ABSTRACT
In July 1961, the prosecution began gearing up to charge him with the massive theft from the German State Library. The Director of Music at the German State Library took great exception to the refusal. There have been instances in which library administrators have seen fit to abscond with part of their library’s collections, and there have always been persons who pose as scholars and steal for profit. The matter began simply with three inches of print in the September 15, 1951 entertainment section of the Times: “The priceless conversation books recording Beethoven’s talks with his friends during his final years of deafness have disappeared from the former Prussian State Library.” West Germans of note speak of the differences between anti-Communism and the recognition of common thievery. The response of Beethoven House gave reasons why the treasures were never really the property of East Germany.
