How Much Of "Immortal Beloved" Is True?

Question

Especially the part about the will and she never getting the letter?

Mr. Taco: But it has always been believed that his nephew Karl was actually his son, hasnt it?

Answer 1

After Beethoven's death in 1827, a letter was found among his private papers addressed to a woman whom he calls "immortal beloved". The letter exists, but there is no consensus among Beethoven scholars as to the true identity of the intended recipient, though the pages of the letter — probably written in the summer of 1812 from the spa town of Teplice — are certainly in Beethoven's handwriting.

Among the most plausible candidates put forward to date are Giulietta Guicciardi, Therese von Brunswick, Antonie Brentano, Johanna van Beethoven, Countess Anna-Marie Erdődy, all but one of whom feature in the film.

The film's director, Bernard Rose, has controversially claimed in an interview that he himself has successfully identified the woman whom Beethoven loved, a task that has eluded researchers for nearly two hundred years. No scholar or writer on Beethoven has so far come forward to endorse Rose's claim, and one, Gail S. Altman, has vociferously disputed it in a book[1] devoted specifically to the question of the woman's identity, and Beethoven's relationships in general.

Answer 2

I've heard that one Beethoven scholar (the name escapes me) established beyond most doubt that it was Antoine Brentano. However, the argument still is not completely fool-proof.

I have heard nothing scholarly to back up the idea that Karl was anything more than Ludwig's nephew.

The problem with any Hollywood movie is that sensationalism is what sells. The more unbelievable a story, the better. There are elements of truth in "Immortal Beloved", but a lot of it has been exaggerated to an extreme degree.

Answer 3

No one really knows who the "Immortal Beloved" was - there are four or five possible candidates. As far as the disposition of his nephew Carl is concerned, there is really no evidence that he was anything other than just Beethoven's nephew. Outside of the framework of the known facts about Beethoven's life - the rest of the movie is rather fanciful and treated with a large dose of poetic license by the director and screenplay writer.
It is after all, a movie and I wouldn't take it too seriously.

Answer 4

It is true that the letter exists. To whom it was written is a complete mystery. Thus, "Immortal Beloved" is essentially all fiction based on an unlikely guess by the writers, using the letter and a basic biography of Beethoven as a basis for a good tall tale.

Answer 5

It has never been widely believed that Karl was Beethoven's son. The exhaustive amount of research into Beethoven's life has never found any credible hint or clue that that could be the case. Birth records exist for Karl, it is well known and well documented who the mother and Father were.

Just not true.

Answer 6

While the movie itself is a fine portrayal of Beethoven's idiosyncrasies (it brought me to tears watching him playing the piano by putting his ears to the cover just to absorb the vibrations), it is no more a fictional portrayal, and a fine one at that. It's beautiful, and I love it, but I know which is true and which is not. And unfortunately, most of them are untrue.

But that is why we like movies; because they're fictional.

P/S: Karl was not his son. It was properly documented that Beethoven's brother was the father, and he took Karl under his roof because that was his only connection to his late brother. He fought tooth and nail for Karl's custody, but it didn't work out well - Karl tried to commit suicide but fortunately failed, and moved in with his mother. Beethoven was fated to live his final days in loneliness.

Answer 7

Beloved True Story