Elisabeth Röckel was a German opera singer, and the wife of the composer Johann Nepomuk Hummel

Johann Nepomuk Hummel

Johann Nepomuk Hummel or Jan Nepomuk Hummel was an Austrian composer and virtuoso pianist. His music reflects the transition from the Classical to the Romantic musical era.- Life :...

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She was a friend of composer Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...

 from 1808. During the days before Beethoven's death, she and her husband Hummel visited Beethoven several times, and cut and saved a lock of his hair. This was later discovered in 1934 in Florence by William Hummel, a descendant of Johann Nepomuk Hummel. The lock of hair is now in the Beethoven House

Beethoven House

DetailsThe Beethoven House in Bonn, Germany, is a memorial site, museum and cultural institution serving various purposes. Founded in 1889 by the Beethoven-Haus association it studies the life and work of composer Ludwig van Beethoven.The centrepiece of the Beethoven-Haus is Beethoven's birthplace...

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Sources

• Klaus Martin Kopitz: Beethoven, Elisabeth Röckel und das Albumblatt „Für Elise“, Cologne: Dohr, 2010, ISBN 9783936655872.
• Michael Lorenz: "'Die enttarnte Elise'. Die kurze Karriere der Elisabeth Röckel als Beethovens 'Elise'", Bonner Beethoven-Studien vol. 9, Bonn: Beethoven-Haus, 2011, pp. 169–190 Abstract online