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Austria and Bohemia
Bohemia, with its natural thermal springs and spa resorts known since Roman times, was the holiday playground of the wealthy aristocracy of Imperial Vienna. Beethoven - on the advice of his doctor - spent the summer of 1812 in the spa towns of north-western Bohemia - a stay fraught with emotions since it followed the brief love affair he had in Prague with the woman known as the Eternally Beloved, almost certainly Antonie Brentano.
In the postscript he refers to the woman in question as "My Eternally Beloved" [Meine Unsterbliche Geliebte]. During his stay in Teplitz he met Germany's greatest living playwright and poet, Goethe.
He hurried over, insisting Beethoven come with him. Goethe positioned himself in front of the Empress and as she passed executed a deep bow. Beethoven pushed his top hat firmly on the back of his head.
Goethe was appalled, and their friendship was irretrievably damaged. A famous picture (right) of the time commemorates what is known as 'The Incident in Teplitz'. Beethoven travelled on to Karlsbad, where he stayed in the same house as the Brentanos, and Franzensbrunn. Teplitz today, now named Bad Teplice in the Czech Republic, is an amalgam of Imperial style and hideous Communist concrete. The old square and the castle - now a museum - retain something of their 19th century charm, and the park is still beautiful. Other parts of the town reflect the dead hand of Communism.
Many old buildings remain, but the effect is marred by a tall block of concrete in the centre of the town given to a grateful people by its Communist rulers. The drive from Teplitz to Karlsbad - which Beethoven did by coach and
which Bonnie and I did by car - travels through some of the most
naturally beautiful Bohemian countryside - now scarred and still
disfigured by oil pipelines, pylons, rusting power stations and other
debris left from the Communist era.
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© John Suchet |
On his arrival in the spa town of Teplitz, he wrote the letter found
in his effects after his death.
In the
park (left) behind the small castle of Teplitz, Beethoven and
Goethe were walking, when Goethe spotted the Empress of Austria walking
with her retinue.
Karlsbad, now Karlove Vary, is a thriving town, beloved of German
day-trippers and site of an annual film festival.