The family can be traced back to the 15th century. Some of Beethoven's ancestors came from the Flemish province of Brabant, and on the maternal side from the Rhine and Moselle area. The earliest van Beethovens were from an area bounded by Brussels, Louvain and Mechelen. Beethoven had 4 siblings who died in infancy: Ludwig Maria (02/04/1769 - 08/04/1769). Anna Maria Francisca (23/02/1779 - 27/02/79). Franz George (17/01/1781 - 16/8/1783). Maria Margaretha Josepha (05/05/1786 - 26/11/1787).
Michel Van Beethoven (great-grandfather) appears to have been a colourful character. He was a master baker in Mechelen; he also dealt in lace and property speculation and eventually had to flee to Bonn to avoid his many creditors!
His son Lodewijk (Beethoven's grandfather) had been a choirboy at Mechelen cathedral. The Elector Arch-bishop of Cologne transferred him to the court chapel at Bonn in 1733 (the same year he married Maria Poll).
Their son Johann (father) was the only one of 3 children to survive. He became a tenor in the court chapel at Bonn and married the 21 year old widow Maria Keverich on 12 Nov 1767.
Seven children were born of this union, but only 3 survived - one of whom was the composer Ludwig van Beethoven, who never married.
The Beethoven line continued through his brother Kaspar Karl, whose only child Karl was Beethoven's nephew. Karl.v.Beethoven joined the army (1827), married in 1832 and had 5 children.
Entry of Beethoven's Baptism in the register of St.Regimus church, Bonn
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JAN VAN BEETHOVEN (1470 - ? ) |
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MARCK VAN BEETHOVEN (1505 - ?) m. Anna Smets (1510 - ? ) |
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AERT VAN BEETHOVEN (1535 - 1608/9) m. Josyne van Vlesselaer (1540 - 1595) |
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HENDRICK VAN BEETHOVEN (1572 -1652) m. Cathlyne van Boevenbeeke (1575 - 1638) |
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MARKUS VAN BEETHOVEN (1601 -1672) m. Sara Haesaerts (1606 - 1653) |
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CORNELIUS VAN BEETHOVEN (1641 - 1716) m. Catharina van Leempoel (1642 -1729) |
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MICHEL VAN BEETHOVEN (1684 - 1749) m. Marie Louise Stuyckers (1685 - 1749) |
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LODEWIJK VAN BEETHOVEN (1712-1773) m. Maria Josepha Poll (1714 -1775)
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JOHANN VAN BEETHOVEN (1740-92) m. Maria Keverich (1746-87)
 
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LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
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KASPAR K.v.B (1774-1815) m. J. Riess (1784 - 1868) |
NIKOLAUS J. v.B (1776-1848) m. T.Obermayr (1787-1828)
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KARL v.BEETHOVEN (1806-58) m. Karoline Naske (1808 -91)
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KAROLINE (1831-1919) |
MARIA (1835-91) |
LUDWIG (1839-) |
GABRIELLE (1844-1914) |
HERMINE (1852-87) |
THE DESCENDANTS OF BEETHOVEN'S NEPHEW, KARL (1806-58)
Karl had 5 Children and 20 grand-children, 13 of whom survived to adulthood. After Karl Julius Maria Van Beethoven (Karl's Grandson - a journalist, born in Munich and died in Vienna), the Beethoven line ceases as Karl's descendants continue through his daughters. The line changes to Weidinger and today the great great great grandchildren of Karl Van Beethoven include :
Getraude Weidinger (1938 - ) / Peter Weidinger (1939 - ) / Eduard August Urban (1948 - ).
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The Children and Grandchildren of Karl Van Beethoven |
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KAROLINE JOHANNA VAN BEETHOVEN (1831-1919) married Franz Weidinger in 1854 and they had 8 children -
Franz Karl Joseph (1855 - 1932) /Karl Edouard Paul (1856 - 1930) /Paul Adolf Robert (1858 - 1940) / Eugenie Karoline Maria (1859 - 93) / Gustav (1862 - 1944) / Karoline (1863-5) / Robert (1865 - 1920) / Hugo (1866 - 94) |
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MARIA ANNA VAN BEETHOVEN (1835-91) married Paul Ernst Weidinger in 1857 and had 3 children -
Marie Josephine (1859 - 1936) / Herman Franz Karl (1861 - 1932) / Helene (1863 - 1863) |
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LUDWIG JOHANN VAN BEETHOVEN (1839-) married Maria Anna Nitsche in 1865 and had 6 children. He was a journalist in Munich and later lived in the USA, where he was vice director of the south pacific railway.He died in Vienna. -
Marie (1865 - 65) / Karl Julius Maria (1870 - 1917) - the last of the Beethoven line/ Heinrich (1871-72) / Meta (1874 - 90 ?) & 2 unknown (1878/1880) |
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GABRIELLE VAN BEETHOVEN (1844-1914) married Robert Heimler in 1864 and had 2 children -
Gabrielle Maria Ludovika (1865 - 1903) / Raoul (1876 - 1948) |
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HERMINE VAN BEETHOVEN (1852-87) married Emille Axmann in 1876 and had 1 child -
Egon (1886 - 1926) |
