Haydn's head

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Portrait of Joseph Haydn by Thomas Hardy, 1792
Portrait of Joseph Haydn by Thomas Hardy, 1792

The celebrated composer Joseph Haydn died, aged 77, on May 31, 1809. As Austria was at war and the Viennese capital occupied by Napoleon's troops, a rather simple burial took place in the Hundsthurm churchyard[1] in Gumpendorf, the suburb of Vienna where Haydn had lived.[2] Following the burial, two men contrived to bribe the sexton and thereby sever and steal the dead composer's head. These were Karl Rosenbaum, the secretary of the Esterházy family (Haydn's employers), and Johann Nepomuk Peter, governor of the provincial prison of Lower Austria.[3] Rosenbaum is described as having been a friend of Haydn's.

A 19th century phrenological chart
A 19th century phrenological chart

Peter and Rosenbaum's motivation was an interest in phrenology, a now-discredited scientific movement (see Franz Joseph Gall and Johann Spurzheim) that attempted to associate mental capacities with aspects of cranial anatomy. Of particular interest to phrenologists was the anatomy of individuals held to have exhibited great genius during their lifetime.

The process of stealing the head was, apparently, not pleasant, since decomposition had set in and the smell was strong. However, Peter and Rosenbaum succeeded in cleaning the skull and duly carried out their phrenological examination. Peter declared that "the bump of music" in Haydn's skull was indeed "fully developed". Afterward, Peter kept it in a handsome custom-made black wooden box, with a symbolic golden lyre at the top, glass windows, and a white cushion.

In 1820, Haydn's old patron Prince Nikolaus Esterházy II was inadvertently reminded by the chance remark of an acquaintance that he had forgotten to carry through his plan of having Haydn's remains transferred from Gumpendorf to the family seat in Eisenstadt.[4]. When the remains were exhumed, the Prince was furious to find that they included no skull, and quickly deduced that Peter and Rosenbaum were responsible. However, through a series of devious maneuvers Peter and Rosenbaum managed to maintain possession of the skull (Peter gave it to Rosenbaum, who hid it in a straw mattress, which his wife lay on during a search. Eventually he gave Prince Esterházy a different skull).

Haydn's tomb in the Bergkirche, Eisenstadt
Haydn's tomb in the Bergkirche, Eisenstadt

On his death Rosenbaum willed the skull to Peter, with the proviso that on his own death Peter would will the skull to the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde (Society of the Friends of Music) in Vienna, where it did indeed pass in 1895. The musicologist Karl Geiringer, who worked at the Society before the advent of Hitler, would on occasion proudly bring out the relic and show it to visitors.

In 1932, Prince Paul Esterházy, Nikolaus's descendant, built a marble tomb for Haydn in the Bergkirche in Eisenstadt. This was a suitable location, since it is where the masses Haydn wrote for the Esterházy family were premiered. The Prince's express purpose was to unify the composer's remains.[5] However, there were many further delays, and it was only in 1954 that the skull could be transferred from the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde to this tomb, thus completing the 145 year long burial process.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Hadden 1902
  2. ^ R (1932)
  3. ^ R (1932)
  4. ^ Specifically, to the Pilgrimage Church of Maria-Einsiedel; Hadden 1902
  5. ^ M. M. S., 1948
The Bergkirche (Eisenstadt, Austria)
The Bergkirche (Eisenstadt, Austria)

[edit] Bibliography

Note: except where specified, all information was taken from the final chapter of Geiringer 1982.

The tale of Prof. Geiringer taking out Haydn's skull to show to visitors is from the first edition (1942) of the same book.