March 26, 1827

Ludwig van Beethoven

Death of Ludwig van Beethoven in Vienna

A witness remembered lightning, a violent thunderclap and the unconscious composer raising a clenched hand — and wrote it down 33 years later.

A quarter to six in the Schwarzspanierhaus

Ludwig van Beethoven died in the late afternoon of 26 March 1827, at approximately 5:45 p.m., in his apartment in Vienna's Schwarzspanierhaus, after several months of severe illness. He was 56.

His death certificate recorded "dropsy." Four abdominal punctures had been used during the final illness to drain the fluid accumulating from his severe ascites.

The illness had worsened dramatically since December 1826.

Two people in the room

A scholarly reconstruction of the surviving accounts places the composer Anselm Hüttenbrenner and Beethoven's housekeeper Rosalie, called Sali, present at the moment of death.

Hüttenbrenner himself referred to the other witness only as "Frau van Beethoven," and later writers have identified her variously as a sister-in-law or as Sali.

His account of the thunder and the raised, clenched hand was set down in 1860, roughly 33 years afterwards, and belongs to his recollection rather than to independently verified record.

What the autopsy found

Johann Wagner performed a post-mortem on 27 March that documented nodular cirrhosis, severe ascites, pancreatic disease, an enlarged spleen, kidney abnormalities and atrophied auditory nerves.

The cirrhosis is firmly established; its cause is not. A 2023 genomic study found a genetic predisposition to liver disease and evidence of hepatitis B infection, and alcohol consumption may also have contributed.

Friends printed and distributed a funeral invitation at once, the body lay in the apartment for visitors, and the procession and burial followed on 29 March.

Sources

Researched 24 Aug 2026 5 sources not yet audited

How this was checked

Researched from the web into a fact sheet and rewritten from that sheet. This article has not yet had an independent model audit. How the pipeline works →

What the sources leave uncertain

The autopsy securely establishes advanced cirrhosis and ascites, but the cause of the cirrhosis remains debated. A 2023 genomic study found a genetic predisposition to liver disease and evidence of hepatitis B infection; alcohol consumption may also have contributed.
Hüttenbrenner recorded his dramatic thunder-and-raised-fist account in 1860, roughly 33 years later. The natural phenomenon and gesture should therefore be attributed to his recollection rather than presented as independently verified.
Hüttenbrenner referred to the other witness as 'Frau van Beethoven.' Later writers have variously identified her as a sister-in-law or the housekeeper Sali.
The exact date of the death-mask casting is disputed between March 27 and March 28; contemporary correspondence makes March 28 more likely.