In 197, Sir osler, one of the most influential doctors in the early 2th century and an excellent expert on syphilis, questioned that Beethoven was actually infected with typhoid because of syphilis. This is the real cause of his deafness. > Ludwig Van Beethoven is one of the greatest musicians in the world music history. He began to perform at the age of eight and showed his musical talent very early. In 1792, he went to Vienna for further study, and made rapid progress in art, creating a large number of outstanding works full of the flavor of the times, including symphonies Hero and Destiny. Overture "Egmont"; Piano sonatas Pathetique, Moonlight, Storm, Passion, etc. His works are influenced by the Enlightenment in the 18th century and the German hurricane movement, with distinctive personality. In terms of musical expression, he involved almost all musical genres at that time, which greatly improved the expressive force of the piano and made it obtain a symphonic dramatic effect; It also makes symphony an important music form that directly reflects social changes. Beethoven, as a masterpiece of classical music, opened up the road of romantic music, which played a decisive role in the development of world music, and was honored as "Le Sheng". > Beethoven's life was bumpy, and he didn't have a family. At the age of 26, when his creation and energy were at the peak, he began to be deaf. At first, he couldn't hear high notes, but he was completely deaf in his later years, so he could only talk to people through a conversation book. Over the years, people have lamented the accident of this talented musician. However, to the world's surprise, Beethoven's deafness was not accidental, but originated from a disease-syphilis, and this terrible disease haunted him all his life and made him miserable. > Symptoms consistent with "syphilis" >: When Beethoven lived, many people thought that Beethoven had syphilis. In 1912, a scholar and doctor specializing in Beethoven wrote: "Beethoven's deafness is only a symptom, and the disease itself has another name. Thayer also said that many people know Beethoven's disease, and the name of the disease is ashamed to say it. Adam Politzer, an otologist, also mentioned that there were two prescriptions of mercury ointment for syphilis with Beethoven's name. However, everyone chooses to avoid this question or keep silent. This may be due to Beethoven's lofty social status at that time, in order to show his respect and dare not expect anything. Neumayr wrote: "His immortal works are sacred and inviolable, and no one dares to express contemptuous criticism today. Beethoven's music makes us feel as if we have entered a temple, and our hearts are full of admiration. 」> > It was not until decades before the invention of penicillin in the 2th century, when the world was interested in syphilis research, that more medical workers devoted themselves to this research, and the mystery of Beethoven's deafness was uncovered. > According to the information provided by Beethoven's good friend and his doctor, Andreas Bertolini, Beethoven was quite healthy when he was young, except that he sometimes had stomach pains. At that time, he was already learning from Haydn, and at the same time, his excellent piano improvisation was also famous among the princes and nobles in Vienna, including the emperor's half-brother, Archduke Rudolph, who worshipped Beethoven as his teacher. However, in his first year in Vienna, a fever changed his life. Aloi Weissenbach, who was also Beethoven's doctor, mentioned another high fever in 1797: "He once suffered from severe typhus, from which his nervous system was injured, even his hearing was damaged, which was really a disaster for him. 」> Syphilis damages the auditory nerve >: As early as 197, Sir osler, one of the most influential doctors in the early 2th century and an excellent expert on syphilis, questioned the nature of this "unexpected typhoid fever". He thought that Beethoven was actually infected with typhoid fever because of syphilis. In the textbook of syphilis, we can find that deafness is usually a symptom after the first year of fever. This is caused by the damage of the eighth pair of cranial nerves. When tinnitus attacks, I always hear * * *, buzzing or hissing; First, you can't hear the high notes, then all the ranges, including the voice. Hearing loss is gradual, sometimes relieved, often under pressure. > Starting from the signs of deafness caused by syphilis, we can find the following clues from Beethoven's biography. Beethoven started his ear disease at the age of 26-27, and neumayr, Beethoven's first otologist, wrote: "The most likely cause of Beethoven's deafness is the disorder of the inner ear or the lost auditory nerve. "At first, I hardly noticed that with the pathological changes of the inner ear or auditory nerve structure, I lost my hearing unconsciously. Edward Larkin said: "Beethoven's deafness is gradual, and it still stops for a while. Beethoven himself said, "At first, you couldn't hear the high notes. He put cotton in his ears to suppress the bass, causing great pain. > On July 1, 181, Beethoven wrote to Karl Amenda and said, "I tell you that my most valuable possession, that is, my hearing, has been seriously damaged. I have noticed this symptom when you are with me; But I didn't say anything, and now it's getting worse. We must wait and see if our hearing can be restored ... Please keep what I said a secret and don't tell anyone. These are completely consistent with the symptoms of deafness caused by syphilis. > > This persistent and serious ear disease finally evolved into complete deafness when Beethoven was old. In 181, Beethoven fell to the ground in a rage. He wrote: "After I got up, I found myself deaf. The doctor said that my nerves had been damaged. After Beethoven's death, the anatomical report on his ear showed that the auditory nerve had shrunk and lacked a normal layer of myelin, and the left auditory nerve was thinner than the right. Sean Sellars, an otologist, said: "Anatomy found changes around the brain stem, indicating a local meningeal reaction, which may be meningeal inflammation caused by syphilis. 