Franz Gerhard Wegeler (22 August 1765 – 7 May 1848) was a German physician from

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

, who, in his youth, was a close friend of composer

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

. He was the father of

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

Julius Stephan Wegeler (1807-1883). Wegeler studied medicine at the Universities of

and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. After completing his studies in Austria, he returned to Bonn, where he became a tenured professor of legal medicine and

obstetrics Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surgi ...

(1789). ADB: Wegeler, Franz Gerhard
@

Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'' (ADB, german: Universal German Biography) is one of the most important and comprehensive biographical reference works in the German language. It was published by the Historical Commission of the Bavarian Aca ...

In 1794, he fled Bonn during the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...

, returning to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, where he renewed his friendship with Beethoven. After spending two years in Vienna, he moved back to Bonn as an instructor and a general practitioner of medicine. In 1802, he married Eleonore von Breuning, the daughter of

Helene von Breuning Helene von Breuning (née von Kerich; 3 January 1750, Cologne – 9 December 1838) was a member of the Bonn upper class, who engaged young Ludwig van Beethoven to teach music to her children, gave him education and introduced him into social circle ...

, a former piano student and 'first love' of Beethoven. The marriage had four children. The descendants include Helena Josepha Theresia (1803-1832) and Julius Stephan Wegeler (1807-1883). In 1807, he relocated to

Koblenz Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman mili ...

, where he joined the Prussian civil service and attained several prestigious awards. Wegeler was a

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

; Beethoven corresponded with him on the subject of Beethoven's music (not

masonic music Masonic music has been defined as "music used in connection with the ritual and social functions of freemasonry". Two major types of music used in masonic lodges are lodge songs, played to keyboard accompaniment before or after meetings, or during m ...

) being used in lodge ceremonies. Beethoven offered to compose a better piece than he had heard was being used. A distinguished physician, Wegeler is remembered for his 1838

biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

of Beethoven (''Biographische Notizen über Ludwig van Beethoven''), being published with composer

Ferdinand Ries Ferdinand Ries (baptised 28 November 1784 – 13 January 1838) was a German composer. Ries was a friend, pupil and secretary of Ludwig van Beethoven. He composed eight symphonies, a violin concerto, nine piano concertos (the first concerto ...

(1784-1838) eleven years after Beethoven's death. Historians consider these memoirs to be an important and reliable source of information regarding the life of the great composer.

References

* ''This article is based on a translation of an article from the

German Wikipedia The German Wikipedia (german: Deutschsprachige Wikipedia) is the German-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia. Founded on March 16, 2001, it is the second-oldest Wikipedia (after the English Wikipedia), ...

.''

Beethoven and his Bonn Circle of Friends. Selected Objects from the Wegeler Collection German biographers Male biographers German obstetricians 18th-century German physicians 1765 births 1848 deaths University of Bonn alumni University of Bonn faculty German male non-fiction writers German Freemasons 18th-century German male writers {{Germany-med-bio-stub