Fragments of what's believed to be Beethoven's skull were in California drawer for decades
By: Brady Halbleib CNN
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Fragments of what's believed to be Beethoven's skull were in California drawer for decades
Bone fragments believed to be from 18th-century composer Ludwig van Beethoven have made their way back to Vienna after living in a locked drawer of a home in Carmichael, Calif., for the past 30 years. (KOVR/CNN)
CARMICHAEL, CALIFORNIA -
Bone fragments believed to be from 18th-century composer Ludwig van Beethoven have made their way back to Vienna after living in a locked drawer of a home in Carmichael for the past 30 years.
Paul Kaufmann's remarkable journey in taking possession of the curios began in 1990 following the death of his mother.
She lived in a town in the south of France.
After travelling there and going through her belongings, he would find a key – and that key would not only open a safety deposit box, but inside reveal a second box full of mysteries.
"A black tin container, actually, with a lid and scratched on the surface … was the name Beethoven," Kaufmann said.
Inside, wrapped in tissue, were fragments of a skull thought to belong to one of the greatest composers the world has ever known.
"Surprise and wonderment. What is this all about?" Kaufmann said.
For the next 30 years, Kaufmann tried to answer that question.
He travelled back to the States with the skull in his suitcase and began researching, finding help from top scholars in San Francisco and San Jose.
"We later learned that the investigators were very excited about it," Kaufmann said.
Researchers would find a connection to Kaufmann's great-great uncle, a Viennese physician named Dr. Franz Romeo Seligmann who was also a medical historian and anthropologist.
Dr. Seligmann apparently received the bone fragments in 1863 after Beethoven's body was exhumed for research in part to learn what made the composer go deaf in one ear.
But technology of the time was limited and research went cold.
"And it was then handed down, all these 170 years, to me as the only survivor in the family," Kaufmann said.
It was just in the past week Kaufmann travelled to the Medical University of Vienna to return the fragments as a donation.
They're now known as the "Seligmann Fragments."
"It's totally exhilarating," Kaufmann said. "I can look up at the sky and see my mother and all my relatives so happy they're back to Vienna where they belong."
A portion of the bone fragments is also going to a DNA lab for further inspection, but researchers at the Medical University in Vienna already believe it to be authentic.
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If they couldn't get enough information from his hair, maybe they can get sufficient info and the right DNA that can be used to create a 10th Symphony.
I guess everybody has to have a hobby.
They have Dillinger's penis at the Smithsonian.
Was it so special it's representative of his life and career? I would think his gun would have been more logical and meaningful.
The Smithsonian also has The National Firearms Collection in D.C.
One can spend months checking out all of the Smithsonian museums of Americana.
My favorite is The National Air and Space Museum in D.C.
I just looked it up and the Smithsonian does have Dillinger's 1903 Colt 32 caliber pocket pistol serial #14359 engraved John Dillinger 4 12 1929. The date he was in Indiana State Prison.
Jeez I could do this all night!
I never went into the museum but I have attended the Smithsonain Festival of American Folklife that was located just in front of the museum in D.C.
Just looked it up. There are 17 Smithsonian museums in D.C.
His gun makes more sense to me. I'd be a lot more interested in seeing that rather than his pickled penis.
The festival was on a wide boulevard in front of what I thought was the main museum, but we're talking more than a half a century ago.
They don't even display it anymore.
What kind of sicko would want to actually see it?