」> In addition, one of the biggest characteristics of syphilis in the middle stage is repeated inflammation of the mucosa in the inner layer of iris and eyelid. Beethoven composed "Solemn Mass" in memory of Archduke Rudolph, which was completed in this situation. In his letter to Schindele, he said, "I must cover my eyes at night. I should take good care of my eyes. Smetana wrote to me and told me not to write so many notes. At that time, the condition of his eyes was almost certain to be inflammation around the iris, including the iris and conjunctiva (the delicate mucosa that connects the eyelids and covers the eyeball). However, syphilis is a very latent disease. Once infected, it may lurk behind many other diseases, leading to many other terrible disease symptoms, so it is also called a "great imitator". > So, did Beethoven have any other symptoms besides deafness and eyelid inflammation? > In the medical records provided by Beethoven's doctor, we found such records: severe gastrointestinal pain, terrible headache, operation on infected fingernail, operation on abscess on jaw, serious inflammation of lung caused by rheumatism, one "terrible rheumatism attack" in the frequent recurrence of rheumatic pains, "arthritis caused by gout in chest", jaundice, esophageal and nose bleeding, eye pain for five months, and you must stay in a dark room and wear an eye mask. He often suffered from arrhythmia, and even wrote it into music (piano sonata "Farewell"), and his face twitched in his later years. This is only part of the symptom. Anton Neumayr wrote implicitly: "Beethoven is likely to have depression in his later years. 」> Beethoven became grumpy and weird in his later years, so that everyone was rumored that Beethoven might be insane. A German composer told Goethe that Beethoven was insane. Charlotte Brunswick wrote, "I learned yesterday that Beethoven had gone crazy. Larkin described Beethoven's later years: "He was always in poor health, depressed, nervous, suspicious, persecuted, unstable under pressure, sometimes manic, impulsive, aggressive, demanding perfection, deaf and irritable. Beethoven once poured a pot of stew on the waiter. Maynard Solomon concluded: "The symptoms of neurological abnormalities-sudden anger, uncontrollable emotional state, growing fascination with money, feeling persecuted, and doubting for no reason-continued until Beethoven's death. All this makes Viennese think that the greatest composer is an extremely weird madman. And all these symptoms are consistent with the symptoms of paralytic dementia of syphilis. > Is Beethoven's syphilis hereditary or contagious? > But how did such a great musician get syphilis? The exact reason is unknown. One theory is that Beethoven suffered from congenital syphilis, and syphilis may be inherited from his father. By studying Beethoven's skull, people who hold this view think that his obvious nose depression and square skull are the characteristic signs of congenital syphilis. About 2%~3% of patients with congenital syphilis will have unilateral hearing loss between the ages of 2 and 3, and Beethoven's left hearing loss happened at this age, and finally developed to both sides. Deafness caused by other reasons is mostly bilateral. > Another view is that it stems from high-risk sexual behavior. Beethoven never married, but there is evidence that Beethoven often went to brothels before his death. Maynard Solomon interprets Beethoven's letter to his friend Mesca, in which he mentions "Morsche Festungen", which literally means "stinking fortress", but actually refers to brothels and prostitutes. In several letters, he mentioned that "fortress" is related to sex, disease, danger and sentimentality. For example, "Enjoy your life, but don't attach too much importance to the operators and supervisors of the fortress."! ""I don't need to warn you again, be careful not to get hurt in the nearby fort. ""Stay away from those smelly fortresses, whose attacks are more deadly than those that are properly protected. ""Be enthusiastic about defending the imperial fortress. As you know, they have long lost their virginity and have been attacked several times. "I sincerely thank you, dear Z, for providing information about the fortress. I think you must think I don't want to stop in a soft and wet place. 」> These situations show that Beethoven is not "Beethoven is * * *" as some biographers say. However, Beethoven is also full of contradictions and self-blame for this kind of behavior. "Only the pleasure of the body, the communication without the soul is always vulgar; After that, there was no noble feeling at all, only regret. On the one hand, he longs for more, longs for normal feelings, hates and guards against this kind of behavior; On the other hand, throughout his life, there was no one who was connected with his soul. Therefore, in despair, he had to continue to cling to the "smelly fortress." > No matter whether the cause of infection is congenital or acquired, syphilis has indeed brought the master a lifetime of pain. Due to the backward medical conditions at that time, although signs of deafness caused by syphilis were found in 1797, it was always regarded as a simple viral infection, and it was not until 186 that Dr. Bertolini began to treat it. At this time, the disease has been ten years. Although he visited famous doctors everywhere and tried many strange treatments, he found that syphilis was difficult to eradicate. Among many diseases, losing hearing is the most frustrating. He kept trying all kinds of methods: Dr. Gerhard von Vering treated him with some kind of bark. At first, he thought it would relieve his tinnitus, but it didn't work, just causing painful blisters on his arms. Dr. H. Graff suggested that grinding fresh horseradish, wrapping it in cotton cloth and inserting it into the ear would be ineffective. Dr.Johann Schmidt suggested electrotherapy to treat his hearing directly with electric current. Even seven months before Beethoven's death, he mentioned hopefully that there was a new way to treat deafness-soaking the skin of green nuts in lukewarm milk, and then dropping a few drops into the ear. Because of the use of mercury as a therapeutic drug, it also caused some other symptoms of mercury poisoning. Beethoven, who was entangled in chronic diseases, was in great pain. His letters were full of sadness, because he was physically tortured, and each letter described his disappointment. On November 12th, 1821, in a letter to Franz Brentano, he lamented, "Noble friends! Don't consider me as a disgraceful or selfish genius-I have been ill for the past year to now; I got jaundice in summer and it lasted until the end of August. He confided to Zhi Mesca that he would not be in London next year, but in his grave. He also said, thank god, his role is coming to an end. > On March 26th, 1827, the tortured music man wrote the last note in his life, but left the world a most precious treasure. Today, when we listen to Ode to Joy, can we imagine that it is the work of a terminal syphilis patient? Uncovering the truth behind Beethoven's deafness is not just to review history, but to celebrate the tenacity of life. >