Mödling is a charming small village, south of Vienna, with many old houses, since it was not destroyed by the Turks in 1683. Mödling is situated on a hillside, near the river Bruhl from where it is possible to walk into the Viennese forest; Beethoven liked this place very much, and he thought about buying a house there, but this project was not fulfilled.

This part of the forest has many pines, and the country look like Mediterranean countryside; the ruins of a the castle have been dated from the 13th century.

Here are some pictures of Hafner's House ("The House of the potter") which is situated in Hauptstrasse (main street) at Mödling, where Beethoven stayed during the summers of 1818 and 1819, at a time when he was working on the credo of the Missa Solemnis and the Ninth Symphony. Beethoven lived on the first floor, in a large room which opened in a corridor that runs above the arches one can see on the pictures.

Today, one can visit the room only once a week... Inside, there are copies of Beethoven' work all over the room, as if Beethoven still lives there.

Beethoven came back in Mödling during the summer of 1820; he lived in a house called "Christhof" (The "Yard of the Christ") in Fischergasse ("Fisherman's street "), near the little river that runs through the village.

When he was in Mödling, Beethoven went often to an inn called "Zu den zwei Raben" ("The two ravens") where a small orchestra played popular dances and received from Beethoven, as a present, the eleven dances known as Mödlinger Tänze. The house of the "Zu den zwei Raben" still exists nowadays, but it is no longer an inn, but private apartments.

This bust of Beethoven is at Mödling, by the corner of the main Beethoven haus in that town.

It is a bronze head, and it is small, somehow life size.

Picture and text :
Cristina Barbieri