Helene von Breuning (née von Kerich; 3 January 1750,

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

– 9 December 1838) was a member of the

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

upper class Upper class in modern societies is the social class composed of people who hold the highest social status. Usually, these are the wealthiest members of class society, and wield the greatest political power. According to this view, the upper cla ...

, who engaged young

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

to teach music to her children, helped him with his education and introduced him into social circles. Due to the close ties, she was later referred to as his "second mother" because she favourably shaped his early career.Antonius Lux (ed.): Great women in world history. 1000 biographies in words and pictures . Sebastian Lux Verlag , Munich 1963, p. 82. Thayer, Alexander Wheelock: Ludwig van Beethoven's life. Volume 1, 3rd edition, Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1917.

Life

Helene von Kerich was the daughter of Stephan von Kerich, privy councilor and personal physician to the last

Archduke Maximilian Francis of Austria Archduke Maximilian Francis of Austria (Maximilian Franz Xaver Joseph Johann Anton de Paula Wenzel; 8 December 1756 – 27 July 1801) was Elector of Cologne and Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights from 1780 until his death. Influenced by En ...

the

Elector of Cologne The Archbishop of Cologne governs the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne in western North Rhine-Westphalia. Historically, the archbishop was ''ex officio'' one of the prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire and ruled the Electorate of Colog ...

. Her brother Abraham became a

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

and

Scholaster A scholaster, from the Latin ''scholasticus'' (schoolmaster), or magister scholarum, was the head of an ecclesiastical school, typically a cathedral school, monastic school, or the school of a collegiate church, in medieval and early-modern Europe. ...

at the Archidiakonalstift zu Bonn. She married the Electoral Court Councilor Emanuel Joseph von Breuning (* 1741, † January 15, 1777 Bonn), who died trying to save files from the Electoral Palace fire in Bonn. With her four children (Christoph, Eleonore (nicknamed Lorchen), Stephan (Beethoven's lifelong friend) and Lorenz (nicknamed Lenz)) the widowed Helene lived until 1815 in Bonn and later in

Kerpen Kerpen (; Ripuarian: ''Kerpe'') is the most populated town in the Rhein-Erft-Kreis (North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany). It is located about 20 kilometres southwest from Cologne. As of 2023, Kerpen has a total population of 67,627. Division of ...

and Beul (Bad Neuenahr).

Relationship with Beethoven

From 1785, when Beethoven was 14 years old, until 1792, when he left

for

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

permanently, the Breuning home on Bonn's Münsterplatz was a happy retreat for the young composer and pianist. Beethoven was employed as a piano teacher for the two youngest children, Lorchen and Lenz, who were two and seven years younger, respectively. Beethoven's dysfunctional home life during his childhood and adolescence was extremely unhappy and stressful and he was drawn to the warmth and closeness of the Breuning family. Helene was impressed by young Beethoven's talent, sensitivity and intelligence and she embraced him as one of her children. Beethoven visited the Breuning home almost daily; he often ate his meals there and was a frequent overnight guest. Lorchen was young Beethoven's first love, but she later married another long-time friend of Beethoven,

Franz Gerhard Wegeler Franz Gerhard Wegeler (22 August 1765 – 7 May 1848) was a German physician from Bonn, who, in his youth, was a close friend of composer Ludwig van Beethoven. He was the father of historian Julius Stephan Wegeler (1807-1883). Wegeler studied m ...

. Beethoven and Stephan Von Breuning, four years younger than the composer, remained close friends for the rest of their lives (Stephan died just two months following Beethoven in 1827). It was with Helene's help that the young Beethoven largely overcame his excessive diffidence and learned more refined social manners. According to Wegeler, the Breuning family helped to cultivate Beethoven's lifelong passion for literature and poetry.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Breuning, Helene von 1750 births 1838 deaths People from Bonn 18th-century German people