of intestinal origin, that is to say that he had a lesion of the inner ear. According to Doctor Marage, who has studied Beethoven's letters, buzzing noises and other sounds started at around 1796. Deafness broke out in 1798 and Beethoven had lost 60% of his hearing by 1801. In 1816 he was completely deaf.

Doctor Marage goes on to explain that Beethoven's whole hearing system was, in effect, hyper-sensitive and that, due to this, he was more prone to illness.

Marage's theory is therefore that of the labyrinthitis: "... When deafness begins with high sounds, and overall when they are preceeded by buzzing noises, whistling noises and an exaggerated sensitivity to the screaming voice, it is due to an internal lesion, that is to say that there is a problem with the ear labyrinth and the cerebral centres, from where emerge the branches of the acoustic nerve..."

Professeur Porot and Doctor Miermont Bring up Beethoven's deafness in their study from 1986 "Beethoven et les Malentendus".

The authors state: "... In particular, we will never know the state of the ossicles...". Nevertheless, going by Beethoven's writings - the dates and the symptoms he describes, they make the following observations: "...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..."

The two authors diagnose: "... either neurolabyrinthitis, or otospongiose (or labyrinthitis)...". And, concerning the probable cause, estimate: "... the great cause of deafness at the time: syphilis...", but it's never been proved that "... Beethoven would have been hit by syphilis by the end of his adolescence...".

Answer 3

He listened to his own compositions. I would too, if I were him.

Answer 4

wasn't he born this way?