How did Ludwig Von Beethoven die?
Around one o’clock on March 24th, the shipment of Moselle wine had arrived. Beethoven, looking at the bottles, mumbled, “pity, pity, too late!” These were his last reported words. He was given spoonfuls of the wine. Later that day, he fell into a coma which would last for two days. Anselm Hüttenbrenner, who was present when Beethoven died on March 26tharound five-thirty in the evening, recalls: “There came a flash of lightning accompanied by a violent clap of thunder, which garishly illuminated the death-chamber . . . Beethoven opened his eyes, lifted his right hand and looked up for seconds with his fist clenched and a very serious, threatening expression . . . When he let the raised hand sink to the bed, his eyes closed half-way. My right hand was under his head, my left rested on his breast. Not another breath, not a heartbeat more!” (Thayer: 1051). The cause of death listed was Cirrhosis of the liver, plus dropsy.
