DNA from Beethoven’s hair reveals new details about his death centuries later: study

A genetic research an examination of Ludwig van Beethoven’s hair strands revealed more about the composer’s death at a relatively young age in March 1827.

Biologist-anthropologist at the University of Cambridge Tristan Begg, lead researcher in the study “Genomic analysis of Ludwig van Beethoven’s hair”, which was published in Current Biology On Wednesday, he said eight strands of hair attributed to the German musician had been tested in hopes of explaining potential genetic and infectious causes of his illnesses.

It was already known that Beethoven, who died at the age of 56 from a long illness, began to lose his hearing at the age of 20 and became functionally deaf by the age of 40. It is also known that from the age of 22 he experienced severe abdominal pain and chronic bouts of diarrhea.

While the study did not reveal the underlying cause of his hearing loss or gastrointestinal problems, it did shed light on other health problems the composer faced during his lifetime.

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The German composer Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827) composes the Solemn Mass, February-April 1820. Oil painting by August Claubert. (Photo courtesy of the Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

Five of the eight strands of hair tested turned out to be “perfect genetic matches” and were deemed “almost certainly genuine,” the study said, allowing researchers to determine Beethoven’s genetic predisposition to liver disease — something that was thought to have contributed to his death.

Testing also revealed that famous composer had had hepatitis B at least a few months before his death.

The researchers concluded that his genetic predisposition and alcohol abuse represented “plausible explanations” for Beethoven’s severe liver disease.

During the study, the researchers also found an unexpected result, as analysis of the Y chromosomes of five living members of Van Beethoven’s paternal line, compared to DNA from Beethoven’s hair, revealed a disparity in the generations of paternal ancestors prior to his birth.

“This finding suggests extrapair paternity in his paternal line between the conception of Hendrick van Beethoven in Campenhout, Belgium, in 1572, and the conception of Ludwig van Beethoven seven generations later, in 1770, in Bonn, Germany,” writes Begg.

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Stumpf Castle from which Beethoven’s genome was sequenced at high coverage. The lock is attached to a letter from Johann Andreas Stumpf to Patrick Stirling dated May 7, 1827. Stumpf’s poem reads: “The head, these hairs adorn, lies low; (Beethoven Society of America Member Kevin Brown via Current Biology)

The study also disproved forensic investigation completed in 2007, it was speculated that lead poisoning may have hastened his death, if not the underlying cause of the symptoms that ultimately claimed his life.

While lead poisoning was likely due to drinking from lead vessels and medical procedures of the time that used lead, the hair used to complete this study almost 16 years earlier was found to be from an unknown woman, not the composer.

Composer Ludwig van Beethoven’s Stumpf Castle in the laboratory of the Institute for the History of Humanity named after Ludwig van Beethoven is shown in this photograph provided by researchers in March 2023. Max Planck in Germany. (Anti Tiliaku via AP)

The researchers said the hair used in the study was collected from public and private collections during the last six years of Beethoven’s life.

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After Beethoven’s death on March 26, 1827, various researchers and medical professionals studied cause of his hearing loss – what the composer asked for in a letter a few years ago.

At first he wanted his favorite physician, Dr. Johann Adam Schmidt, to tell the public about his health struggles, but Schmidt died before Beethoven.