Anton Schindler
Associate, secretary, and early biographer of Ludwig van Beethoven
Who was Anton Schindler?
Anton Felix Schindler (13 June 1795 – 16 January 1864) was an Austrian law clerk and associate, secretary, and early biographer of Ludwig van Beethoven. Schindler was born on 13 June 1795 in Medlov. He moved to Vienna in 1813 to study law, and from 1817 to 1822 was a clerk in a law office there. He was a competent, though not exceptional violinist, and played in various musical ensembles, first meeting Beethoven in 1814. He gave up his law career, becoming in 1822 first violinist at the Theater in der Josefstadt, and from 1825 first violinist at the Theater am Kärntnertor. His acquaintance with Beethoven continued, and from 1822, he lived in the composer's house, as his unpaid secretary.
Career and public life
Beethoven broke with Schindler in March 1825, and Karl Holz, a young violinist in the Schuppanzigh Quartet and friend of Beethoven, was engaged as the composer's secretary; though Schindler and Beethoven reconciled in August 1826, Holz continued as Beethoven's secretary with Schindler also tending to the composers' needs. After Beethoven's death in 1827, Schindler moved to Budapest where he worked as a music teacher, returning to Vienna in 1829. In 1831, he moved to Münster where he was a...