{"id":6091,"date":"2019-07-16T06:09:44","date_gmt":"2019-07-16T05:09:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/?p=6091"},"modified":"2025-06-16T10:03:43","modified_gmt":"2025-06-16T09:03:43","slug":"beethoven-grillparzer-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/footsteps\/beethoven-grillparzer-house\/","title":{"rendered":"Beethoven-Grillparzer House"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/beethoven_grillparzer_hausthumb.jpg\" alt=\"Plaque on Beethoven-Grillparzer house\" class=\"wp-image-6110\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/beethoven_grillparzer_hausthumb.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/beethoven_grillparzer_hausthumb-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>The self-effacing little house on Grinzinger Stra\u00dfe experienced one of those coincidences history likes to throw out at us now and then: a meeting of two greats (one slightly more great than the other).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>18th-century house where Beethoven lived<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Franz Grillparzer lived there at the same time<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Close to other Beethoven sites around the Heiligenstadt suburb<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Book a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiqets.com\/en\/concerts-opera-vienna-tickets-l206741\/?partner=visitingvienna&amp;tq_campaign=LG_Beethoven\" rel=\"sponsored\">concert experience<\/a>* for Vienna<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>See also:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/footsteps\/beethoven\/\">Beethoven in Vienna<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/grillparzer-monument\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"34852\">Grillparzer monument<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The story<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/beethovengrillparzer.jpg\" alt=\"Beethoven-Grillparzer Haus\" class=\"wp-image-46833\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/beethovengrillparzer.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/beethovengrillparzer-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Now a private house, which means you can&#8217;t go inside)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Austria regards Franz Grillparzer (1791-1872) as one of the country&#8217;s greatest writers and, perhaps, its greatest poet. Which is why he gets <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/grillparzer-monument\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"34852\">a monument<\/a>, and you can see his office and living room in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/literature-museum\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"21648\">Literature Museum<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/wien-museum-karlsplatz\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"66174\">Wien Museum<\/a> respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For a short while in 1808, Grillparzer actually lived in the same house as Ludwig van Beethoven. We know this because our literary genius wrote about the experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Apparently, Beethoven&#8217;s lodgings faced the street, while Grillparzer and family had rooms looking over the back garden.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/grillparzer1823.jpg\" alt=\"Portrait of Franz Grillparzer\" class=\"wp-image-84176\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/grillparzer1823.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/grillparzer1823-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(An 1823 drawing of Grillparzer by Carl Anton Goebel; Wien Museum Inv.-Nr. 62000; excerpt reproduced with permission under the terms of the CC0 licence)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As Grillparzer tells it, his mother liked to sit on the corridor between the two sets of rooms and listen to Beethoven play. A little like having a private concert of sorts with one of the world&#8217;s greatest ever musicians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, it seems the maestro eventually noticed. Rather than enjoying the attention, he was none too pleased to have an eavesdropper while he worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a result, Beethoven stormed out of the house and never touched the piano there again until the Grillparzers left for town in the autumn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oops.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"324\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/beethovengrillparzer1904.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of the old courtyard of the Beethoven Grillparzer house sometime after 1904\" class=\"wp-image-61251\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/beethovengrillparzer1904.jpg 324w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/beethovengrillparzer1904-216x300.jpg 216w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 324px) 100vw, 324px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Photo of the rear courtyard of the house, as printed on a postcard sometime after 1904; Wien Museum Inv.-Nr. 105275\/200; excerpt reproduced with permission under the terms of the CC0 licence)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Who knows how different the composer&#8217;s oeuvre might have been if Mrs Grillparzer had been a little more circumspect about her love of music?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A plaque on this private house commemorates the coming together of two creative minds. It simply says (my translation):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Grillparzer lived here in the year 1808<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Interestingly, Grillparzer and Beethoven would see more of each other in the future, the poet even writing the eulogy for the latter&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/footsteps\/alserkirche-beethoven\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"28102\">funeral<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/beethovengrillparzer1.jpg\" alt=\"Plaque on the Beethoven-Grillparzer Haus\" class=\"wp-image-48274\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/beethovengrillparzer1.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/beethovengrillparzer1-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(The plaque outside the house)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The house in question went up in the late 18th century. It&#8217;s one of many Beethoven addresses in and around Heiligenstadt, formerly a country village outside the city and a favourite haunt of the composer. For example, the excellent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/footsteps\/beethoven-museum\/\">Beethoven Museum<\/a> is a short walk away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to get to the house<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The address is out in the leafy suburbs, reachable by Bus 37A, which goes up Grinzinger Stra\u00dfe soon after leaving Heiligenstadt station (which is on the U4 subway line).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Get off at the Armbrustergasse stop and walk up past the church (St. Michael&#8217;s), which traces its roots back to at least the 13th century: Beethoven may even have played the organ in there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Note that as a private residence, the house is not open to the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Address: Grinzinger Stra\u00dfe 64, 1190 Vienna<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div align=\"center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/d\/u\/0\/embed?mid=1lKHHW68w5vFJbiowIk-hraXs-iB2lHQJ\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The self-effacing little house on Grinzinger Stra\u00dfe experienced one of those coincidences history likes to throw out at us now and then: a meeting of two greats (one slightly more great than the other). The story (Now a private house, which means you can&#8217;t go inside) Austria regards Franz Grillparzer (1791-1872) as one of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6110,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-6091","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-footsteps","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6091"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6091\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84178,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6091\/revisions\/84178"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}