Johanna Van Beethoven - The Custody Battle With Beethoven

The Custody Battle With Beethoven

In 1812, Kaspar Karl contracted tuberculosis. By 1813, he was sufficiently ill to take out a court declaration specifying the care of his son following his death. He chose Ludwig as the sole guardian. In 1815, two days before he died, he repeated this wish in his will, made out on 14 November. Yet on the same day a codicil was appended to the will which made Johanna co-guardian. Evidently, Beethoven and Joanna already got along very poorly, since Kaspar included in his will a remark that "the best of harmony does not exist between my brother and my wife." He continued, "God permit them to be harmonious for the sake of my child's welfare. This is the last wish of the dying husband and father."

This wish was entirely in vain, as with Kaspar's death two days later there began what Lewis Lockwood calls "a tortured and emotional legal struggle between Beethoven and his sister-in-law for the custody of the boy that lasted for more than four years and entailed perpetual rancor, court appearances, seeming successes, reversals, and appeals." Beethoven eventually emerged as victor in this struggle, but the consequences to Karl were almost certainly harmful (he was later to attempt suicide).

The legal battle began in a court called the Imperial and Royal Landrechte of Lower Austria, a court reserved for cases involving people of aristocratic birth. On 22 November this court ruled that Johanna should be Karl's guardian and Beethoven co-guardian. On the 28th Beethoven filed legal proceedings, making the case that Johanna was unfit to serve as guardian. This filing was successful, and on 9 January 1816 Beethoven was appointed sole guardian. On 2 February 1816, Beethoven enrolled Karl in a boarding school run by Cajetan Giannatasio del Rio.

Johanna, who had only very limited visitation rights, launched a legal counteroffensive in 1818. This time, the Landrechte discovered that the "van" in the Beethoven family name was not an earmark of nobility, and that jurisdiction should be returned to a commoner's court, the Vienna Magistracy. This court was considerably more sympathetic to Johanna, and also influenced by the fact that Karl had run away from Beethoven's home, fleeing to his mother (3 December). He had also been expelled from his school earlier in the year.

The final stage of the struggle took place in 1820, when Beethoven filed in the Court of Appeal. The skilled representation of Beethoven by his friend Johann Baptist Bach (as well as, perhaps, Beethoven's strong connections with the nobility) carried the day, awarding Beethoven permanent custody. Johanna's appeal to the Emperor in July was rejected, settling the case for good.