Poems and Thoughts    by Frank Maurer

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From Where Does He Come--'van' or 'von'? His name was Ludwig van Beethoven. He was born in Bonn, Germany, 1770. If one looks carefully at his name, One sees 'van'. What is all that about? Shouldn't it be 'von'? 'Von' in German, means 'from'. But wait, 'van' in Dutch also means 'from'. So the question is, 'from' where came Beethoven? Most of us have never scrutinized his name in this way-- Just lovers of the written word, I guess. So, if one checks out his genealogy, One discovers that Beethoven's grandfather Came from the Netherlands; thus the 'van', And it stuck with him on all his manuscripts! Frank Maurer 19 November 2025 0200 Hours.