Peanuts by Charles Schulz for April 24, 1964
April 23, 1964
April 25, 1964
Transcript:
Shroeder plays the piano. Lucy stands near him and announces, "Ludwig van Beethoven..."<BR><BR> She sits on the floor with her elbows on the piano and faces Shroeder: "Did you know that the 'van' in Ludwig van Beethoven didn't mean anything?" she asks.<BR><BR> Shroeder plays the piano.<BR><BR> "Nothing ever disturbs you, does it?" she asks. Shroeder stares at her.<BR><BR>
The famed singer and music director Lodewijk van Beethoven (1712-1773) moved from the city of Mechelen in Flanders (today part of Belgium) to Bonn in 1733 and Germanised his given name to Ludwig, but he didn’t bother to also change the Dutch ‘van’ in his surname to the German ‘von’. He had a son named Johann who in turn had a son who was also named Ludwig.