The prince who actually paid

The wide palace on this square has a hall on the first floor with a painted ceiling, and in 1804 the third symphony was heard there for the very first time, played for the host and his guests, months before the public got to hear it. When you step into the theatre museum, you can still walk into that hall today.

 

Prince Lobkowitz was one of the few who understood what he had on his hands. In 1809, together with two other noblemen, he put an annual allowance on paper to keep Beethoven in Vienna rather than let him leave for a court post in Germany, and that contract counts as one of the first times a composer was paid simply to exist.

 

It didn't last long, because the war with Napoleon devalued Austrian money, the prince ran into trouble and the payments dried up, after which Beethoven dragged his benefactors to court and was partly proven right.

 

That same symphony was originally dedicated to Napoleon, until he had himself crowned emperor and Beethoven tore the title page off and ripped it up.

 

We take the passage toward the Kohlmarkt, the shopping street that leads to the Hofburg, the former imperial palace.