Joyce Maier wrote:

>>Not exactly. I remember a quotation where Beethoven links his deafness
>>to the condition of "mein Unterleib" (my abdomen).
>
>I already was afraid that this quotation is the so-called reference to
>syphilis.  As if every complaint about a sick abdomen should point to
>syphilis!  Giggle...

To me the quotation sounded quite convincing.  Being a native German
I instantly understood the phrase "mein Unterleib" to be a euphemism.
Beethoven wouldn't have been too shy to write things like "mein Magen" if
he really meant his abdomen.

Robert