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Stephan von Breuning (1774-1827)
Frau von Breuning - widowed by the fire at the elector's palace - employed Beethoven probably in 1884 to give her daughter Eleonore and son Lenz piano lessons. Ludwig instantly formed a close friendship with Stephan. Together they took lessons on the violin with Franz Ries. Stephan moved to Vienna in 1801, renewing his childhood friendship with Beethoven. He had a job with the Teutonic Order. For a short time in 1804 Beethoven lodged with Stephan in the Rothes Haus outside the city wall. But it was a stormy relationship - more on Beethoven's part than his friend's - and Beethoven moved out. In 1806 Stephan revised Sonnleithner's original text for the second version of Beethoven's opera Leonore. Two years later Beethoven dedicated his Violin Concerto to Stephan, and the piano arrangement of it to Stephan's wife Julie.
Throughout his life Stephan was a loyal friend to Beethoven, putting up with his eccentricities and frequent mistreatment. It is fair to say he was the best friend Beethoven ever had. He died barely two months after Beethoven's funeral. He had been ill with a liver condition and suffered a relapse, according to Gerhard, after the trauma of attending the auction of Beethoven's effects. Gerhard believed the strain of his father's friendship with Beethoven broke his health. He was just 52 when he died.
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© John Suchet |
Beethoven's friendship with Stephan von Breuning lasted - with
several interruptions - for a lifetime. Beethoven first came into
contact with the Breuning family as a boy growing up in Bonn -
introduced to them by his friend 
Julie Vering was the daughter of Beethoven's doctor and Beethoven was
very fond of her. Stephan adored Julie and was heartbroken when she died
of "a haemorrhage of the lungs brought on by the imprudent use of
cold foot baths" at the age of only 19 - after less than a year of
marriage. Later Stephan married Constanze Ruschowitz; one of their children was
